Author's Note:
I posted an April Fool's version of this chapter over on Serebii! You can read it at forums dot serebii dot net/posts/18734720
I'd have posted it here too, but it would have messed up my chapter numbering, since FFN has no way to designate a chapter as an extra. I post lots of art and extras in that thread btw, so if you're interested, please check it out!
Chapter 34: Flames of War
My body had gone rigid, every panic instinct flaring up at once. We were supposed to have more time. It wasn't supposed to be this soon. We were supposed to have more time. Lexx's warning from earlier flashed through my mind on an infinite repeat. It wasn't supposed to be this soon. But… he hadn't said one way or another, had he? Some warning.
"C'mon, let's go check it out," Rudy said, gesturing in the direction that we'd heard the explosions. His words reached my ears, but my body didn't want to respond.
"Wait," my voice finally said.
Rudy turned, giving me a confused look.
I clenched my fists, swallowing hard, struggling to force the words out. "This… is probably Team Rocket's doing."
He froze, staring at me with an expression I couldn't place. Surprise? Fear? No, it was more like a dozen thoughts and memories flashing through his mind at once. He turned back in the direction of the commotion. The noises were growing louder, building in intensity. More explosions. Now we could actually hear screaming.
Rudy bit his lip. "I mean… we've still gotta go see, don't we?"
I didn't have an answer for that. Mostly because he was right. I nodded slowly, and then the two of us took off running. Most of the other trainers were running away from the direction we were heading. I didn't like the look of that, but we pressed on until we'd reached the entrance to Stadium 3. Now that we were here, I could see the plume of smoke rising above it. I glanced around hurriedly, trying to make out the source of the chaos, but nothing stood out.
And then an overwhelming burst of flames tore through the sky, and a massive shadow loomed overhead, circling like a vulture. My blood ran cold. Every muscle in my body seized up instantly. I knew that shadow. Slowly, my eyes slid upward to stare helplessly at the fiery spectre soaring over us. Just like when it attacked Midnight Stadium that night, the night that our lives had been torn apart.
Moltres. The Legendary guardian of fire, now permanently colored in my mind as an omen of death.
The firebird drew itself back, flames licking the edge of its beak. The image of it incinerating the fleeing rebels flashed through my mind, and I forced myself to look at anything else. Rudy was frozen, staring at the legend with a disturbed fascination. My eyes slid back to it just in time to see it exhale an explosive blast of flames that tore through the side of the stadium with a deafening crash. I stared brokenly as chunks of concrete rained down from the impact, only finally managing to piece together that they were falling right at us. We had to move.
Instinct took over, and I dove headlong through the stadium entrance, landing roughly on the tile floor, tremors shooting through the ground behind me. I lay there breathing hard, eyes screwed shut and arms clasped over my head until the movement finally ceased. I cracked one eye open. Then I shook my head to clear the dust from my face and lifted myself from the floor with slow, shaking steps before throwing a glance back the way I came.
I was alone. I blinked stupidly at the huge pile of broken tile and concrete now filling the entryway, icy horror shooting through my veins as I processed that fact. I was alone. Rudy hadn't made it through.
"Rudy!" I screamed. Oh god, he'd been crushed, oh god.
And then his voice called out, "I'm over here!" and I almost collapsed with relief. His words were muffled by all the rubble in the way, but I could just barely make out him saying, "Want me to bust through some of this concrete?"
I clenched my teeth. "Don't waste your time, I'll go around!" The last thing I wanted was for him to be stuck in one spot while Moltres was attacking.
"Gotcha!" he yelled, and then I didn't hear anything more from him.
I spun around on the spot, a million things flashing through my mind. But when I lifted my foot to take off in the opposite direction… it didn't move. My body was completely paralyzed. I had to do something. Had to… fight Moltres? No way. Out of the question. I couldn't do that. But if Moltres was here, that meant there had to be Rockets here as well. I could handle fighting them, right?
I sank to the ground, both hands clutching my head. The flames. The bright fluorescent lighting suddenly melted into a pitch-black night. The stadium interior twisted and distorted into the familiar hallways of Midnight. I saw rebels taking to the sky, desperately trying to escape the carnage. Saw Moltres draw itself back, an infernal glow building in its throat before unleashing a column of fire that incinerated everyone instantly.
No. No, no, no! I wasn't on Midnight Island, the Rebellion ended a long time ago, that time in my life was over!
…And why was it over? Because of something just like this. I'd thought I was safe. I'd thought I was free. But it was never going to be over, was it? Never, never, never.
No. None of that. I'd survived, hadn't I? I'd endured all of that and worse! I couldn't fall apart now, not after all of that. But I was used to it then. Used to being on edge with my life on the line, and the past nine months had dulled those instincts. I didn't want to return to that life, dammit! I was happy ignoring it.
And then a burst of white light appeared out of nowhere right in front of my face, taking the form of a Pikachu.
"Chibi!" I gasped, jerking backward.
Yellow ears stood bolt upright as he glanced around hurriedly, his entire body tense.
"*What's going on?*" he asked.
I forced back a shaking breath, struggling to find my voice. "Moltres is attacking the League."
The hybrid paused, blinking incredulously. Then he glanced up and down at my sorry state, no doubt trying to hold back his disdain.
"*And what are you doing here?*" he asked.
I swallowed hard. "Trying to pull myself together," I admitted.
His gaze softened. "*Well, come on then.*" He grabbed my hand, tugging at it lightly. Slowly, I closed my fingers around his paw, then dragged one foot forward until I could put my weight on it. Then another. Until I was finally able to force myself upward, bracing my arm against the side of the building. My pulse still pounded, but it no longer hurt. My head still spun, but it was growing clearer.
"I don't know if I can do all of this again," I whispered.
"*You're not alone,*" Chibi said, leaping up onto my shoulder.
I wasn't alone. I knew that.
"You're sure eager to jump back into this," I muttered.
"*Only because I knew it wasn't really over. The threat you can see is a much easier threat to face,*" he said. I couldn't really argue with him.
I started running. Slowly at first, building in speed as my feet struck the tile floor over and over. I passed the main lobby, then ran down the hallway that circled the stadium until I reached one of the offshoots that led into the audience stands. We emerged into the stadium, its seating and stairways now strikingly empty. High above the battlefield, Moltres circled like a fiery spectre, poised to rain destruction upon us. The airspace within the stadium was filled with trainers flying on Pokémon, evacuating. I sucked in a breath, frozen in horror as Moltres neared them. That same image flashed through my mind yet again, and I dug my nails into my palm to force it out.
And then the firebird banked a wing to swing a full U-turn. It breathed out a torrent of flame, but the blast tore through an empty block of seating.
I stared blankly, feeling as though my brain had to restart from sheer confusion. Moltres wasn't going out of its way to attack anyone? This wasn't like the attack on Midnight at all. What was going on? Why was it even here, then?
"It's… not actually attacking anyone directly," I muttered under my breath, hardly daring to believe it.
"*I noticed,*" Chibi replied. "*This is an attention-grab.*"
I clenched my teeth. Of course. Hadn't Lexx basically already confirmed that? How could I have forgotten?
"Starr's brother told us something like this was gonna happen. I still don't entirely get why."
If he was surprised that we'd spoken with Starr's brother, he didn't let it show. "*We still can't let them get away with it.*"
I swallowed. "Right." I grabbed a Pokéball and let out Aros. The Flygon materialized in front of us, and his antennae immediately twitched into overdrive as he surveyed his surroundings.
"*Oh geez what,*" he blurted out, craning his neck up to get a good look at Moltres.
"*It's exactly what you think,*" Chibi replied.
"*Well, shit. Guess we gotta do something about it, huh?*"Aros said, leaning down for me to hop on. I swung a leg over his back, holding tightly to his neck, and with the buzzing of wings, the three of us were airborne.
I forced my eyes away from Moltres as we quickly ascended. Soon we'd cleared the height of the stadium walls, and then we could see the whole tournament site. Crowds of people and Pokémon filled the streets below, all heading away from the stadiums. Some of them making their way to the city, others aiming for the forests on the western edge of the plateau. Hundreds of flying Pokémon took to the sky all over. And in the midst of them all were the Pokémon rangers leading the evacuation. Everywhere, squads of flying Pokémon wearing brightly colored scarves directed the aerial traffic, struggling to bring some sense of order to the chaotic frenzy of escaping Pokémon.
Had anyone else noticed that Moltres wasn't attacking them? Did that seem weird to them? Then again, the damage it had done to the stadiums was putting people in danger regardless—the distinction didn't matter. Even if it wasn't the Rockets' goal, they'd no doubt gotten a few people killed from this, and there was no way they cared.
Suddenly, a handful of beam attacks shot through the air, flying past Moltres. One of the firebird's wide loops over the tournament site had taken it too close to a handful of the escaping Pokémon. Their trainers had panicked and ordered attacks. When seemingly threatened by a Legendary, their instinct was to try striking back. I held my breath, mentally willing them to stay away from it as hard as I could. They didn't need to be involved in this. No one else needed to get hurt. Just stay back. Please.
It didn't work. A beam struck Moltres in the back of the head. For several seconds, the firebird didn't react. But then it slowly turned its blank, soulless eyes in the direction of its attackers. It hadn't been ordered to attack people. But striking back at an enemy was just instinct. My breath froze. The Legendary began flapping its wings, unleashing a wave of superheated air that forced back the attacking Pokémon, sending them tumbling limply through the air.
"Stay back! Do not engage, I repeat, do not engage!" a commanding voice blared through a megaphone. I snapped my head in its direction to see a man on a Dragonite shouting to the crowds. "All trainers and Pokémon are to evacuate the tournament site. Do not attempt to engage with the Legendary Pokémon."
So the rangers were handling the evacuation and preventing anyone from being stupid and fighting Moltres head-on. Which… might have included us, if they hadn't just issued that order. Was there really nothing for us to do here?
Something else was nagging at me. There was no actual sign of Team Rocket here. Moltres had obviously just been given a general order to attack the tournament site, because there was no one nearby who appeared to be giving orders. It was alone. But there had to be Rockets somewhere, right? They'd hardly just let loose one of their most powerful weapons without having someone keep an eye on it.
"Well well well, look at what we have here," a voice drawled.
I tensed up. Who was that—was he talking to me? I spun around to see a man in his thirties approaching us from below on the back of an Altaria. The bird's fluffy, cloudlike wings beat the air softly and rhythmically. Its overall gentle and nonthreatening appearance didn't quite match its trainer's sharp features and condescending aura.
"Who are you?" I asked.
He put a hand to his chest. "You don't recognize me? I'm wounded. Then again, it would be hard for me not to recognize you, what with the company you keep."
I bristled. He was referring to Aros and Chibi. He knew they were experiments. He was on Team Rocket.
"*Careful,*" Chibi muttered. He'd clearly realized the same thing.
"Should I recognize you?" I asked. Had to keep him talking. Any moment he was wasting with us was one he wasn't spending doing… whatever it was the Rockets came here to do.
A subtle grin crossed his face. "Don't play coy, you've got number nine right there, haven't you? My greatest success was managing to recover it after you so thoughtlessly stole it from us. I'd have thought that would have left more of an impression."
The gears slowly turned in my head. "You were head of the S.S. Anne mission?"
He nodded, looking pleased. "Mmhm. Course, I'm head of a bit more than that these days. But that's neither here nor there. Technically we're not supposed to engage, but, well… this is too perfect an opportunity to ignore."
I tensed up. What did he mean by that?
And then, without warning, he drew a gun from his belt and pointed it at us.
"Aros!"
A gunshot split the air and the white aura of Protect flared up around us, and for a second, I was sure that we'd been hit. But Aros's flight hadn't faltered, and I couldn't feel any pain. When the light faded, Aros launched into an erratic, zigzagging flight path, just to make sure we couldn't be caught off guard again.
Holy crap that was too close. I hugged Aros's neck tighter.
The corners of the man's mouth turned up. "You're sharp. That's good. It's no fun if you're not." He motioned to his Altaria. At once it blasted out a plume of dragonfire way bigger than Aros's, right in our flight path. The Flygon looped over it before countering with his own dragonfire, but Altaria veered out of the way so effortlessly it felt like we were standing still by comparison.
The skies above us were open. We could escape easily, if we wanted to. There was no reason for us to fight him. But wasn't he pretty much our only lead right now? Without him, we didn't have the slightest clue what Moltres was doing here.
"Your best success was the S.S. Anne?" I said, injecting way more confidence into my voice than I actually felt. "The mission that was supposed to stop the Rebellion before it started? How'd that go for you?"
The man's smile faltered. His hand hovered over another Pokéball, but he pulled it back, managing to regain some of his composure.
"You're wasting time, Ender," a woman's voice said crossly.
I bristled. Who was that?
Aros whirled around just in time for a blur of green to slam into him, sending us reeling backward, our flight path completely askew. I threw a hurried glance around, unable to locate our attacker. Aros gasped. My attention snapped back to the front just as the green blur rushed us again. It was… another Flygon? Claws tore into Aros's side and he roared with pain, thrashing about wildly but failing to dislodge his attacker. I clutched his shoulders, struggling to hold on as the two of them grappled back and forth, wings straining. The other Flygon was winning. It pulled its claws out and dug them back in, just under the wing joint, making Aros's left wing falter for just a second. He pitched sideways; I lost my grip, and for a single, heart-stopping moment I was weightless, and then I was falling.
"Aros!" I screamed.
Falling. The battlefield rushing up at me. Aros dove, but the other Flygon clutched his tail, holding him back. He wouldn't make it. He wouldn't make it. Had to do something, anything, and fast, or else I was dead. I fumbled with the Pokéballs on my belt, struggling to grab the right one as my distance from the ground rapidly shrank. Finally, a burst of white light flashed in my face as broad, feathered wings materialized. Swift fluttered a bit, having to get his bearings from being released in a freefall. But then he spotted me, realized what was up, and pointed his wings back so he could swoop down under me. I landed on his back, clutching at the first feathers I could grab, and the air flattened me against his back as he pulled out of the dive, rapidly beating his wings to regain altitude.
I buried my face in his feathers, screwing my eyes shut and holding on for dear life, heart pounding so fast it hurt. That was way, way too close. Claws still clung to my shoulder. I turned to see Chibi still holding on out of the corner of my eye.
"Go with Aros!" I yelled, holding out my arm. The Pikachu dashed along it and took a flying leap, catching hold of Aros's tail before climbing the rest of the way up his back. He'd be able to freely let loose as much lightning as he wanted without me in the way. Meanwhile, Swift continued our ascent until we reached the same altitude as our opponents. He beat his wings to steady our flight, then began circling the two Rockets and their dragon-types.
"Don't take away all my fun, Raven," the man—Ender—said. "Have you forgotten what sort of mission this is?"
Raven didn't respond. She just glanced back at Moltres, who was currently terrorizing the next stadium over.
"But I suppose you're right," Ender went on, sighing in mock defeat. "Such a prime target as this one really ought to be eliminated."
I bristled. Didn't like the sound of that at all.
Swift was keeping us moving, harder to hit from both attacks and gunfire. Then, again, after that first shot, Ender hadn't fired again. Maybe to avoid advertising the fact that Rockets were behind all this? It was my only guess, anyway.
Chibi made the first move. He fired a burst of lightning at the enemy Flygon (he must've been aiming for its trainer) but the bug-dragon darted out of the way so fast it practically vanished. The moment it slowed down, Aros shot forward. Chibi whirled around, forced to generate a Protect barrier to guard them from behind after the clone left them wide open. Altaria's dragonfire rebounded off the barrier in a burst of flares, dissipating into the air. But then its trainer glanced over in our direction.
"Air Slash!" I hissed.
Swift circled the dragon-bird, firing blades of wind from his wingtips, one after the other. But all it had to do was dive downward, letting the blades clash together in the center of the circle. Swift flapped hard, readying a whirlwind in case the Rocket made a move against us. But he didn't. He pointed back toward the dueling Flygon pair, and Altaria took off after them.
Wait. I was an idiot. They were going to tag team Aros, then gang up on me. Had I seriously forgotten my double battle training?
"Aros, use Protect!" I yelled.
But he must not have heard me, seeing as his claws flared up with dragonfire and he slashed, finally catching the enemy Flygon with a wicked slash across its side. It lunged with its jaws, attempting to bite his neck, but Chibi swung an ironclad tail at its head, cutting a long gash across its cheek. It let out a cry of alarm, but it didn't retreat or move out of the way or anything.
And in that instant, I realized that Raven hadn't even ordered a dodge. They'd been acting as a stationary target to keep Aros in one spot.
Altaria drew itself back, something glittering in its mouth.
"Swift—!" I began.
Too late. Altaria fired a jagged beam of bright blue ice crystals straight at Aros. The bug-dragon snapped his head in that direction but not quickly enough to react before it crashed into him, covering his entire body with frost (as the enemy Flygon conveniently chose that moment to put some distance between them.)
Dammit. Why did everything have Ice Beam whenever Aros was out?
Aros vibrated his wings frantically, struggling to shake off the ice crystals. He got his bearings, flashed a snarl at the bird-dragon… and then forced himself back toward the enemy Flygon once more.
"Hey, leave the Flygon, we've gotta deal with Altaria!" I shouted. We could try to double-team it, use the same tactic they were using.
But he didn't listen. He tore through the air, focusing on the Flygon with a murderous glare in his eyes.
No, dammit! What the hell was he doing?!
Swift fired off more blades of wind, catching Altaria with a couple slices that managed to keep it in one spot for at least a couple of seconds. Chibi turned around and tried firing a couple bolts back at the dragon-bird, but without any help from his ride, the lightning flew wild, missing its mark. Aros's claws flared up again. He lunged, slashing wildly. But he was flustered, his aim was off; the other Flygon swooped out of the way effortlessly. It swung its tail, hitting him upside the head. Chibi's lightning missed again. Come on, this was ridiculous!
Another Ice Beam split the air. While we'd been focused on the Flygon, Altaria had a clean shot, and this time Aros's wings iced over with so much frost that he couldn't shake it off. He was falling, Chibi still clinging to his back for dear life. I whipped out their Pokéballs, recalling them both.
I swallowed hard. The two Rockets had just completely effortlessly tag-teamed Aros, and now Swift and I were the only target left. Sure, I could let out Firestorm for reinforcements, but…
"Get ready to use Agility," I whispered to Swift. Lead or no lead, this wasn't worth sticking around. Had to get out of here before they got bored with knocking us around and went for the kill.
Ender asked something of his partner, but I couldn't hear what. Raven shook her head, muttering something. Ender gave a short reply with a shrug. And then Raven retrieved a whistle from her belt pouch and blew into it, letting out a shrill, high-pitched note. I tilted my head, confused. What was that for?
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it. Moltres, suddenly gunning right for this stadium, fiery wings beating the air with way more drive and purpose than when it had just been idly attacking the tournament site. A wave of icy dread shot through my veins. No. It wasn't going to—
Raven pointed at me. "Kill her."
The firebird's mindless eyes settled on me, and my stomach melted. Oh god. It was coming right for us. A Legendary was coming for us and it intended to kill us and there was nothing we could do to stop it.
"Swift!" I cried.
He dove. The wind rushed past us as his speed rapidly increased. I flattened myself against his back, willing us to go faster, all the while screaming at myself to not look back. It was too close. Even with the boost from Agility pushing us forward, there was no way we'd outpace the legendary. I couldn't help it. I threw a hurried glance over my shoulder and it was right there. The firebird's blank, soulless eyes were fixed dead on us. It drew its head back, flames gathering in its throat.
Chibi. Chibi was the only one who could so much as put a scratch on the legend, but he couldn't do it while riding my shoulder. Not without catching me and Swift in the blast.
Time slowed. I opened his Pokéball. The burst of light took ages to materialize.
"Mega bolt!" I cried.
Draining his entire power supply into a single move. That was our only shot.
Any surprise the hybrid might have felt from being let out in midair flew right out the window the moment he saw why. He curled himself inward, sparks leaping off his fur, lightning dancing between his ears. Then the Pikachu spread his arms and fired off a giant lightning bolt right at the firebird. Moltres didn't react; it couldn't. But the lightning stopped it dead in its flight path, flames spilling out from its beak as it let out an agonized wail.
Holy crap, that was too close. I jerked my attention away from Moltres to see Chibi falling limply through the air. Swift looped around just long enough for me to recall the Pikachu, and then we were off again. Flying faster than I'd ever flown before. Diving down towards one of the exits in the audience stands, a doorway far too small for it to follow us through. We could duck out of sight before the firebird regained itself.
But then I heard the sound of giant wingbeats churning the air. I dared to shoot another glance back only to see the glint of flames not far behind us.
No. No, no no! He'd bought us a few seconds. But Moltres had already regained itself and was closing in once more. Swift strained his wings, flying faster than he'd ever flown, faster than either Firestorm or Aros could fly, but it wasn't enough.
No! We couldn't die here!
And then a high-pitched screech tore the air. I glanced back right as a searing orange and yellow beam shot from nowhere, striking the firebird right in its heart. It snapped its head in the direction of the blast. And then another beam lanced through the air, hitting it in the face. And then another. I turned as far as I could and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a small handful of trainers perched on the topmost platform of the audience stands, surrounded by Pokémon that I couldn't make out from this far.
Maybe they hadn't gotten the rangers' message. Maybe they didn't care. It didn't matter. All that did matter was that whatever small distraction they could provide was exactly the opportunity that Swift and I needed. But what if Moltres ended up killing them instead? I couldn't just let that happen, could I? But what the hell could I do to stop it?
Swift suddenly banked hard to the right, jerking my attention back to in front of us, and the Rockets that I'd somehow forgotten about during the panic with Moltres. They'd cut off our exit when we weren't looking. Altaria's attack missed, but that Flygon was way faster. A raging cloud of dragonfire exploded right into our flight path. No time to dodge. Swift raised a Protect, the flames dancing across the barrier. But the barrage kept coming without pause, a relentless bombardment of sparkling blue and green fire.
The Protect flickered, and then it was gone. Swift spread his wings, angling himself back so that I wouldn't be hit. The attacks struck once, twice, three times, and the Pidgeot recoiled backward, each impact sending shock waves reverberating through my body. My hands hurt from clenching his feathers. I felt my grip slipping with each blow he had to endure, but I held tight for dear life. Then an Ice Beam crashed against his face, sending a wave of cold rushing over my skin, and there was that awful, stomach-melting moment of weightlessness again.
Falling. The pair of us spiraling toward the ground, my hands holding tight with a death grip as the air rushed past. Struggling to reach for my Pokéball belt. Had to recall him, had to let out Firestorm, had to do something. But my hands trembled, missing their mark, and my vision had gone blurry, and my sense of space had dissolved into a dizzying spiral, and the last thing I saw was the flashing of wings in my peripheral vision, rapidly closing in on us. And in that moment, the only thing my brain managed to process was that they weren't Altaria's or Flygon's—they were a Dragonite's.