Journey

Death of Duty

Part 4: A Fuschian Safari

Ambush

Hidden foes often begat hidden tricks. — Unknown

It looked like Pride. His eyes, his horn, the same spikes running down the nidoking's flanks. Except the pokemon's head had been nearly torn from its body. A deep gash was rent into the king's armoured side, a bloody mess peeking out from under the pokemon. I shied back, putting my hand over my mouth as I fought back a gag.

Reyes was a violent shade of green at my side, fighting back the urge to puke. Wertz lost that same battle behind him, emptying the contents of her stomach into the dirt. I didn't blame her, I could barely stomach the scene either.

Harding stirred from the centre of the slaughter and waved us over. She heaved once and flipped the corpse with a grunt of effort. She bent over the body, examining the deep wounds on the nidoqueen's chest.

"Find anything interesting?" I asked, picking my way through the carnage. My gaze found a nidorino whose neck had been snapped. I averted my eyes, focusing on Harding.

She bent over the corpse, examining the wound. "Maybe," she said. "What the hell is this doing here?" She pulled a wicked looking claw from the ruined armour.

I looked closely at the claw. "I'm not sure," I said. I held out my hand, taking the claw. "It looks almost draconic. It's kind of similar to Artemis' talons." I glanced up at Harding as she took back the claw. "Are there any dragons in the Safari Zone?"

"There's not supposed to be. There used to be a dratini colony along the north shore, but they're supposed to have cleared off nearly fifteen years ago," she replied. She pocketed the claw and looked around nervously. "I don't like this. This wasn't a spat between packs, or a meeting of different predators. This was a slaughter." She nervously looked back at me. "We have to put distance between us and this place. Can Artemis carry two?"

I glanced up at my aerodactyl. "Not for long. Even just me is more than she can comfortably carry for long."

"Could she carry two of us to the river?"

I raised an eyebrow. Something had Harding very worried. "Maybe. It'd have to be me and Wertz. Reyes is definitely too heavy."

"I heard that," Reyes said. "I'll have you know that it's all muscle." He slapped his stomach jovially, trying to lighten the mood. But his grin faltered as he approached us and I could see the fear in his eyes.

Wertz was behind him, her eyes wide. She couldn't look away from the carnage, her gaze flickering from corpse to body then back. "Can we go?"

Harding nodded and beckoned to her fearow. The massive avian bent down, preparing to let Harding mount her. "Rendezvous five clicks south on the river. Try not to draw any undue attention on the way." She looked out at the slaughter and grimaced. "We don't need this happening to us too. I got a bad feeling that whatever did this is still around."

She swung herself up onto her fearow and reached down to Reyes. The corporal took her hand, sitting directly behind her.

I whistled once and Artemis bounded over to us. I raised Luna's ball and recalled her. "Get on," I said to Wertz. "Hold onto the spike. This might be a little bit rough."

I clambered onto Artemis' back and held tight to Wertz. She was small, smaller than me by at least a foot and forty pounds. I squeezed Artemis' flanks with my ankles and felt her tense up. "Hold on tight.

Artemis flung herself into the air, flapping madly to gain altitude. I could feel her straining, her wings barely able to keep us aloft. Wertz let out a squeal, holding tightly to my bucking aerodactyl.

I craned my neck around Wertz, a pit growing in my stomach. We weren't up high enough. Artemis wasn't gaining altitude fast enough. "Artemis, up!" I roared.

She flapped for all she was worth, wings beating furiously. I saw the treeline coming. We still weren't rising fast enough. I squeezed Artemis' flanks with my heels and closed my eyes.

"Ohshitohshitohshitohshit!" Wertz squealed.

Artemis forced us higher through sheer will. I opened my eyes as we cleared the trees, holding in a terrified gasp as we soared just above the trees.

"I can see the river!" I half-shouted. I leaned forward, pointing at the gap in the trees as Wertz braced herself against my chest. "Up, Artemis! Up!"

She redoubled our efforts, gaining slightly more altitude. But her wing beats were sloppy, haphazard efforts that were tiring her more than helping. We dipped slightly as Artemis' started gliding rather than actively flying.

I wrapped my arms around Wertz and pulled her close. The river was fast approaching, but Artemis wasn't maintaining her altitude. We'd hit the trees before we hit the river. "Get ready to bail. We're not gonna make it."

I heard the snap-crash of Artemis hitting the treetops and tipped back as she wildly attempted a landing. Her talons wrapped around a sturdy looking branch and crashed through it as she misjudged its strength. We plummeted almost twenty feet as Artemis scrabbled madly at the tree trunk, smashing her way through the branches on the way down.

My world tipped backwards and I felt myself tip upside down as I was flung from my aerodactyl's back. I caught a glimpse of Artemis clinging to a fork in the tree trunk, Private Wertz still hopelessly clutching to the spike on her back. Then I flipped back around, twigs and sticks scratching at my face as I tumbled towards the earth and wrapped myself around a branch.

I groaned, looking nervously over at the base of the branch. I felt it bend, felt the branch struggling to hold my weight. I swung my legs, trying desperately to reach a lower branch before I fell. I never got the chance.

The branch snapped a moment later, dropping me the rest of the way to the ground. I landed heavily on my back, driving the wind from my lungs and laying there stunned.

My earpiece crackled with the sound of Reyes' raucous laughter. "I gotta say, Rook. That may have been the worst landing I've ever seen. And I watched McCulloch train that skarmory of his."

I reached up to my earpiece, groaning with the movement. I could hardly breathe, but I couldn't let that jab stand. "Eat shit, muscle man."

Artemis was a surprisingly strong swimmer. She cut through the water with smooth serpentine movements, like she was more comfortable there than in the air. I watched her set upon the krabby from above, crunching through its thick carapace with hardly an effort. She came back up, bits of the crustacean's shell stuck to her jaws.

"She's a strong swimmer," Wertz remarked as she ducked under a low-hanging branch. "Almost like she prefers it to flying."

"Aerodactyl are actually very strong swimmers. Their wings aren't built for sustained flight.." I shrugged and my mind went to my team composition not for the first time. "I might not even need a water type with her around," I said. "She hasn't had a problem with one yet, and I have no clue what I'd want in a water type anyways."

She shot me a raised eyebrow. She'd spent some time after retiring from her League Challenge as a broadcast analyst. Despite her weaker team, she was an expert team builder with a keen eye for strategy. She'd dropped in on a few of my evening training sessions back in Vermillion. I knew that whatever she had to say was worth listening to. "Mind some advice from a former League analyst?"

"Always up for a new perspective," I replied.

"Your team is unbalanced," she said bluntly. "You have nothing that can counter bulky water types. You're lucky that Misty was the second gym you challenged, because I don't think you could beat her intermediate team as it is right now."

My fists balled up as I remembered that battle. Pride had won it for me after Luna had confused Misty's starmie. It was the first time that my stubborn nido had impressed me. "I did recently lose my main water counter."

I saw her grimace and realized that she hadn't meant to upset me. She paused, speaking slowly and carefully. "Which, my condolences, but he was never a true counter. Especially as a king with the partial ground typing. Your nidorino won that battle with a hope and a prayer. Having effective move coverage is not the same as having a true counter. You were outsped and outgunned and you got lucky."

I thought for a long moment, watching Artemis slice through the water in pursuit of an orange and black blur. She might be good in the water, but Wertz was right. I was practically hopeless against bulky water types. "What do you suggest?" I asked. "I only have one slot left, and I was hoping to fill it with a water type. Now you're telling me that I need a counter against water types."

It was her turn to shrug. "That's the challenge of team building. There's always a weakness for your opponent to exploit. It's just up to you to cover those weaknesses."

I went silent, lost in thought as I ran through the possibilities I'd originally considered for Erika's offer before I had settled on an aerodactyl. "I had originally looked for a piplup, or a totodile. Would either have been better choices?"

She pondered my question for a moment. "Either one would add some bulk to your team. It's something that you're sorely lacking outside of Curie and arguably Acolyte." She ducked under another fallen tree that was blocking the trail and stepped onto the small beach. My squadmate turned to face me as I followed her, still thinking intently. "Piplup would probably be a better choice, simply for better type coverage. Both are excellent choices, even if you'd be breaking the bank to acquire either of them."

Artemis tramped onto shore, a bloody fin sticking out of her jaws. She tossed back her head and gulped down the flailing pokemon. I caught a glimpse of gold and orange before the mangled magikarp disappeared into her maw. She looked back at me, her tongue flopping happily out of her bloody jaws.

I glanced back at Wertz as her aipom swung down from a tree, chattering madly. "Maybe I'll get Silph to shell out fo-"

It hit her from the side, moving so quickly that it was barely even visible. A pale, creamy blue blur took her from the side, fangs sinking deep into Wertz's shoulder as she opened her mouth to speak. She reached up, confusion crossing her face as the pain registered. Her hand came away from her neck covered in blood as the serpent coiled itself around her and her aipom.

I came out of the horrified trance as the pokemon tore its fangs free, spraying me with Wertz's blood. I activated my comm unit, my eyes widening as the misshapen pokemon unfurled its wings and stretched up to its full height. Wertz hit the ground, clutching desperately at her neck as the dragonair slithered over her. Her aipom stumbled away, collapsed less than a foot away as his pulverized bones gave out.

"Wertz is down!" I shouted into the comm as I shouldered my rifle. I didn't gave a shot around Wertz. She met my eyes and I watched as the light in her eyes faded away. "Confirmed Rocket experiment."

The half-evolved dragonair hissed at me, extending its forearms and raising its wings. Its body was still mostly serpentine, but the Rocket experiment had done a number in its evolution. A dragonite's forearms sprouted from beneath a pair of working wings that stretched abnormally far even for a dragonite. Two small stubs that could have been legs protruded from its flanks, bloody trails running down its sides from the unfinished limbs. One of its front claws was missing, snapped off at the base. I had no doubt that this monstrosity had been responsible for the nido massacre.

I heard the crackle of my radio as Harding responded in a panicked voice. I lost the words in a garbled mess as the half evolved dragon rumbled a low, angry threat.

I saw it tense up and felt a thunderous rumble from behind me. I threw myself to the ground as Artemis launched herself over me, pouncing on the dragon before it could launch. They spun off, hissing and snapping at each other as they battled for dominance.

I rolled away, coming up with a pair of balls in my hands. My rifle was too dangerous and unwieldy to use in the midst of a battle like this. Luna and Acolyte were out in a flash as the dragon tangled with Artemis. They separated a moment later, Artemis nursing a wicked deep gash on her shoulder.

I stared down the dragon, stepping behind my trio of pokemon. I activated my comm and set my feet in the dirt. This thing was dangerous, it was violent, and it had proved irreparably hostile to humans. It needed to be put down. More than our mission to find Rocket, the Rangers were about protecting people from wild pokemon. I knew what I had to do. I knew what my duty was. "I'm engaging."

The dragon hissed and launched before I could issue an order. Acolyte leapt into action, leaping in front of Luna before the dragon could sink its fangs into her. The dragon flared his wings and flapped once, launching over my marowak.

I threw myself into a roll and abandoned my rifle in the dirt, realizing that the beast was aiming directly for me. Acolyte pivoted, following the dragon's jaws patiently. It lunged for me, fangs outstretched for my side. Acolyte jabbed with his club, snapping the beast's jaws shut and knocking it off course. It plowed into the dirt, slithering out of Acolyte's club range.

I rolled to my feet, already pivoting to face the dragon. Vector's ball was in my hand as I came up, releasing my massive bug at my side as I started issuing orders.

"Artemis, keep it on land. Acolyte, disable those wings."

I glanced over at Luna. "Long range harass. Confuse wisp barrage."

My gaze shifted to my eager heracross. He smashed his fists together, eyes locked on the murderous dragon. "Vector," I started. He looked back at me and I saw fire in his eyes. "Go for the head."

The dragon hissed, rearing back. I saw blue fire glowing in its jaws and threw myself to the ground. Azure flames tore overhead as my pokemon scattered. Vector and Artemis soared into the air, getting above the dragonbreath as Acolyte deflected most of it away with a spinning club.

Luna hacked up a ball of eerie blue flame. It split into a dozen smaller fireballs, all of them spinning off in the dragon's direction. It hugged its wings and coiled around itself, tanking the wisps on the outside of its wings. Luna joined my side as the dragon uncoiled and hissed at her angrily.

Artemis landed behind the dragon, cutting off its escape into the river. She advanced, her body low to the ground and preparing to pounce. A feral growl escaped her jaws and I saw the claws on her powerful forelimbs extend.

Acolyte plodded forward, his club in a ready position. The dragon glanced from my marowak to my aerodactyl behind it, something akin to fear flashing in its reptilian eyes. It hissed warily as Luna blocked its route further down the beach, retreating into a defensive stance and glancing nervously between my three pokemon.

"Now!" I roared.

Acolyte reared back, pitching his club with all his might. It spun through the air as Artemis launched herself off the ground at the dragon. It batted Acolyte's club away with a powerful forearm, spinning to face Artemis as she bore down on it.

My aerodactyl hit the dragon while it was still turning, clamping her jaws over the base of its left wing. The dragon screeched in pain, driving its claws into Artemis' exposed flank with the fury of a trapped beast. She released her hold, swiping at the dragon to keep it back as she shielded her side with her wing.

The dragon seemed to sense his superiority and drew itself higher, dragonfire beginning to leak from its jaws. Artemis shrunk back, shielding the wound on her side as best she could.

Acolyte snatched up his fallen club, charging the dragon as its attention focused solely on Artemis. He leapt into an overhead smash, aiming for the base of the dragon's outstretched left wing. His aim struck true, and the beast shrieked in pain as it coiled back onto itself. Acolyte kept up his assault, leaping into another downward smash.

The dragon used its serpentine tail like a whip, wrapping around Acolyte's throat and catching him in mid-air. It turned as it coiled its tail around my marowak's throat, azure fire dripping from its jaws.

Artemis whimpered slightly, drawing back as the dragon bathed her in fire. Her tail wrapped tighter and I heard Acolyte desperately gasping for air as he abandoned his club and clawed at the scaly tail throttling him.

"Luna, psychic!" I ordered.

My ninetales' eyes flashed at my side, and I felt my vision swim momentarily as the psychic blast tore across the battlefield. It smashed the dragon from the side, tossing him bodily to the earth. Acolyte went flying, bouncing free of the dragon's grip and sliding to a halt in the sand.

Artemis pounced again as Acolyte hit the ground. She descended on the dragon's prone form, ripping and tearing at anything her teeth and claws could reach. He flailed and wildly swiped at Artemis, but my aerodactyl had the dominant position. She clamped her jaws over the base of his left wing again, ignoring the trio of deep gashes he tore into her side.

The dragon shrieked in agony as Artemis tore the already broken left wing from its body with a triumphant growl. It flailed madly, writhing underneath Artemis in a desperate attempt to free itself.

Its tail found purchase around Artemis' neck, wrenching my aerodactyl backwards. It slammed her into the ground, reversing their positions in a single move. Artemis struggled valiantly, but the dragon had her pinned.

I returned Artemis to her ball, leaving the dragon looking around in confusion. I looked to the sky, ready to end the battle before the dragon could deal any more damage. "Now!" I roared to the sky.

A loud buzzing filled the air. My heracross finally made his triumphant entrance to the battle, streaking across the sky like a meteor. Nothing could stop Vector at full speed, at least nothing we'd ever faced before could.

The dragon turned too slowly, failing to acquire the new attacker before he was in range. It looked up at the sky as Vector swung low and drove his horn in under the dragon's jaw. His horn punched through the soft scales, skewering the beast's brain as it punched out the top of its skull.

I stood there for a moment, waiting for it to retaliate one last time, or spring back to life. Vector dropped the mutated dragon to the ground, pulling his horn free with no small amount of effort. I let out a breath and felt my hands start to shake as the adrenaline started to wear off. I knelt down, retrieving my rifle from the dirt and warily scanning the river bank.

Luna touched my hand with her nose, pulling me back to the current crisis. Artemis was wounded. I lifted her ball, releasing her in front of me. She bared her teeth, growling in fury.

"Calm, girl. It's just me." My voice was low and slow, something I'd learned was somewhat effective in calming Artemis down. It was still not perfect, but the primal instincts of ancient pokemon made training them doubly difficult. Artemis was difficult at the best of times. After a brutal battle like that, while she was still in the thrall of her rage, she was almost impossible to calm.

She bared her teeth at me, forgetting the dominance I'd spent over a month cultivating in her primal rage. I slowly lifted Curie's ball, releasing her beside me.

I held out my hand, making sure my movements were slow and smooth so I didn't spook my aerodactyl. "Egg me," I said calmly.

Curie pulled a large oval egg from her pouch, putting on her serious face as she handed it to me. She took pride in her position as team medic, and continuously proved herself stronger than I expected. She saluted me with her stubby arms as I took the egg, before collapsing into childish giggling.

I sighed heavily, letting a smile come to my face. "Thank you, Curie."

I turned back to Artemis, trying to keep my voice and demeanour non threatening. I cracked open the egg and slathered half the contents onto the wound on her side.

Artemis' eyes lit up as the pain receded. She looked at me, her eyes full of regret. I could tell that she was back.

"You didn't hurt me," I said. I'd learned very early on that she had a nasty tendency to slip into some kind of mindless rage if she was seriously hurt. She had almost killed Acolyte the first time she had lost control, something that clearly weighed heavily on her mind.

"You're actually the only one who got hurt," I continued. I raised the egg, holding it carefully so I didn't lose any of the precious healing liquid inside. "Lift your wings. I need a better look at that."

My aerodactyl knew better than to protest.

Harding arrived fifteen minutes after I finished tending to Artemis. She slipped off her fearow's back, ignoring Reyes' happy exclamation upon landing.

"Walk me through it," she said calmly.

I gestured to the end of the beach. Wertz was still laying where she had fallen, her aipom less than a foot away from her. I hadn't had the heart to move them. They were friends. It felt wrong. "We were on our way to the rendezvous point. It came out of nowhere. She never had a chance."

Harding rolled Wertz's body over, taking great care to close her eyes one last time. She looked over at Reyes, her expression solemn. "Dig her a grave."

We turned as Reyes released his ryhorn, approaching the dragon's corpse. I could see Harding holding the severed claw in her hand. She stopped dead, staring down at the dragon in disbelief. "Are those wings?"

"Yes," I replied. "I'm guessing it was a dragonair before the evolution was triggered. Probably a member of that colony that you said was long gone." My expression was solemn and my voice low. "It was fast," I said quietly. This dragon should have been allowed to evolve naturally, to be its majestic self. Instead it was perverted into some misshapen monster. "and smart. The partial evolution didn't seem to affect its fighting ability. If anything, it made it more deadly."

"They're getting better," she said plainly. "Closer to actually forcing evolution."

"I don't get it," I said. "What's the end goal? Why force random wild pokemon to evolve?"

She was silent for a moment, lost deep in thought. "It's not the wild pokemon they care about. It's the device. They're testing the device. For what, I don't know, but we have to stop them before it's ready." She looked back at me, solemn mourning in her usually fiery gaze. "For Talyn's sake."

I nodded, turning back to our fallen comrade. "For Talyn."

We buried Talyn Wertz under a tree at the edge of the beach, deep enough that she'd go unnoticed by wild pokemon. Reyes carved an epitaph into the tree and the three of us saluted the makeshift grave. I swore I saw tears at the edge of Harding's eyes, but they were gone when I looked back. None of us dared to speak, reserving the silence in Wertz's respect.

We made camp maybe four clicks south of that beach. Reyes took first watch as I built our fire and Harding hunted down our dinner. We ate the charred doduo in silence, the crackling of the fire and the distant cries of wild pokemon the only sounds.

Harding checked in with the other teams just before I drifted off to sleep. McCulloch and team two had suffered a few injuries dealing with a mutated exeggutor, but were essentially unharmed. Team three had actually come across one of the Rocket devices, abandoned in a clearing. They marked the location for retrieval and had pushed further south than either of the two teams.

I drifted off into a fitful sleep. Winged dragonair loomed in my dreams, hissing and spitting at me. I woke with a start as Harding gently tapped my shoulder for the watch change.

It was maybe two hours into my watch. I could see the sun starting to brighten the horizon. Luna sat faithfully at my side, asleep but still there.

The radio screamed to life, crackling and whining with static. The static cleared for a brief moment and I heard the unmistakable sound of a human scream. I cranked the volume, listening as the static screamed back through the radio.

"Status report!" shouted a voice through the static. "Identify yourself!"

A few garbled words echoed through the interference. Then it cleared and I could hear the unmistakable sound of someone breathing heavily over the line. "They're in the forest," said the voice in a hushed whisper. "They've been watching us."

"Who's watching us?" McCulloch roared. I could hear more voices on his end and I realized that the rest of his squad was awake now.

I scrambled to my feet, shouting for Captain Harding as I brandished the radio in her face.

"They took everyone else," said the voice. "Don't let them-"

The voice shrieked in pure fear and Harding sat straight up. She stared at me blankly for a moment, before snatching the radio from me.

"No! Get back! Get back! Get away from-"

The transmission devolved into screaming static and then faded entirely. I sat back against the tree I had been sitting against, looking nervously at Harding.

The radio crackled to life. "This is Sergeant McCulloch. Any Rangers listening, sound off."

The Captain raised the radio. "Harding here. It was squad three."

"Crap," McCulloch spat. "I thought I recognized Matt's voice. Everyone alright over there?"

She glanced up at me. "Rook's a little green around the gills. Reyes didn't even budge."

"Why am I not surprised," McCulloch responded. "Orders, Captain?"

She sighed and I saw the burden of command etched on her face. She sighed long and hard. "Continue due south at first light. We'll rendezvous with you after we investigate squad three's camp."

There was a long pause on the other end. "Roger that, Captain." He paused again and I got the feeling he was unsure about something. "We're all up over here. We're gonna head out now, get an early start."

She nodded absently. "Copy that. Keep in touch, Ian."

"Will do ma'am."

The line went dead and Harding stifled a yawn. She got to her feet, stretching her limbs. "Wake up Reyes," she ordered. She pulled a bulky satellite phone from her pack and started dialing.

"Reyes," I said. I kicked him in the shoulder, jolting him awake. "Get up. We're moving."

He groaned, rolling onto his back and blinking at the brightening sky. "Where is the sun?" he asked miserably. "Why is the sky still dark?"

I grimaced. "Something happened to squad three. We're going to check it out."

He blinked away the sleep, sitting up in his bedroll. "On foot?" he asked hopefully.

I shook my head. "Probably flying."

Harding got to her feet and slung her pack over her shoulder. "Fuchsia Command never got word from Surge."

Reyes and I turned to look at her, confusion clear on our faces.

"This mission wasn't a tip," she continued. "It was a trap. And we walked right into it." She set her jaw and the lines in her face went hard. "Koga betrayed us. He set us up."

Reyes got to his feet, hastily stuffing his bedroll back into his pack. "What's our move, Captain?"

She grinned fiercely, like she'd gotten a wicked idea. "We spring the trap," she said mischievously. "On our terms." She raised a ball, releasing her fearow beside her. "Let's go make Koga regret his decision."

Pokédex Entry #148 – Dragonair

This almost mythical pokemon has long been said to possess weather controlling abilities. Ancient cultures revered these pokemon as rain bringers and often left offerings in the lakes that the dragonair originally lived in.

Due to expansion of human activity and the subsequent pollution issues, most dragonair have fled to the seas in search of cleaner waters. Some remote sanctuaries remain, but these pokemon now make their colonies in the various archipelagos and island chains southeast of Kan-Jo.

Intermediate Trainer KT#07996101

Indigo Ranger Corps, Special Task Group, "Zapdos" Squad,

Private First-Class SN# 109-512-6591, Marcus Wright , current team:

Luna, Ninetales

Acolyte, Marowak

Vector, Heracross

Curie, Chansey

Artemis, Aerodactyl