EDIT: I'm not bumping the thread! It's just that when I first posted this an internal server 500 kept on happening when I tried to fix up some mistakes! I'll go and delete the other post now! Don't worry!
Arrgh, this thing took so long to write and correct. School stress and personal problems did not help, but once the school holiday came around I was able to relax a little and finish this properly.
Chapter 14--A Storm is Brewing...
Defence Scarf—looks like a normal white scarf, but enables you to defend better. One way to tell it apart from normal white scarves is to try and dye it in a different colour—a genuine Defence Scarf resists coloured dyes. They cannot resist mud, blood and dirt however, so it’s still necessary to clean them on a regular basis.
--Pokepedia Section 3: Items
A parent’s worst fear is losing their children.
And two members from the police force of Treasure Town were certainly feeling the pressure. Sheriff Lucario and Officer Swampert had overcome their first obstacle—the tall grass of Amp Plain was now behind them. What lies ahead was a terrain with tall rocks protruding everywhere—it seemed like someone went crazy and began using Earth Power repeatedly, thus forming the landscape in front of them. But there was one thing for certain— danger could leap out where they would least expect it.
Lucario kneeled down and place his hand on the ground; he remained in the position for a few minutes before informing his partner, “We’re almost there.”
“Are you sure about this, sir?” there was a hint of urgency in Officer Swampert’s voice.
The blue and black jackal nodded, “The Mafia Angels normally don’t mingle in amongst locals. This area has little Pokémon activity, so I’m guessing not many of the locals come here.”
“Sir...” the Swampert didn’t know what to say next. Physically, he was strong, with his trunk-like blue arms, sturdy legs and a fearsome appearance. But on the inside, it was a completely different story.
Out of all the outlaws who could’ve kidnapped Katherine and Penny, he thought,
why the Mafia Angels? I never faced them before, but their reputation, and that incident... what if...
“What’s wrong?” asked Sheriff Lucario, turning to his partner.
“N-nothing,” he said quickly, thinking,
now it’s not the time to be weak, you idiot!
The sheriff’s red eyes were piercing through him with reproachfulness, “Swift, please don’t take me as a fool,” he said, “I can sense your feelings.”
That made Swampert jump; he muttered a quick apology and turned away, embarrassed.
“Look, it’s fine to be worried!” said Lucario, comforting his comrade, “To be honest, I felt the same too.”
Officer Swampert, or Swift as he’s commonly known by everyone at the station, did not answer, taking more interest on the ground in front of him.
“I’m serious,” he continued, sighing, “Don’t think I’m saying it just to cheer you up. You know how much Penny meant for me.”
As he finished saying that, the sheriff twitched his mouth and gripped at a rock he was holding. He was partly lying, because he never knew how much Penny had meant for him, until now. He was supposed to be on the camping trip, but as the head of the police force, he could not simply just go off on a holiday like that. Instead, he called on Officer Charlie and went back to his work.
And now, this! Maybe I should’ve called on another officer to go with him, or even better, if I went with Charlie... maybe none of this would happen. All we can do now is rescue them. The sheriff thought, he crouched down and flicked the rock out of his paw.
The two of them continued on contemplating about the events that happened, until Officer Swampert finally broke the silence, “Sir? Can I please ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Quit reading my thoughts!” he chortled, giving Lucario a friendly slap on the back, “It’s creepy!”
“I will if you stop being depressed,” said the half-amused sheriff, “And correction, I can only sense your feelings, I can’t read minds.”
“I still think it’s kind of scary, sir,” replied Officer Swampert, scratching his head, a sheepish grin plastered across his face.
Lucario shrugged, thinking,
I haven’t seen him like this ever since the blackmail arrived, we really needed this kind of spirit. After all, he smiled,
we can’t let the enemy see our weakness.
**********
He could hear the wind whoosh past his ears, accompanying the raindrops in nature’s symphony. Because of the excessive rain in the last couple of days, every part of the forest was so drenched in Kyogre’s spells it’s practically impossible to find a dry place. Vision was a problem from the heavy rain, where raindrops stung his eyes about every five seconds. He tried squinting, but everything appeared to him as a mass of brown, green and blue colours, like an infant’s drawing.
“Hang on there, boy! We’re almost there!”
The words brought a little relief, knowing that he was clinging onto someone, and whoever it was, they were moving very fast, resulting in him bouncing up and down his or her back.
It was hard to hang on, and, eventually, he lost his grip when that someone tripped over. There was an alarmed yell, a somewhat exhilarating airborne momentum lasted for a second before he was flung into the raging and unforgiving water.
The water blinded him as he bobbed up and down helplessly. He didn’t know how to swim, so the best he could do was to flail around like a pathetic Magikarp. Just as his consciousness was about to slip away from all the water rushing into his head, luck was on his side: his paw came across a large piece of floating bark, in which he made a desperate grab at and managed to hang on.
He struggled to stay afloat for the next few minutes; sobbing uncontrollably, his face had fear written all across it as he peeked out from behind the floating bark. He didn’t need a clear vision to know he was in big trouble: several metres in front of him were water, flowing down to what seemed to be the edge of the world.
A familiar voice was calling out to him, but the torrent was sapping his strength. He wanted to raise his arm and call back, but he was too exhausted as the waterfall edged in closer, and closer...
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
“Dude, you’re awake! Finally!” a masculine voice called out.
Oliver could felt himself lying on his back; his body was covered in cold sweat, his heart beating wildly against his chest.
I... I was drowning! In the water! Am I... dead? He looked at his arms to see if he had turned transparent but they appeared as a blur of green to him.
A sudden headache cleared up the answer to his question.
Urgh, that was terrible... he thought. Groaning, he supported himself up with an elbow and began massaging his head.
The same voice continued, “What a scream, man! You should try out for the opera!”
“What... no, I’m a terrible singer... ” Oliver uttered a reply as the greyness around him started to take shapes, giving him the impression he was in a cave. The bed he was on felt hard, and not even the straws placed underneath could disguise the fact it was made out of flat stone.
A cup was forced into his hands, “Drink up,” said the voice, “You looked like you just came back from hell.”
“Well, I felt like I’ve been through hell,” said Oliver, looking up at the owner of the blue paw and yellow ringed leg. His saviour’s yellow eyes stared back at him with relief and curiosity, the black mane that grew around his blue face was so messy any parent would be tempted to groom him.
“Well, quit staring and drink up!” said the Luxio, “I’ve made this for you!”
Oliver muttered thanks and let the sweet tasting juice run down his throat. A warm and fuzzy feeling flowed through his body; his vision began clearing up and the migraine was slowly easing. He sighed with relief.
“So, how was it?” Luxio asked eagerly.
“It was pretty good!” said the Treecko appreciatively, “I have never tasted anything like this!”
“Well, this is my own, ahem, specially blended concoction,” Luxio said in a pompous unlike his own, “You don’t get it anywhere else.”
Oliver raised his eyebrows in bemusement, “Well then, you should be a chef and make money out of this,” he said.
This made Luxio crack up with laughter.
“I was only joking!” he said, swiping his starry tail in a friendly way, “It’s only got Oran Berries! ANYONE can make it!”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really,” explained Luxio, “Just squish the juice out, add some water and, hey presto! It’s ready!”
Oliver smiled.
Nice guy, he would make a good team member so I don’t have to be stuck with those annoying girls all the time...
The thought suddenly struck him as the cup fell to the floor with a dull ‘clunk’.
“Crap, the girls!” he slapped his own face and leaped up from the bed, “I’ve forgotten about them!”
Luxio almost fell over, surprised at Oliver’s quick recovery, “Whoa there! What the—”
“Luxio!” he interrupted, hopping on the spot, “Where’s Jenny and Rosa? They were right beside m—”
“Calm down, gecko,” said Luxio, “And my name’s Leo, remember it.”
“Okay Leo, where on earth—”
“I said calm down, please!” Leo continued in an exasperated tone, holding one of his paws up to the Treecko’s face, “Introduce yourself first! Or should I call you ‘gecko’ from now on?”
“The name’s Oliver,” he said, crossing his arms in annoyance, “Now could you PLEASE tell me what happened to the other two already?”
“Oh, looks like there were three of you,” said Leo, “I only picked up dear Torchic by your side so I don’t know what happened to the other girl.”
“The third was a Piplup—has Jenny woken up yet?”
“No, she’s a heavy sleeper. Could’ve waked her up with a Chesto but I couldn’t find any,” explained Leo, motioning to the other side of the room—there was a bed very much like the one Oliver slept on, only smaller, and lying on top of the straws was one unconscious Torchic.
“She’s a strange girl, kept on talking in her dreams,” he added, “Called out to some guy named Liam several times.”
“Right, that’s it,” said Oliver angrily, thinking,
I can’t believe her, she has the time to dream when we have an emergency crisis here!
Leo was momentary confused, but the intention was made clear when Oliver stormed over to Jenny and started shaking her violently.
“What the—oi! Get away from her!” he hurried over. But it was too late; Oliver had already yanked Jenny off the bed. Leo, who was desperately trying to get Oliver away from the defenceless Torchic, rammed him to the side of the bed. The Treecko wasn’t about to give up however, he tried to swat Leo away with his tail, but Leo countered with a silvery Iron Tail attack.
“Quit it!”
“Out of my way!” Oliver strikes with his fist and missed Leo’s nose by inches, “I need to talk to her!”
Oliver was responded with a defiant roar. He was about to speak again but Leo was nowhere in his sights. Then, without warning, he was forced face-first on the ground.
“Gotcha,” Leo hissed victoriously, the front of his body resting on Oliver’s back, one of his paws pressing onto the Treecko’s left arm.
“Get-off-me-NOW!” he protested, he tried to twist around and punch Leo, “This is none of your business!”
“Oh, it’s none of my business you’re trying to attack the defenceless, is it?!” said Leo angrily, his eyes gleaming, “Use your common sense, dude! You lost your mind or what?”
“Watch what you said there, DUDE,” rebutted Oliver, trying to avoid breathing in Leo’s mouth odour, “She’s the leader of our team, she let our teammate walk straight into Mafia Angel’s claw, and you expect me to do nothing?”
“Yes, I do—wait, she’s WHAT?!” Leo exclaimed; Oliver felt the paws against his arms were lifted off, as Leo continued, “Whaddya mean, ‘she let our teammate walk straight into Mafia Angel’s claw’?”
“Long story, but we have to wake her up, NOW!”
Silence hung over the atmosphere as Leo let go of Oliver, who was feeling resentful towards the Luxio for hurting him.
“Y’all right?”
Oliver shot back while massaging his left arm, “What do you think, idiot?”
“Gee, no need for that kind of attitude,” said Leo, “Wasn’t even my hardest tackle.”
The Treecko was about to say something when a familiar cough rang out, clear as day, “Did you hear that?” he asked.
“Sure did, gecko,” said Leo, shrugging, “I think your girlfriend just woke up.”
“She’s NOT my girlfriend,” muttered Oliver, not appreciating the joke.
Indeed, a dazed Jenny was sitting up against her bed, trying to regain her co-ordination as a blur of green, blue and black headed towards her.
“Mmmf... R-Rosa?” she uttered, “Is that you?”
Oliver couldn’t help rolling his eyes, “No, it’s me,” he said sadistically.
“Oliver... ”
“Well, thank you for finally waking up, Jenny,” the Treecko continued on relentlessly, “Because we need to sort out a few things, RIGHT NOW.”
“Hey, hold on a sec!” Leo interrupted, “Don’t you think she need time to settle down?”
“She already had enough time to settle down, I need to talk to her,” said Oliver blatantly.
“Um... excuse me, but who are you?” Jenny asked, not recognising the new voice.
“Oh, that’s Leo, our rescuer,” Oliver explained quickly, “But let’s gets back onto our topic—”
“Hey, that question was for me, don’t butt in! By the way, girl,” the Luxio pushed a cup towards Jenny, “Have a drink and relax.”
“Leo! I need to talk to her!”
“I have a say in this, you know!” he said crossly, facing Oliver, “I know more about the Mafia Angels than you, so quit interrupting.”
“Don’t give me that load of hogwash,” said Oliver, annoyed, “You’re just trying to cover for Jenny.”
“No, I bloody wasn’t!” defended an outraged Leo, “I got kicked out of the tribe because of the Mafia Angels! There! Now is it still hogwash to you, gecko?”
That was enough to draw Oliver’s interest, “Huh? You were in a tribe?”
“Of course, the Luxio and Luxray tribe!” Leo replied proudly, “We’ve been around for generations!”
Jenny piped up also, “Wait! I know that name! They fought Team Destiny a long time ago, didn’t they?”
“That’s us!” he said, winking at her, “Me grandfather was one of the nine leaders who fought them.”
“Can we stop it with the history lesson and get on with what’s happening here?” said an annoyed Oliver, “This is an emergency!”
“Umm, Oliver?” said Leo, reaching for a blue envelope on the table, “Before you continue on attacking her, why don’t you chill out and read this?”
“A letter?” Oliver took the envelope, turning it over.
“It was next to your bag,” Leo explained, “I think your teammate wrote it.”
Seconds later, Oliver, Jenny and Leo were all gathered around the stone bed, reading off Rosa’s words:
Jenny and Oliver:
By the time you read this, I’ll be miles away.
I’m sorry I have to do this, but there’s something I had to deal with myself. Please do not tell any guild members, or come after me. I don’t want anyone to interfere with my plan.
I’ll be fine by myself, I’m well prepared for whatever will be thrown at me.
I can’t say sorry enough, and I promise to make it up to you two when I return.
Your friend, Rosa.
“She... she had a PLAN?” said a disbelieving Jenny.
“Holy s***,” Leo commented, “This Rosa... she had some guts.”
“I told you,” Oliver said victoriously, spits were flying out of his mouth, “I told you she was up to something but you wouldn’t LISTEN to me!”
The Torchic opened her beak, “I—”
“This is all your fault, Jenny,” Oliver let out a barrage of words, “If you would just let me stop her, none of this would’ve happened!”
“Now there, gecko—”
“Oh, so it’s MY fault now, Oliver?” Jenny argued back, her crown flaring with anger, “What about you? What had YOU been doing while I was unconscious?”
Oliver answered acridly, “For your information, Jenny, she pecked me, twice! I got hurt while trying to stop her! And you know what?” he began jabbing his paw at her, “Your trust landed us both in big trouble!”
“Oh, well I thought... I thought—” Jenny started saying something, but accidentally choked on her saliva.
“Lost for words, haven’t you?”
“Of course not!” she replied after hacking a cough, “I thought the whole idea of teamwork was to TRUST each other!”
Oliver, upon hearing Jenny’s comment, gave her a bewildered stare.
“Arceus,” he said slowly, “I can’t believe how naive you are.”
“Ex-excuse me? Who are you calling naive?”
“You said the whole idea of teamwork was to trust each other, but you’re being a downright hypocrite.”
“Oh, whoa there!” Leo interrupted, stepping in between the two, “That was going too far!”
“Leo, get out of our conversation, you have no say—arrgh!” Oliver suddenly felt a jolt of energy that overtook his senses of movement, “What the hell was that for?!”
“Firstly, stop telling me I have no say in this, when I clearly need to step in before you two juveniles starts brawling,” said Leo, “Secondly, you’re not being helpful in this situation so I reckon you should have a taste of my Thunder Wave. And thirdly,” still facing Oliver, the Luxio called out to Jenny, “Can the hot chick to my right get back here, it’s cold in this cave and I don’t like a heater that has legs.”
Jenny stopped walking.
Irk, as if dealing with one boy wasn’t enough, now I have a stalker who wants to flirt with me.
“Hello!” Leo said in a singsong voice, “Don’t just stand here, we need to talk!”
“What’s the point of it anyway?” she answered back, pouting, “We’re just going to do more arguing and—”
“No we’re not, I assure you,” said Leo firmly, “If Oliver starts going off at you again he’ll be in for some more pain.”
Oliver was about to protest, but no word came out. Meanwhile, Jenny stumbled back to the stone bed and sat down reluctantly.
“So what now?” she said, “I don’t think I should waste any more time talking to SOMEONE who thinks I’m a hypocrite.”
“Well, you’re one,” said Oliver indignantly, “You trust her more than you trust me.”
“I—”
“Hello! Off-topic alert!” Leo shouted over the duo, “Can we set differences aside and talk about what to do next?”
“Fine, then what do you suggest we do?”
Jenny took a deep breath, “Well,” she said, “I think we should go after Rosa, we shouldn’t waste anymore time if we want to catch up to her.”
“I’m actually thinking of going back to the guild and get reinforcements,” Oliver suggested, “It’s more sensible that way.”
“How is that sensible? That’s way too time consuming!” Jenny exclaimed.
“Rosa is, and I quote,
‘well prepared’. Plus, she has Sheriff Lucario with her.”
“Still! That’s like, two against who-knows-what! By the time we’re done Rosa will be... well...”
“Dead?” Leo added unhelpfully.
“Leo!”
“Right... sorry,” the Luxio scratched his head apologetically, adding his two cents, “Both of you have good suggestions, but I would go after the Piplup. And I have good reasons why,” he added, glancing at Oliver’s outraged face, “I know exactly where she’ll be heading off to so we could catch up to her quickly.”
“You... do?” said Oliver, a hint of suspicion in his voice.
“Well, that bloody gang took over our sacred spot, last time I checked they’re still there.”
Jenny was curious, “The last time you... checked? You mean you fought them before?”
“Well... ” Leo appeared to be downhearted, “I... ” he glanced at the duo, both faces riddled with curiosity, “I became their servant when they took over us leaders, but hey, I’m not with them anymore, alright?” he added quickly, seeing the look of disapproval on their face, “Look, we were just paying respect to our ancestors when, boom! These Mafia *****es came and ran us all down! They offered us great rewards if we serve them. At first I thought it was awesome, but then... then they started messing around with the innocent!”
Leo paused for a second as Jenny and Oliver absorbed the information. Staring at the ground, the Luxio continued in a bitter voice, “One day, I was told to kill off a Granbull! I let him go, and they did this to me,” he sat down and, to the duo’s horror, they saw two deep purplish scars on his underbelly. It seemed like someone had tried to cut him open and pull out his insides.
“At least I survived that,” Leo sighed, getting back to a crouching position, “Me boss and the others wouldn’t listen to me, they started liking the killing, and-and the kidnapping! We’re only in Amp Plain for a month. After that, when they all head back home, the whole entire tribe—all sixty of them, will fall under Mafia Angel’s rule.”
“But why can’t you just go back and tell the whole tribe to move?” asked Oliver.
“Humph, like they’ll believe me, only got to be one of nine leaders ‘cause of me grandpa. Many in the tribe were p***** off at me for stealing the position,” Leo kicked at the ground and said bitterly, “If only I’d let someone else be leader, I wouldn’t even be in this... this mess.”
Jenny’s beak was wide open as Leo poured out his frustrations, “I—I never knew,” she uttered.
“Well, it’s like what Turtwig and Rosa said, they’re not your average outlaw gang,” said Oliver. He jiggled his wrist; the paralysis effect had worn off.
“So why are we still standing here?” said Jenny, jumping up, “We need to hurry and get to Rosa—quickly! Leo, do you think you could—”
“Yeah, no problem,” said Leo, “I’ll carry you there, ‘least I could do to help.”
“Leo? If, say, we ended up fighting the Mafia Angels... would you help us?”
The Luxio looked at a pebble near his front paw, “Not really,” he muttered, before changing the subject, “So Oliver, you coming or what?”
Oliver sighed and picked up the brown treasure bag, “It’s two against one, guess I have no choice.”
**********
Emily always seizes the opportunity of a nice day to do some housekeeping duties around Sharpedo Bluff, and today was no exception. All morning she had been at work restoring an old vine-woven curtain and washing the flag that fluttered outside the home. Restoring the curtain was time consuming due to the intricate details that had to be restored, and by the time she got to the flag washing it was lunch time.
Early in the afternoon, Emily was in the middle of sweeping the floor when she heard running footsteps coming from the stairs. Her curiosity was resolved when Nancy appeared, puffing and wiping sweat of her forehead.
“Nancy!” she scolded, “I thought I told you not to run on the stairs! And,” she scrutinised her from top to bottom, “You looked like you’ve just ran a marathon! What on earth happened?”
“E... Emily,” said Nancy, staring at the ground, her paws on her knees, “I... I ran through the town...”
“Well, sit down and tell me about it,” said Emily, sliding a stool towards Nancy and offered her a drink. Nancy gulped down the cup of water like someone who had just got out of a desert. In normal circumstances Emily would’ve commented on Nancy’s table manner, but she was more concerned about what she had to say.
“So what happened?” she asked.
“Well... ” Nancy began hesitantly, she took a deep breath before continuing, “I was fetching Nurse Chansey some medicine from the town clinic, but...” a guilty look spread across her face as she talked to the cup, “I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on something.”
“That’s quite impolite of you,” said Emily disapprovingly, “But I don’t see why you need to run back to tell me about it.”
“I do!” Nancy replied, fiddling with her yellow wristband, “There were police officers talking about this crime gang... called Mafia Angels.”
There was a momentary pause as Emily digested this information.
“Oh,” she said softly, remembering the incident, “Don’t worry, Nancy, it’s not of your concern.”
“But I haven’t finished!” Nancy continued on, “I also heard—”
“Run along now, Nancy dear,” interrupted Emily, she stood up and waved her away, “I’m sure Mister Gabite requires further service from you.”
“Wait—”
“Nancy, just go,” said Emily, her voice suddenly harsh. She didn’t want to hear anything relating to that incident and was annoyed with the Treecko for bringing it up.
Nancy refused to give up, “Emily, please!” she exclaimed, clinging onto her steel flipper, “They were talking about Rosa! And Team Gemstar too! I heard them!”
That stopped Emily in her tracks.
Jenny and Oliver? What role could they possibly play in that incident?
Her thoughts were interrupted by Nancy’s muttering, “I finished helping Mister Gabite anyway so no point going back—”
“Oh, alright then,” she cut in, “Tell me what else they said.”
“It was something about Rosa wanting revenge against them, and how she’s going to persuade Jenny and my brother into helping her,” said Nancy, sounding like a journalist reporting about a huge scandal, “If they weren’t officers I would’ve just thought the whole thing was a joke, that’s why I eavesdropped on them...” blushing with embarrassment, she confessed, “I was worried for my brother and I thought you might also be interested.”
As she finished talking, Nancy looked up and was faced with a concerned-looking Emily, who had sunk her claw into the table so hard it left three ugly dents as a result.
Emily knew very well about that incident. She remembered the scars it inflicted on Rosa. She had tried to help her forget about what she saw that particular day, and anything related about Mafia Angels through many methods: from holidaying in Marine Resort to letting her develop artistic skills. They had avoided mentioning the details about the death of Holly and Michael, until now.
“Emily? You’re not mad at me... are you?”
“Not really,” said the Empoleon, steadying herself, “Nancy, let’s go to the town clinic.”
Nancy jumped, her face burning red, “But...won’t the officers be mad?”
Emily sighed, “Frankly, I have many doubts about your claims,” she said, “But this is the only way we can find out the truth, dear,” she motioned Nancy to the door, “Come on, let’s get going.”
**********
The Riolu looked out from her stone-made cell with terrified eyes. She looked like the younger version of her Dad. Size wise, Penny was half the height of the sheriff, she didn’t have spikes protruding from her body and she also lacked the cream-coloured fur down the front of the body that signifies maturity.
Penny felt lonely and frightened. Katherine had been contained in another cell after she caused some mayhem by hurling water spheres at one of the captors—a Houndoom, no less. Katherine’s idea of water bombing the Mafia Angels didn’t go down so well.
Katherine was optimistic about it, too, “We’ll get out!” she had whispered to Penny, “I’m unbeatable at any sort of water bomb fights!”
It was one of the reasons why the Riolu had become best friends with her, her optimism. She almost started crying when the captors went on about frying her to death with their ‘helpers’. But in the end they imprisoned her down a hole and placed a slab of stone place on top of it.
But Katherine’s welfare weren’t Penny’s only worries. There were also Emerald and Officer Charlie’s situation. The last time she saw them alive was on Officer Charlie’s back, but she blacked out when someone knocked her off in mid-air.
Emerald... I’m just getting to know her well! Officer Charlie... he was talking about proposing to Officer Mawile! Had they both been rescued? She thought,
or did they fall to their death?
No! Another voice screamed in her head.
Stop being so pessimistic! Can’t you think about something else, like those stories you used to read?
But I can’t think of anything at the moment! She clutched at the teardrop pendant hanging down her neck.
How can I?
“Hey, both kids had been quiet for a while now,” said one of the captors suddenly.
“Oh, who knew looking after captives could be soooooo dull,” said another, this time a female.
Penny’s heart jolted as she picked up their conversation,
Katherine’s been quiet too? She thought.
That’s unusual, she’s always been the noisy one.
Then it struck her.
Of course. She slid to the back of her cell.
Katherine has a fear of being buried alive, no wonder she screamed so loudly when the stone was placed on top. If she’s quiet now then... she’s suffering too.
“Quit complaining already, the both of you,” a third voice resonated, “We’re doing a job for the boss. Of course it’s going to be boring! I, for one, never whinge, unlike you bunch of Snorlax.”
“Oh, and I suppose you’re just GREAT at doing your jobs, Houndoom,” the female voice rebutted, “Like, for instance, didn’t I have to help someone recover from a
water bomb game.”
“Yeah, that was really pathetic,” said the fourth voice. She’s the one whose wings would stop making vibrating noises whenever she speaks.
Houndoom glared at the two creatures; the one on the right was a large bee with vicious-looking spikes and ruby-red eyes, she flew away with a nervous look when greeted by Houndoom’s glare. The other, a green creature with a turf of white hair, stayed put and simply examined the red and blue rose on the end of her arms. She was unfazed by Houndoom’s threat.
“Just telling the truth here, Hondie,” she continued on, gloating, “I know you’re sensitive to water, but I didn’t realise you were that afraid of it you started screaming like a girl—”
“Why don’t YOU shut up, Poison Thorn!” the black canine roared in anger, his nose almost touching Roserade’s face, “Do you want me to set your roses on fire?!”
“Quit it, the both of you!” a blue and white bunny stepped in between Houndoom and Roserade, “The boss will be mad if he saw this behaviour!”
“Too right,” said the Beedrill, “I agree with Azui here, you two should stop bickering once in a while.”
“Humph,” the Roserade responded with a sneer. Crossing her rose arms, she turned and walked away, her green cloak fluttering with grace. Houndoom, however, responded with more threatening growls. His teeth bore between his red jaws as the fan at the tip of his whip-like tail swept the ground from left to right.
“Loosen up, Houndoom,” the Roserade commented, “No wonder you don’t have girlfriends, you scared them all away.”
A sobbing noise suddenly distracted all of them. Houndoom, who was about to lash out on the rose creature, stopped halfway; Azumarill and Beedrill both lifted their head in interest and Roserade raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“Did you hear that?” said the blue bunny.
“Yeah, spotty,” said Houndoom, still scowling at Roserade’s remark, “I think it came from that Riolu’s cell.”
“I’ll take a look.” the Beedrill approached Penny with full confident, smiling. She had only been with the gang for a year—a newbie—and one of her goals was seizing every chance there is to prove her significance in the gang.
“Why hello there,” she said to Penny in an over-friendly way, “Missing your Daddy?”
Penny looked up and almost had a heart attack when her eyes met with the Beedrill’s bulgy red eyes; the huge needles attached to her arms were poking between the bars as she made clinking noises with her mouth. Penny started screaming hysterically, scrambling back and gripping hard onto the bars behind.
“Aww, don’t be like that,” said Beedrill, “That’s not very friendly.”
But Penny made her intensions clear when a rock whizzed past one of Beedrill’s wings. Beedrill’s friends, meanwhile, jeered at the scene.
“I’ll pay you one dollar for babysitting!” Houndoom shouted out unkindly.
More laughter arose.
“Oh yeah? Let’s see if you could do better!” Beedrill stormed towards her colleagues, fuming.
“Huh, I bet I could do better than all of you,” the Roserade stepped out with confidence, “Watch and learn.”
Beedrill rolled her eyes, “Whatever,” she muttered.
“What a b***h,” Houndoom whispered to Azumarill, “Bet you a thousand dollars she comes back with a broken nose,” but as soon as Houndoom dropped his words, a collection of rainbow-coloured leaves flew at him; he just managed to dodge it by collapsing onto his friend.
“Watch it, woman!” he said scathingly.
I would be more careful if I were you. Azumarill shook his head, shoving Houndoom off him.
Roserade, or Poison Thorn as she’s commonly known as to others, ignored the remark and approached the helpless Riolu, her eyes cold. Still crying, Penny looked up at her, her big grey eyes were still swimming with tears as the Roserade studied her with great authority.
Penny cringed. Roserade’s superior look just made her felt more discomfort inside. But somehow, she could detect little warmth coming from what seemed to be a barren land of ice, coming from Roserade’s aura. Unfortunately, the warmth did not last long as coldness dominated quickly like the icy winds on Blizzard Island.
Penny began sobbing again; she couldn’t cope with it all this, she just wanted to be home, under a tree with good shade where she could curl up and read a book full of friendship stories and magical places. She shut her eyes and kneeled on the floor.
“Poison Thorn, we got visitors!”
“Visitors?” Roserade eagerly turned back to her comrades, “Beedrill, did you just say... visitors?”
Houndoom confirmed this further, “Yeah! It’s Lucario and Swampert, coming towards us at two-o’clock!”
Dad! Penny lifted her head, wiping the snot from her nose.
“Well, well,” said Roserade, looking at her prisoner, “Looks like your father showed up after all.”
But Penny paid no attention to her, “Dad! Swift!” she began shouting and waving at the small figures through her cell, “Katherine is over—”
“Silence!” her captor ordered, knocking her out with a green sphere.
“Penny!”
“Get out of the way!” Officer Swampert roared, swiping his muscular arms to remove the obstacle in front and allowing Lucario through. Seizing the chance, Sheriff Lucario rushed over to the Roserade with unnatural speed and tackled her; both went crashing onto the ground with a big ‘thud’.
“Go get her, sir!” Officer Swampert was about to take another step, but the other members was quick to recover, surrounded him in a triangular formation. Beedrill buzzed on his right, clicking his sharp needles menacingly; Houndoom was on his left, his expression as intimidating as ever; Azui the Azumarill rubbed his hands together, eager to get a slice of the action.
Meanwhile, Lucario was the first to recover, his eyes full of daggers.
“We have not reached the agreements, please refrain from hurting my daughter,” said the sheriff with great hostility. He turned and was about to check on his daughter when a tangle of vines shot up from the ground and began to wrap around his leg.
“Not so fast,” Roserade got up, holding out her blue rose, she lifted her arms up and the vines crept up to Lucario’s waist. The sheriff did not made attempts of struggle, but instead, looked into his opponent’s eyes. He wasn’t about to let a Grass Knot attack hold him down.
“As expected from someone like you... Poison Thorn, wasn’t it?” said Lucario coolly, “What do you want?”
“Our members, sheriff,” Roserade replied, “Where are Golem and Dragonair? Or,” she tightened the vines around Lucario’s legs, “Have you simply ‘forgotten’ about them?”
“Thought you might ask,” Lucario couldn’t help giving Roserade a pained expression, but he continued, “Unfortunately, I’m afraid this is impossible.”
“I beg your pardon?” Roserade raised her voice.
“I said, it is impossible,” Lucario repeat himself, his eyes unblinking, “Golem and Dragonair surrendered themselves to us and they wished to serve their jail sentences instead.”
Everyone from Mafia Angels stared at Lucario in disbelief.
“It’s true!” Officer Swampert added, “I was there when they—”
“Shut up! No one told YOU to talk!” Houndoom interrupted, swiping his tail at the officer. Using his right arm, Swampert blocked it just in time.
“I’m sure we could offer you some other payment for the ransom,” said Lucario quietly, “But I can’t force Golem and Dragonair to come with us.”
“Be quiet,” Roserade twitched her mouth, the vines reaching Lucario’s upper torso as she went on, “Humph, so what if they did? We asked for them in exchange, and if they’re not present it means you won’t be getting your daughter back.”
“If you say so,” the sheriff suddenly ripped away the vines at his leg in one grab, “But we’re going to win them back!” With that statement made, Lucario flung an Aura Sphere attack at Poison Thorn. Unprepared for the sudden attack, the Roserade staggered back and tripped over a rock. A stinging sensation spread across her left cheek.
The other three that surrounded Officer Swampert didn’t need any commands as they took action too: Houndoom with a hot burst of Ember, pointy needles were flying out from Beedrill and the column of water was a present from Azumarill. The attacks collided, creating an almighty bang which shook the ground slightly.
“Swift!” Lucario, temporarily distracted, whirled around just in time to see billowing smokes rising from where his companion was standing, “It... it can’t be!”
“Looks like your friend got blown to smithereens, sheriff,” Roserade smirked, as the sheriff kneeled on the ground, staring at the smoke in disbelief. The Mafia Angels members all went closer to see the crestfallen Lucario who had started making sobbing noises like how his daughter.
Houndoom looked as if Christmas had come early, “This is so easy,” he said, plodding his dirty paw at Lucario, “With a weak sheriff like this we could’ve taken over Treasure Town.”
Lucario bowed his head and continued on whimpering, he didn’t even try to avenge his companion.
“Hey, perhaps we should tell boss that next,” Azumarill recommended, “Imagine us ruling the town! We could execute all the exploration teams, do whatever we want... isn’t that right, Beedrill?”
Beedrill did not respond. Her eyes were as big as golf balls, staring at the little scene that all the others had failed to notice: right at the location of the stone slab was supposed to be, a blue figure had shifted into Katherine’s cell.
“Beedrill, what are you looking at?” Azumarill poked at her, following her line of vision, “You—what on earth?!”
“Gotcha!”
The Mafia Angels were caught napping as Lucario suddenly sprung up from his kneeling position. With one of his paws out, he started spinning on the spot, slashing with the spike on the back of his paw. Everyone around the sheriff was hit with his Wide Slash, with the exception of Beedrill, who was agile enough to fly up at the last second. A satisfied Lucario gracefully performs a backflip in the air before landing steadily on the ground, right behind a stunned and injured Roserade. He could not believe a high profile outlaws can be fooled by a simple case of Fake Tears.
“Swift, how are things back there?” the sheriff called out, a grin on his face.
“Katherine’s with me!” out came Officer Swampert’s muffled voice, “You grab Penny and let’s run!”
“Oh no, you don’t!” Beedrill screamed in panic, she buzzed over to Penny’s cell at lightning speed, her eyes fierce as a wild bushfire, “You’re NOT getting away that easily!”
Lucario, who knew well about his daughter’s fear to Beedrill, got annoyed by Beedrill’s defiance. “Step aside!” he shouted, pointing back at the other three accomplices, “Or do you want to end up like them?”
“You... you don’t scare me!” inexperienced at facing a foe who have just took down her other comrades, Beedrill blurted out the only thing that came up her mind.
Her reply from the sheriff came in the form of a purple seed, which turned the world around her into an inky darkness. Panicking at the sudden change of ‘environment’, Beedrill started thrashing around like an enraged Gyarados, yelling her head off. She could’ve easily won an award for the most spectacular performance at panicking.
Meanwhile, Lucario rushed to Penny’s cell and discovered it was made out of a big heavy slab of stone sitting on top of sturdy stone columns. His initial thought was smash the top off, but the weight of the stone could crush Penny, who’s already in an unconscious state. Instead, he decided to shift the lid.
But the lid barely budged an inch when the hidden enemies struck.
A warning sign came when a spectacular lightning slashed across the sky. The creatures, seeing the signal, licked their fangs in approbation as they went pouncing out of their alcove and headed over to lend the Mafia Angels a hand. Their leader, stationed high above the prison cells, went straight for Lucario. There was barely time to react: the sheriff found himself skidding along the stony ground with an enemy on top of him. His back grazed from the impact, and though the sudden assault failed to knock him unconscious, it did make him feel delirious and sick.
Lucario had sensed them before. Perhaps he did not take notice of them because they were scattered across the vicinity like many locals, perhaps he was too caught up with worries about the girls’ safety.
One thing for certain—the ignorance was costly.
The leader, a Luxray, looked like something out of a teenager girl’s dream if he didn’t had the most hideous smile plastered across his face. Clearly, he was enjoying his moment as he held the sheriff firmly on the ground, with a paw pressing at his neck, choking him. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Struggling for breath, Lucario summoned all his strength and threw a punch at Luxray’s head.
There was a sigh of relief when he felt the weight was removed from his body, enabling him to breathe and move again. Coughing, the sheriff got up with difficulty, his back stung like sunburn and his head felt like it was on an out-of-control rollercoaster.
“Sir! I need assistance!”
“S-Swift?” Lucario answered back, holding the side of his head as his co-ordination slowly recovers.
“There’s a bunch of Luxio surrounding me—”
The second half of the sentence was drowned out by a snarl, followed by a blur of black and blue going straight at him for its second time! Lucario stumbled to the side like a drunken sailor and, miraculously, dodged it. But it wasn’t over yet—as soon as one went Lucario was greeted by another.
Come on, pull yourself together! He thought as the second Luxio got so close he could feel the static electricity on his skin. Feeling defenceless being surrounded by enemies on all sides, Lucario was aware that he needed more than his own fighting skills to escape this mess.
I really wish I could use Aura Storm right now... he thought, sending some incoming attackers back with Wide Slash. But a cunning Azumarill, who stood behind him, fired off a Hydro Pump attack. This was the last thing he needed. Screaming in pain, he was launched to the air before coming down to earth for an instant face-mask made out of dirt.
He realised he had to get out of the circle, but with the injury along his back his speed had been greatly reduced. A confident-looking Luxio decided this was a great opportunity to leap onto Lucario and bite his head off. Taking a few running steps, he sprung up into the air, letting the elating airborne momentum absorb him—
Bang! He had a head-on collision with one of his teammates. Obviously they wanted a moment of glory as well. Lucario escaped yet again the scythe of the Grim Reaper. When he finally managed to stand up, he found two disgruntled Luxio on either side of him with big ugly bruises on their forehead.
A familiar voice suddenly rang out, “Outta my way, you dirty scoundrels!”
“Swift!” the sheriff could not help but feeling a sense of joy, though the distraction had result him being hit by Roserade’s Magical Leaf.
Officer Swampert was on a rampage. He blew out a strong force of ice shards and snow at couples of incoming Luxio. Half escaped unscathed, but those who were hit full-on got furs that could match Jack Frost’s beard. Katherine the Mudkip was wide awake as she clung onto Officer Swampert’s neck firmly.
An Energy Ball attack surged towards Officer Swampert. Knowing the consequences the attack will have if it hits him, the officer quickly swerved to the side and almost collided into a cliff wall.
“Ahh!” the little Mudkip suddenly found herself dangling with her two front limbs.
“Sorry Kath! It’s a bumpy ride!”
“I know!” Katherine shouted, slowly getting back up, “It’s hard to aim water bombs like this!”
That got the officer laughing, “So who shall we aim for?”
“Dad, Dad! Let’s go for Houndoom!” Katherine suggested, “That guy can’t even take my water bombs!”
The words reached Houndoom’s ear, who was outraged by the taunt, “Why you cocky little—”
“Great idea, Kath,” Officer Swampert turned to the black canine with an evil grin on his face. He brought his two paws together and clapped, several times. There was a rumbling noise as Houndoom looked up with curiosity, but he never had time to comprehend with what was next: a cascading flow of brown-coloured water tumbling down onto him, and an unfortunate Luxio who happened to stand beside him.
Azumarill was quick to rush over when the brown waterfall disappeared. The Luxio was still moving, slowly getting up and coughing up water. Houndoom, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky—the Muddy Water was too much for him to take as he slumped onto the ground, unconscious.
“Houndoom!” the blue bunny squeaked in horror, “You—”
A water sphere splashed onto Azumarill, who gave a yell of alarm before looking up, and saw Officer Swampert hi-fiving a cheerful Katherine.
“You!” he yelled in fury, bringing the attention of the father-daughter duo, “You’re so dead!”
“Uh-oh,” said Katherine comically as a red-faced Azumarill charged towards them with clutched fist, “Dad, we better retreat before—”
“Azui, get back here, no need to fight them anymore,” said a cool, female voice in which he was accustomed to.
The clouds in the sky flashed on and off with streaks of lightning; the Luxio gathered around a boulder, all with disgusting carnivorous looks on their face. Luxray, who led the gang, circled around the sheriff, his black mane crackled with menace. Roserade, cool and composed as ever, was standing on the boulder. An ecstatic Beedrill buzzed beside her, holding what seemed to be a large voodoo doll in the air.
But upon close inspection, Beedrill wasn’t holding a doll at all, she was holding an unconscious Penny.
“Why, I praise all your fighting spirits very much,” said Roserade gleefully, as Lucario stood his ground, a mixture of hate and fear upon his face, “Any of you make one more move, and Beedrill here can drop and let her fried by our Luxio friends here. Oh, and don’t even think about using Earthquake or anything so juvenile like that,” she added lightly, pointing her blue rose at Officer Swampert and Katherine, “Beedrill could always drop her into the nearest crack that appears.”
TBC...
Author's Notes:
1. When Leo the Luxio called Jenny a 'hot chick', Leo was indeed flirting with Jenny, but it also emphasise the face Jenny's a Torchic... a bit of a pun, really. He also called her a 'heater' as a reference to Torchic's Pokedex entry.
2. Leo's grandfather, as you've probably guessed, fought the hero and partner in the Amp Plain boss battle.
