Chapter Three
CHAPTER III
Groaning, I woke up in the kitchen of the Pokémon Center, Ash and the others heaped onto the ground beside me like rag dolls. It grew hotter and hotter, and a weird smell came to my nose. Like some kind of fuel. Then it hit me. It was gas! The Pokémon Center was on fire! We had to get out of here.
I tried to get up, but something was holding my arms and legs together. I was bound at the hands and feet in a burning building!
I looked over and saw that everyone else was bound at the wrists and ankles, too. I untied the knot around my wrists with my teeth, and quickly untied my ankles. I Shook May and Max, who groaned and woke up.
“Huh, were are we?” May asked, drowsy. She looked once at the inferno surrounding us and jumped back, screaming in shock.
Everyone else woke up, struggling with their ties. Quickly, Max and I cut everyone free. Thick black smoke filled the room; we choked on it as we stood up.
“We’ve got to get out of here, the gas line is leaking! This place is gonna blow any minute!” Max shouted. Brock grabbed two Pokeballs from his jacket pocket.
“Mudkip, Lotad! Go!” In a blaze of light, two water Pokémon appeared. One had a blue fin on its blue head, orange gills on its cheeks, a small blue body with a with belly and light blue fin-like tail, it’s name was Mudkip. The other had a Lilly pad on its head, a small blue body and six small legs. It was a Lotad.
“You too, Mudders!” I called upon my Mudkip as well.
“Go, Use Water Gun on the door!” Sucking in air, Mudders, Mudkip and Lotad fired a jet stream of water that busted the door down, splitting into burning embers.
“Lets go!” we ran through the door, hurrying down the burning hall. The smoke was so thick; it was hard to see. We slowly made our way through the thick black smoke.
“I can’t see anything..” May coughed.
“Grab my hand, then May.” I said, sticking my hand through the smoke. She squinted, and faintly made out the shape of my hand and grabbed it firmly. Almost too firmly.
“Okay, I said grab my hand, not break it.” I said.
“Careful, you guys, the floorboards are weakened from the fire!” Brock called from the front. From between the floorboards, fire shot up periodically and May squeezed harder on my hand.
Taking a step forward, May stepped on a floorboard that snapped under her, falling through the floor ,wood splintering above and plummeting into the white hot inferno.
“Help!” She cried, hanging on to the edge of the hole. I grabbed her forearm and struggled. I tried hard to pull her up, but she was too heavy. She screamed and kicked her legs as I tried to hoist her onto the floor.
“Help me!” She screamed again. I panicked as I felt her and start to slip from her cloth glove. Suddenly, she slipped from my grip and fell, but I grabbed her forearm and held it with a death grip.
With a final lunging pull, pulled her up, the flames licking at her heels. Once she was on stable ground, we continued on, May grabbing my entire arm so she wouldn’t fall again. We came to a shattered window at the edge of the hall, the sky darkening into the evening.
“What now?” May asked. Ash pulled a yellow rope from his knapsack and tied one end to a light fixture on the wall and tossed the other end out the window.
“Okay, lets go.” Ash climbed out first, making it to the ground.
“Okay, come on!” Max climbed out the window, then Brock and Nurse Joy and Chansey.
Finally, I swung my leg over the windowsill and climbed out with May following behind me.
Above me, May carefully made her way down, slowly moving her hands and feet down the rope.
“Just take your time, May. You’ll be okay, I promise.” I said reassuringly. But suddenly
the fire quickly spread and reached to window, snapping rope, and sending us screaming and plummeting to the ground.
Quickly, I grabbed a hold some stone molding on the wall and grabbed May’s hand, we dangled feebly from a small growth on the stone wall, a look of extreme terror on May’s face. I tried to hide my emotion of terror, but she saw through it.
“Just hang on to my hand, May! Don’t let go!” I called, tightening my grip on my girlfriends hand.
“Don’t worry, I wont let go!” She awnsered with a hint of banter.
I tried to hold on as tightly as I could, but my hand slowly started to slip, the rough texture chafing my skin. I tried to pull us up, but I couldn’t pull the both of us up. Time was running out as we dangled in space.
On the ground, fire crews desperately tried to extinguish the flames, while our friends stood on the ground, watching helplessly, trying to think of a way to help us.
“Maybe Taillow can help!” Ash said, about to send out the tiny swallow Pokémon.
“Ash, Taillow is too small to carry them.” Brock said.
“Well, we’ve got to do something, he can’t hang on any longer!” Max exclaimed. Hanging on to the molding, time was running out as the stone molding started to crumble. Each piece of stone falling to the ground made my heart beat faster and faster. Then, I had an idea that I hoped to Latias would work.
“May, try to grab a pokeball from my belt! Hurry!” I said. She nervously reached up towards my belt and grabbed one, clicked the button to expand the metal sphere, and tossed it in the air and Torchic appeared on the ground.
“Uh-oh! Wrong one!” She panicked. She grabbed another, clicked the button and Ralts appeared beside Torchic. She grabbed a third one, and clicked the button, Beautifly floated above the ground.
Suddenly, I couldn’t hold on anymore and lost my grip, and we fell through the air, clinging to each other and screaming as we plummeted to the cold ground below us, waiting for the bone rattling landing that hopefully didn’t kill us.
Suddenly, we stopped falling, and I opened my eyes. We sat floating in the air, ten feet above the ground. Ralts used psychic to stop us from hitting the pavement. He lowered us to the sidewalk, we were just glad to be back on solid ground. May and I sat back to back on the ground, panting. It wasn’t everyday you nearly fall to your death from as three story window.
“are you guys okay?” Max asked us as they ran up to us.
“I’m fine. I just need to sit for a second.” My four Pokémon ran over to me and May, chattering happily. Pichu rubbed its head on my cheek and climbed on my head, lying on its yellow and black belly.
We stood up, Pichu still on my head.
“Team Magma did this to get rid of us once and for all.” Max said.
We turned and looked at the flames that engulfed the Pokémon Center, lighting up the night sky. Something told me that Team Magma had something to do with Mew’s bad condition. I wanted to know why they were so adamant about having Mew in their possession.
“Are you kids okay?” Officer Jenny asked as she ran up to us. I stood up, and pulled May up beside me. I recalled my three Pokémon.
“I’m fine. Are you, May?” I said. She smiled warmly.
“I’m fine.” May awnsered.
“Yeah, us too.” Ash said. Suddenly, Max’s Pokenav started to chime the theme from “Pokémon Advanced”. Unclipping it from his belt, he pressed the green button, and a small video screen came from inside the teardrop shaped device. On the screen was the face of a man with a goatee thing on his chin, a white lab coat over a blue shirt. It was Professor Birch of Littleroot Town.
“Professor Birch? What’s up?” Ash asked.
“Ash, Team Magma is outside my Laboratory trying to get in. They have what looks like Mew, a legendary Pokémon. Officer Jenny is trying her best, but I fear they may be after me for some reason.” He was cut off by an explosion and loud growling, “Hurry! I don’t have much time!” The Viv-message cut off and the screen turned to static.
“We’ve got to help!” Ash said.
“But Ash, we’re in Slateport, and the professor is in Littleroot. How are we supposed to get there? We wont get there in time!” Max said, pointing out the truth.
“Not exactly.” Said Officer Jenny, stepping in, “As a guardian for all things right, I have stowed away something that will help. Follow me.”
Running, we followed her to the Slateport Police Station, where she led us to the roof. Walking to a steel structure, she punched a code in a code on a glowing control panel.
“I’ve stowed this away for a while.” She said as the sliding door opened, revealing a jet black chopper parked inside the garage, With this we’ll be there in no time!”
With a roar, the black chopper raced through the air towards the town of Littleroot. We all sat inside, nervous, scared, but determined to find out what Team Magma was up to.
“Wow. Beautiful and with tech skills! Maybe when this is over we could go on our own flight of love..” Brock said, again being blown off.
“I hope we get there in time..” May said.
Outside the Lab in Littleroot, the illuminating moon centered high in the black midnight sky as the high speed chopper landed on the ground, not far from a red helicopter with a black ‘M’ logo which meant one thing; it belonged to Team Magma. We weren’t too late. The door of our chopper, and we burst out and quickly ran inside the lab. The lights were out, and several decorative plants and small tables were thrown to the ground, dirt and flowers scattered on the gray carpet.
“I hope the professor is okay.” May said, clinging to my shoulder.
“Well, as long as Team Magma is here, none of us are safe.” Brock said. We came to a door that was inconspicuously untouched. Pressing our ears to the door, we could hear two voices. One was a somewhat deep voice which we immediately recognized as Professor Birch’s voice. The other had the unmistakable tone of annoyance and frustration, and it hit me who it was; it was Maxie.
“Come on, let save the Professor, guys!” I said, unclipping a Pokéball from my belt, expanded it and held it in my hand.
“Yeah!” Everyone exclaimed at once.
Inside, Maxie was pacing back in forth in front of the Professor, trying to get some useful information from him, but he refused to say anything. he was growing impatient. Several grunts held the professor in his chair.
“Now I’m going to ask you one more time. What do you know about Groudon and what Mew has to do with all of this!” Maxie barked. The Professor just at there before saying:
“I don’t know what you plan to do, but I’m not going to help you for your own selfish gain!”
“Fine!” Maxie growled when suddenly the door splintered open as Foretress busted the door down, with the rest of us following it through the door. Maxie glared with rage at us.
“I though I got ride of you kids in Slateport! How did you survive!” He barked.
“That’s true, you would of gotten rid of us, but you forgot that we have our Pokémon with us! Now leave the Professor alone and give Mew back! Why did you take it anyway?” I exclaimed.
“You wouldn’t understand, and even if you did it would be way over your head!” Maxie sneered before he threw a Pokéball, a Mightyena appearing in a burst of light. On cue the three grunts released their Mightyena. Even though I have a fear of them, I was focused on the task.
“Mudders, Beautifly, Go!” I released my two Pokémon, who tensed their small bodies.
“Pikachu, lets go!” Ash said, and Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and joined Mudders and Beautifly.
“Torchic, Lets go!” May said, releasing the small fire-bird Pokémon, who joined the three in front of us.
“Lotad! Help us out!” Brock called upon the Water Weed Pokémon, who also joined the ranks of Pokémon.
“Mightyena, Shadow Ball!” Maxie called out.
“Water Gun!” Brock and I called. The two water Pokémon fired a powerful jet stream of water that deflected the Shadow Ball.
“Pikachu, thunderbolt!” Ash called to Pikachu, who leapt into the air and hurled out a sizzling bolt of electricity that slammed into the three Mightyena, causing them to howl in pain.
“Torchic, use Ember!” Torchic opened it yellow beak and shot dozens of red hot embers at Team Magma, burning everything the touched.
“Foretress, use you spikes attack!” Brock called. Foretress spun rapidly, shooting out dozens of spikes that slammed into the Mightyena, who collapsed onto the ground.
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s pull out.” Maxie ordered.
“Oh no you don’t, Beautifly, use String Shot!” Beautifly wrapped the four Magma goons in a white silk-like thread. “That got ‘em!” I said. But suddenly, Maxie cut through the thread with a dagger and threw a smoke bomb, shrouding the room in thick smoke.
Team Magma made their escape as we coughed and choked on the smoke.
“They’re getting away!” May choked. Quickly, we gave chase to the fleeing villains down the hall, jumping over the overturned tables as we chased them out the door. We emerged outside to find they were boarding the red helicopter.
“They’re getting away!” Ash cried.
“Not for long!” Professor birch said as he threw a quarter sized device that stuck to the bottom of the vehicle as it disappeared into the black midnight sky. We stood staring into the sky.
“Now we’ll never find them.” May whined.
“Not exactly, May. I managed to attach a tracer I use for research to that helicopter before it took off. I’ll be able to trace their position anywhere in the world!” The professor said.
As we gave chase in the night sky, the professor was able to clear up the foggy details.
“Team Magma is on a mission to summon Groudon, who can summon droughts, dry oceans and create landmass.” He explained.
“What does it have to do with Mew?” Max asked.
“Well, in order to summon Groudon, they need two things, the Indigo Orb and the most powerful attack from the worlds most powerful Pokémon. My guess is that they used some kind of technology to turn it’s attacks around and severely wound Mew, but it teleported away at the last moment, and that’s when you found it and all this started.” He finished.
“So my guess is that they already have the Indigo Orb. So now they’re headed to Groudon, but where’s that?” Max asked.
“Yeah, that not going to be easy to find.” Brock said.
“Well, there’s a place called the Cave Of Origin, where Groudon and Kyogre are said to slumber. But the location is said to be secret to only a select few.”
“Well, how are we going to find it then if its secret?” May asked.
“We let Team Magma lead us there, then we take them down once and for all!” I exclaimed.
The Helicopter gilded easily over the sapphire blue sea as the morning slowly came. The cabin of the craft was filled with the sounds of people sleeping; Officer Jenny had set the chopper on auto pilot so we could sleep, but I sat awake in my seat. I couldn’t sleep thinking what would happen if they succeeded.
“Something that powerful can’t be controlled.” I thought. I looked over to my right shoulder at May sleeping soundly with her arm around her little brother as he slept. I sighed and closed my eyes, stretched my arm around May and fell asleep. Everything would be sorted out later.
