So, I had far too much on my plate to write anything on Thursday, which is why it's coming out today. But, I finally have a new laptop now, so the number of mistakes should decrease. Also, because of the gargantuan amount of times I've changed my mind on this story's upload schedule. I've decided to just scrap it altogether. The schedule I mean, not the story. From now on, this will be updated whenever I feel like it. This should allow me the time to properly plan out chapters, and also work on other side projects at the same time. But anyway, on with the chapter.
Chapter 59:
Inferno of Fury
Ever since May left Drew at Lavaridge, she's spent her time camping out in the wilderness, keeping an ear out for anything related to Team Terra's actions. She's been keeping to the road mostly, sticking around Mt. Chimney in order to see if she can spot any signs of the terrorist group coming to collect their tech. She searched up the top of the mountain for the weapon they used to cause the Tremors, but it was already gone by the time she got up there. Whether by Interpol, The Hoenn police, or Team Terra, she doesn't know. So, with nothing else to go off of, she decides to search around the mountains for any sign of the weapon being moved. Now, she's on her third day of doing this. Dawn texted her to inform her that she and Zoey have gone back to Sinnoh, and Ash and Serena have headed back to Kalos, so she's on her own in this fight.
This afternoon, just after she finishes eating her lunch, she receives a call from Max. Thinking it may be about his latest attempt at a contest, she answers it cheerily, and is nearly deafened by his response. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!" he screams at her. May is utterly bewildered. after stopping her ears from ringing, she asks, "What are you talking about?" "You're hunting Team Terra!" he shouts. "And after calling my stupid for following their Admin as well!" May can't help but feel a bit bad for that. But at the same time, she's annoyed at Drew for telling him, and annoyed that Max is angry at her. "I have to!" she exclaims. "Like I told you, I have the powers of a Blaziken, of course I'm going to use them to put a stop to them! And this is totally different from that stunt you pulled in Petalburg, because you didn't bring your pokémon with you! You couldn't defend yourself, I can!" Max sputters at this, clearly trying to think of a good counter argument. Eventually, he just sighs. "Just, be careful, alright," he tells her. "Also, expect a call from mum and dad at some point."
May freezes at this. "YOU TOLD THEM!?" she demands. "Not yet," he assures her. "But you're going after an eco terrorist organisation alone, obviously they're going to need to know about this!" May sighs. She knows he's right, but she doesn't like it any more. "If you tell them about this, I'll tell them about how Team Terra is hunting you!" she snaps at him. Max clams up at this. Obviously he doesn't want his journey with Bonnie to end. "Alright fine," he says. "I won't tell them. But still, please don't do anything stupid!" May can't help but chuckle at this. "Bit rich coming from you," she says. "But I will. Thanks Max. How was your contest by the way?" Max doesn't say anything at this. "Eh, it went well," he says. She can immediately tell that he's dodging the question. "Max," she says. "What happened?" He tries to didge again by saying that Bonnie is calling him, but May shouts his name, and he finally spills, and tells her about Team Terra's attack on the contest.
May is amazed that they'd do something so bold. But then, it gives her an idea of where to start looking. So, she reassures Max that he did well, and that she doesn't blame him for it. No one does. Then, they end the call. Relieved that her brother is ok, and that he isn't about to tell their parents what she's doing, May grabs her Rotom phone and checks the map. She quickly finds the quickest route to Rubello from here, which unfortunately is just over half a week. To make it go quicker, she uses her Skarmory, her most recently caught pokémon, to fly her there as quickly as possible. It still takes her two days however, and by then Max and Bonnie have already moved on. Drew has also already left, needing to catch up on his ribbon collecting after spending all that time sulking. Disappointed as she was that she couldn't see him, May figures it's for the best that he isn't here.
She decides to scout out the scene of the attack in her normal clothes at first, to see what kind of information she can gather. Then, she'll return tonight in her Blaziken Mask outfit and try to gather anymore clues. When she steps into the Rubello contest hall, she's surprised to find that most of the rubble from the attack that Max described has been cleared away so quickly. True it has been 2 days, but she's still surprised. There's still a massive hole in the roof over the stage however, which has been taped off to prevent people from stepping onto it and hurting themselves. As she approaches the stage, she suddenly feels a hand on her shoulder. She turns around, ready to punch whoever it was, only to see that it's just a worker. "Sorry Miss," he says. "But we can't let you in here. It's too dangerous." May is tempted to use her name to get access, but decides it's probably not a good idea. So instead, she says, "Sorry, my brother was attacked here a few days ago, so I just wanted to take a look around to see what happened."
Perhaps May is just imagining it, but she thinks she sees a slight reaction to this information. But it's gone as soon as it came, so she isn't fully sure. "My apologies," he tells her. "I didn't recognise you Miss Maple. Rest assured, your brother is quite alright. He's the one who stopped the attack, along with his opponent. So you have nothing to worry about." May nods, then leaves the hall. But she doesn't leave the town. Instead, she checks herself into a room in the town's Pokémon Centre. She doesn't know why, but the way that worker was so quick to try to get her to leave raised a couple of alarm bells in her mind. So, she decides to go back into the building tonight and take another look around. But this time, she won't be going as May Maple. She will finally don her mask and investigate as The Blaziken Mask.
As night falls over Hoenn, May leaves her room and creeps across the rooftops of Rubello. She's wearing her new Blaziken Mask getup, and Blaziken is running beside her. Using their combined strength and skill, they manage to make it all the way to the contest hall without being seen. Once on the rooftop, May takes a quick look around to see if there's anybody in the building. Once she's positive there isn't, she drops into the building, Blaziken not far behind her. She turns her phone's torch on, and begins searching around the room for anything that might give her a clue on where to start looking for information on Team Terra. But unfortunately for her, there's nothing at all that points to Team Terra's whereabouts. Just as she's about to give up and go back to bed, she hears angry footsteps approaching. Quickly, she uses a tiny bit of Blaziken Mask power to leap up onto the support beams on the roof. She turns her torch off, then looks down at the door, just as the worker who stopped her earlier bursts through the door, dragging two people behind him.
At first glance, she doesn't recognise them. Then, she realises that it's Sarah and Sam, the two idiots who are particularly stubborn in their pursuit of her brother, that the worker is dragging. He throws them both to the floor, and they cower in fear at the sight of him. "What, the, Giratina, were, you two, thinking!" he whisper shouts at them. "You caused a huge scene in this town, and now the papers are swarming the place. It's all we can do just to keep them from discovering our base! Why on Earth did you attack this contest hall?" "I-It wasn't our intent!" Sarah replies. "We were merely trying to use the contest as a means to-" "I don't want to hear it!" the worker yells. "Thanks to your blunder, Max Maple is more on guard than ever! which means we may need to start taking drastic actions soon." "What do you mean by that?" Sam asks. "I mean, the Boss wants us to find a way to use the Tremors properly again," the worker replies. "To do that, we need to keep the attention on us low, which we cannot do when you pull stunts like that!"
Sarah shifts around to face the worker. "Sub-Admin P, please give us another chance!" she begs. Sam nods, also shifting around to look at him. "We won't do anything so drastic again! Please!?" Sub-Admin P sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "Fine," he says. "But if you do anything to jeopardise our operations, I will make damn sure you're shipped back to Kalos, understood?!" Sarah and Sam nod. "Good," P says, before turning away from them. "Now, I've got to go and report our progress to the base, get out of my sight before I hurt you!" Sarah and Sam nod, then skedaddle away. P sighs again, then stares at the hole in the ceiling the duo made. May crouches low, trying to remain out of sight. P stares at the hole for a few more seconds, then turns and exits the room. May climbs up out of the building through the hole and sneaks across the roof, until she finds Sub-Admin P as he quietly walks along the side of the building. May watches as he takes off the workers clothes, revealing the Team Terra uniform underneath. He stashes the disguise, then begins walking out of Rubello. May nods to Blaziken, then follows him.
She waits until she's sure he's alone, then turns to Blaziken. "Use the smallest Flamethrower that you can," she tells him. "Don't let it leave your mouth." Blaziken does that, while May focuses on her connection with him. Once she can feel the faint burning in her mouth, she leaps into action. Before P can even take out his radio, May pounces. She slams him into the ground, then picks him up by the neck and slams him into the wall of the Contest Hall. "Where is your base!" she demands, her voice becoming gravelly and unrecognisable thanks to Blaziken's flame in his mouth. "Why should I tell you that?" P replies, his voice shaking with fear despite what he said. "I will never tell you!" At this, May raises her fist and slammed it into the wall, with Blaziken doing the same, thus allowing it to catch fire and crack the wall. "The next time I do that will be into your face!she tells him. "So, I suggest you start talking!" P looks absolutely terrified at this, and spills his guts. "It's about 3km west of here," he squeaks. "In the forest, off the path. In a cave, a manmade cave!" May smiles at this. "Thank you for your cooperation," she tells him. Then, she lets him go. Before he can run away, she spins and high kicks him right in the face, knocking him out. Blaziken releases the flame in his mouth, which returns May's voice to normal. May bends down and picks up P's radio. Both she and Blaziken ignite their hands, and May crushes it. Then, they head off in the direction of the base P mentioned.
When they arrive at the cave, May and Blaziken have to quickly scramble up a tree, as there are a few guards at the entrance. May looks around, and spots a branch that hangs over their heads. So, she leaps to it, then uses her power to break it. It drops on some of the guards heads, knocking them out. Before the others can so much as shout for help, she and Blaziken leap onto them, taking them down in no time. Once the guards are on the ground, May undoes Blaziken's Mega form. "It'll be easier to sneak around this place by myself bud," she tells him. "But don't worry, if I need you, I'll summon you." Blaziken nods in understanding, then allows May to return him to his ball. Once Blaziken is safely attached to her belt, she heads inside the cave.
Despite being manmade, the cave is very jagged, and thus has plenty of hiding places for her. She sneaks around patrols of Team Terra goons, trying to find anything or anyone important. But there are so many branching hallways along this base that it would take her all night and then some to search through it all. So, she decides to just keep moving forward along the main hallway, keeping out of sight of patrols. Eventually, she arrives at a large metal door. "Well now, isn't this interesting," she whispers to herself, "I wonder what you've got in here for me then." She goes to summon Blaziken to break it open, when she hears the sound of footsteps. So, she changes her mind and retreats into the shadows. A few Team Terra agents walk up to the door, surrounding an important looking agent, no doubt another Sub-Admin. As May watches, the Sub-Admin pulls out a key card and swipes a panel on the side of the door. It opens, allowing everyone inside. May waits until everyone has gone through, then darts after them. She slides under the door just as it's closing. Her cape flies off as she does this, so she quickly snatches it from the other side of the door, reattaches it, then slips into the shadows once again.
Inside this room is like a war room from those old war movies her parents sometimes watch. There's a large table in the centre, with a map of Hoenn on it. All over the map are red dots, which May can only assume are other bases. "Jackpot," she whispers. She looks around and sees somewhere she can hide from everyone in the room. It's a cross beam that stretches over the table. So, she quickly and quietly climbs up to it, then perches herself on top of it to listen in. The grunts all gather around the table, with the Sub-Admin standing at the centre, leaning over the map. Where he stands, Mt. Chimney sits, with a red marker on it.
"How much have the police managed to take?" he asks. No one speaks, which makes him slam his hands on the table. "Answer me!" he shouts. "M-Most of the tech from the base, sir," says one of the grunts. "We managed to save the weapon, but they took everything else." The Sub-Admin looks like he wants to throw everything on that table onto the floor, but he resists the urge by clenching his fists instead. "I want you to double the security on every single base we have," he says quietly. "If they managed to find a way to track our other bases, we must make sure they can't destroy them!" Everyone nods, then the Sub-Admin pulls out a new marker and places it in the centre of the map. "Admin Bannai wants us to use the Tremors again," he explains. "He has a plan to draw Maple out once more. I want all bases across the region to work double time to make sure we can get the weapon working again! Am I clear!" "YES SIR!" everyone announces. The Sub-Admin nods, then dismisses them.
As May watches them do this, she pulls out her phone and carefully sticks it out over the beam, allowing the camera to see the entire map of all the bases. She quickly takes a picture, then goes to leave, when a new idea strikes her. Instead of leaving, she gently lowers herself back down to the ground, then quickly slips into the shadows once more. Then, she sneaks around the base, listening in on conversations. At last, she found what she was looking for. A pair of grunts are carrying a pack of explosives to the armoury. She follows them, and waits until they've opened the door to it before striking. Quick as a flash, she summons Blaziken and Mega Evolves him, before using her power to knock them both out. With them down, she starts up the next phase of her plan. Opening the bag of explosives. Then, she places them all along the walls of the armoury and primes them. She sets a timer for 5 minutes, then quickly runs out of the room, making as much noise as possible to alert the grunts of what she's done. Just because they're evil doesn't mean they deserve to die.
She tears through the base as fast as she can, Team Terra in hot pursuit. She knocks things over several times and even runs on the support beams at a few points just to stay ahead. Down below, she can hear bits and pieces of conversation, all trying to identify her. But she doesn't give them the chance to get a good look at her, and keeps on running. By now, the bombs are almost ready to go off, so she and Blaziken put on bursts of speed, causing their arms and legs to erupt in flames and them to run a lot faster. Then, they burst out of the cave and disappear into the trees. Team Terra try to shoot her, but they can't find her. Just as the last of the members of the group leaves the cave, the sound of an explosion can be heard, and the base completely caves in, The Sub-Admin stares at the ruins of his base with utter fury. "Find out who that was," he tells his troops, "and bring them to me! Alert the other bases. There's a masked vigilante going after us!" Then, he storms off. May smirks at her handiwork as she returns Blaziken to his ball. Then, she sneaks off back to her room in the Pokémon Centre to get some sleep, then plan which base she'll take down next.
Well, that was a fun one. There's going to be more of those May focused chapters throughout this fic, kinda like the Ash ones in Kalos, except more frequent I believe. Writing May's powers is a lot of fun too. But, anyway, I have nothing more to say in these notes, so I'll just see you whenever the mood to write next strikes me.