It's ain't over yet! (TCQ ch 38~2)
*continued from last post*
***
Where did that boy get to? Nicola thought as she peeked from out behind a blue steel door halfway down a brightly lit corridor that resembled an Onix burrow. Zen’s entrance had thrown the whole base into less turmoil than she expected as fewer Team Shadow agents than she expected ran helter-skelter attempting to capture the intruders. She ducked back out of sight as a quartet of Team Shadow agents ran past, barely missing her.
“I’ve got to keep moving,” Nicola mused as she backed out of the room and raced down yet another stone corridor, more cobalt blue doors on either side flashing by as her shoes made sharp slapping sounds against the uncommonly smooth floor. “It’s a miracle that I haven’t been cau-“
Her thoughts were sharply contradicted as she trotted past a slightly opened door and a pair of hands seized her from behind without warning and dragged her inside, the door closing with a muffled thud.
Briefly caught off guard by her assailant’s surprise attack, Haley felt a hand smaller than hers close in on her mouth and a voice in her ear mutter, “Keep it down, will you? You’ll alert the others...”
Nicola had no intention to ‘keep it down and struggled violently against her captor’s grip. “Coward!” She bellowed. “You miserable coward! How dare you sneak attack a lady like me?!”
The grunt grunted inaudibly as the Grass type specialist’s elbow found his solar plexus and forced him to relinquish his grip. As she sought to get her bearings in the deep gloom, the attacker had recovered and clapped a hand to her mouth as she opened it to scream once more.
“Ssh!” He hissed frantically, pushing her back into what seemed like a steel shelf and gasping in pain as Nicola’s right fist made contact with the crown of his head. Swearing in a muffled voice, the smaller combatant seized the taller girl’s wrist but could not keep her other hand at bay as she used it to punch and pummel every inch of his body she could find.
“You scoundrel! Have some of this, and that, and...” Nicola panted, ignoring the gasps and grunts of pain as she started to focus her blows on his face before a sharp snap was heard and the room was flooded in light.
Blinking in the light, she saw the grunt double up in pain and turning to her face towards the door was rather surprised to see a bipedal viridian creature with a short mantle of what seemed to be leaves stand by the light switch next to the door, staring at her with violet, reproachful eyes. Next to it, an monkey-like figure rolled around, paralyzed with mirth as it clutched its sides. Both looked really familiar.
“A-Anuvi?” Nicola stammered, her green eyes widening. “Zen?”
“It’s official,” the ‘Team Shadow grunt’ groaned as he felt his bruised person gingerly, his blue eyes watering in pain. “Girls have no appreciation for practical jokes.”
Wheeling towards the familiar voice, Nicola felt her jaw drop as she stammered, “SAPPH?!”
As her eyes became accustomed to the bright fluorescent lighting, she took in Sapph’s appearance which was now markedly different from his usual white and blue. Sapph was now garbed in a black tracksuit zipped up a few inches shy of the top. His hooded cloak was draped behind him and a balaclava was wrenched to the top of his head, leaving his now bleeding nose to drip blood on the floor.
Sapph pinched his nose with his left hand now clad in a black, fingerless glove and with his right returned Anuvi and the still-laughing Zen with dark muttering.
“Sapph, just what are you wearing?” Nicola demanded.
“A disguise,” Sapph replied hotly, his voice coming out nasally as he still pinched his nose gingerly, relived to note that it wasn’t broken. Glancing at her bemused expression, he added with a touch of scorn, “Oh, come on. How else did you think we were going to get around the base undetected?”
“And where the blue hell did you get a disguise?” Nicola said sceptically, folding her arms as she glared at Sapph suspiciously.
“Look around you.”
After shooting Sapph one suspicious glare, Nicola did as she was bidden and was startled to see that the shelves were laden with all manner of Team Shadow equipment and paraphernalia. Boots lined the floors all around and belts, trousers and hoods lay upon the shelves neatly folded and arranged by size.
“How did you find this place?” Nicola gasped.
“I found a useful guide,” Sapph grinned, holding out a small white card which Nicola took from him and studied carefully. A minute’s observation told her it was a floor map of the whole Dragon Cove’s inner sanctum, with specific caves which were being used by the invading Team Shadow operatives marked out.
“I picked it up as we went past the guard Zen stunned at the gate,” Sapph said, pulling the ski mask back down over his head. “Good thing you followed us as closely as you did, or you’d have been caught for sure.”
“Yes, well,” Nicola muttered, abashedly as she searched for a redeeming counterargument and brightening when she found one. “Now, if you’d excuse me, I’d like to change now.”
“Excuse me?” Sapph was clearly taken aback by the change in topic.
“Get out, you clueless perv!” Nicola said testily. “Did you really think a beautiful lady such as myself would disrobe in the presence of a man? Not likely!”
Sapph, who’d finally understood what she was getting at, turned incandescent red with shocked embarrassment and rage as he said, “Fine! Geez, I’ll go stand guard outside. Just don’t spend all year in here looking for your size. This is not a department store.”
As he left he added in an undertone, “Like anyone would
want to peep at you...”
Nicola heard. As she spun around to yell, “What was that, you...” the door clanged shut in reply, cutting her off.
Boys, she thought darkly, walking down the shelves, taking note of the sizes available.
“Women,” Sapph muttered annoyedly, standing before the door and peering into the gloom that swallowed up the corridor on either side. He really didn’t get them at all. On one hand, you had girls like Nora and Joy, who seemed so nice and sincere. They brought out the best in a guy and required nothing in exchange but for them to be true to themselves.
On another you had girls like Sky, who was wild and unrestrained, but was the kind of person who made a lifelong friend. Girls like her were at complete odds with girls like Zeta, who seemed guarded despite her free-spirited outlook on life and spontaneous attitude (he lost track of his thought temporarily as his mind wandered back to his first kiss.)
The thought of Haley, Carla and Nicola brought himself back to reality faster than a falling Snorlax. Those kind of girls were just too bipolar for anyone to get a fix on them, let alone a totally clueless twelve year old. Sapph supposed they were likeable enough (he had certainly gotten on well enough with Carla, despite how he felt about Kamren – Sapph spared a moment to wonder where he was and gave the exercise up like a bad job) and Nicola and Haley weren’t so bad, once they weren’t trying to be all in-your-face about everything. Did being right all the time really matter to all girls or just the ones like them?
Sapph shook his head like a bothered Donphan and wondered how much longer Nicola was going to take when a loud voice called, “You! Grunt! What are you doing all the way back here?”
Sapph turned towards the shout and broke out in a cold sweat despite himself. Two semi-important figures walked up the corridor towards him, Sapph being too preoccupied to notice their approach. Both wore neckerchiefs in addition to the black uniform Sapph himself wore, although they had dispensed with the ski masks. The male wore a purple one around his upper arm and the young woman wore a royal blue one around her neck in a stylish manner, the knot at the side of her neck instead on behind.
The supervisors stopped a few feet before him and Sapph felt himself tense up involuntarily. Grunts weren’t a problem to deal with, but these two gave off an aura of shrewdness, toughness and open nastiness he had experienced in more intense degrees only from the captains he’d run into before.
Composing himself quickly, he muttered, “Guard duty, Ma’am. Thought the supply room would need tighter security.”
The woman seemed to relax slightly although the man did not. Sweeping his wavy blue hair back, he demanded, “What’s your call sign, Grunt?”
“Don’t have one, Sir. New recruit,” Sapph improvised wildly, willing himself to keep calm.
The female supervisor came in with her next question. “Where are you from, Grunt?”
Sapph paused for a split second before answering. “Azura City, Ma’am.”
“What’s your squad?”
“No idea, Sir. New recruit,” Sapph repeated feebly. He was running out of time.
“Squad captain?” The woman pressed on relentlessly.
“Ummm...”
“Who’s your squad captain, Grunt?” The man asked again roughly. “Answer me, Grunt!”
“V-Vulca, Sir. Captain Vulca,” Sapph said, hardly daring to breathe. Would they buy this?
The supers faces were unreadable as the Man turned to the woman for a second. He turned back to Sapph and said, “Very well. Were you given and specifications as to why the supply room would need protection?”
Sapph exhaled deeply. In relieved tones, he answered, “Command got wind of an intruder earlier today. They thought they’d attempt to blend in with personnel and reckoned they’d steal uniforms to get in.”
“Really?” The woman said in a voice that affected surprise.
“Yes, Ma’am!” Sapph said briskly. “There’ve been no sightings of ‘em yet, but it won’t be long now!”
“No,” the man said nastily, pulling a couple of pokéballs free from his belt. “It won’t. Nidorino, Seviper, apprehend the intruder!”
“Bagon, Charmeloen! Front and center!” The woman added, throwing down two of her own too.
Four large and mean looking Pokémon materialized in a bright flash of red light and quickly fanned out closing Sapph off away from the door and against the opposite wall. The shortest was a light blue with a yellow belly and snout. Its large head was crowned with a white grooved helmet and its mean little eyes glared at the young boy trainer. Its teammate was a Pokémon Sapph was familiar with, with its singular horn and burning red skin. Its violet eyes and long, ripping ivory claws made it indistinguishable from Riza, Sky’s Charmeleon, before she had evolved to Charizard sometime after he parted with them at Appleburn City. Yet there was a brutality about it that Sky must have been able to curb in her own Flame Pokémon.
They were separated by a stout, muscular Pokémon with a violently purple hide and long, sharp barbs which Sapph remembered from his Academy days were highly poisonous. It snarled and snapped its short fangs at Sapph, keen to battle. It had nothing on his partner as far as fear-inducing was concerned, in Sapph’s opinion, as he looked it over.
The last one was a large black snake which must have clocked at least ten feet in length easily. It’s red, purple and yellow markings weren’t the worst part of it as Sapph took in its long blood red fangs and sword shaped tail which it whipped across the rocky floor, creating sparks and a grinding noise rather like a knife or sword sharpening as it looked out from behind Charmeleon’s shoulder and hissed hungrily.
“Busted!” Sapph growled, feeling the hard rock wall behind him. “How did you figure me out?”
“Easy,” the man said victoriously. “No grunts have been informed of the break in yet. The only ones looking out for you are we supervisors.”
“And Captain Vulca isn’t anywhere near this facility,” the woman said smugly. “She and her battalion are with our overlord at the main HQ!”
“I see,” Sapph said calmly. “Well, thanks for the info. Let’s go, Anuvi! You too, Zen!”
Sapph clenched his fists as his Squirrage appeared in a blast of spiralling green light that rushed from his pokéball, Zen right beside him in the customary red light and wondered if they could work together as well as they must have done back at White Cliffs. He’d never used the pair in a double battle since the Rocky Path and hoped their team work had improved since then.
A fear which was confirmed when Anuvi took one look at their opposition and said coolly, <Dunno why you called Zen out, Sapph. I’m enough for these four.>
<Ooh,> the Seviper crooned with a hiss. <Kid’sss got jokesss!>
<I agree, Fearless Leader,> Zen said calmly, looking the Charmeleon intently. <But the kid’s the boss here. So, how do we split ‘em?>
<I’ll take the Charmeleon and Seviper,> Anuvi said dispassionately. <I trust you can take the others?> he added with a sideways smirk.
<Please,> Zen affected with a smile. <These guys aren’t anything special. I’ll take three minutes and back you up.>
<What?!> The Nidorino yelled angrily, taking a step forward as his aggression began to peak. <Say that again, I dare you!>
<Three minutes?> Anuvi repeated as he loosened up and Zen adopted his Tae Kwon Do stance. <Aren’t you slow... those two wont last a minute and a half.>
<Ego, ego,> Zen scolded lightly as the Charmeleon had had enough of been mocked lightly and opened up with an unordered Flamethrower attack, which Sapph, Anuvi and Zen had to dive aside to dodge. <And you really need to calm down,> he added to the Nidorino who fired off a salvo of purplish
senbon needles that missed their mark by about a second as Zen leapt away a split second after touching down.
“Enough,” the woman said roughly. “Bagon, use Headbutt on the Jutunkick! Charmeleon, another Flamethrower, burn that Squirrage to a crisp!”
“By the way, kid,” the man said shrewdly. “You don’t happen to have an accomplice around, do you?”
Sapph’s eyes contracted slightly as Anuvi and Zen avoided being barbecued and headbutted into next week respectively.
The male supervisor noticed Sapph’s twitch. “So there is at least one more. Good to know. Nidorino, Horn Attack! Seviper, Poison Tail!”
Nidorino charged in towards Anuvi who slipped out of sight and out of harm’s way yet again as Seviper whipped his bladed tail towards Zen in what he hoped was an unnoticed motion. Zen sensed the unfriendly attack before it made contact and swinging his foot over his head and down hard on the ground in an axe kick and caused a pillar of stone to shoot out of the ground and block the glowing tail cold.
Nidorino ran straight into Bagon who was shaking his overlarge head dizzily as his failed Headbutt left him somewhat disoriented, his large horn piercing him short and stubby arm rather badly. Bagon let out a roar and Nidorino, realizing his mistake, leapt back before he impaled his own colleague severely.
Zen turned to the injured Bagon and Nidorino and said blithely, <Oh, shame. Horn Attack must give you horrible tunnel vision, hunh?>
Anuvi reappeared beside Seviper’s head and thrusting out a palm shot a wave of rushing wind into the side of the serpent’s head, snarling, <Can you hear right? Your opponent’s me!>
The Seviper’s long body crashed beside the Charmeleon’s who looked up at the Squirrage and smirked. Anuvi returned the smug look with one of contempt as he landed lightly and glanced at the Seviper who slithered back upright, looking dazed.
“Damn it, Seviper! Get back in there!” The man snapped his cool temporarily lost. “Use Poison Tail again!”
<Oh, great,> Anuvi said in a bored voice as Seviper charged in again. <A one-trick Ponyta.>
“Bagon, Crunch!” The woman commanded swiftly.
The Bagon leapt at Zen, his yellow mouth wide opened as the Nidorino fired off another salvo of Poison Sting at Zen who ran forward straight into Bagon, stunning the Dragon type so badly it was unable to shut its jaws in time before the wily Fighting type had grabbed them firmly.
<I have you this time!> the Nidorino yelled in jubilation as the Poison Sting raced closer and he followed suit with another Horn Attack aimed at the Combatant Pokémon’s... hindquarters. <Time for Pin the Horn on the Loudmouth!>
<Really?> Zen said flippantly, his eyes adopting a cerulean hue in sync with the Poison Sting, which stopped dead in midair and hovered there. Not missing a beat, Zen used his Confusion to send the needles right back where they came from and Nidorino, not seeing this, received a face full of his own attack.
Roaring indignantly the Nidorino kept charging straight on towards where he was sure Zen still stood. It was no surprise to any of the battlers that Zen casually sidestepped the charging Poison Pin Pokémon and let him ram right into the wall, jamming his horn fast in the stony wall.
<Yawn,> Zen said in a bored voice. <Hey, Kid, shall I finish it now or are you enjoying the show?>
Taking his cue, Sapph said, “Right. Let’s put Nidorino to sleep then! Time to use your opponent’s head!”
<Sweetness,> Zen smiled in admiration of Sapph’s style and swung the now bug-eyed Bagon in a wide arc and slamming him – head first - right onto the crown of Nidorino’s head with a pronounced cracking sound. Nidorino stopped struggling to free himself and slumped instantly. Bagon seemed too dazed to make out night or day anymore as he weaved around drunkenly away from his unconscious colleague.
“Bah... Nidorino, return,” the male supervisor growled angrily. “It’s up to you now, Seviper! Use Poison Tail attack!”
“OK, Zen time to back Anuvi- watch out!” Sapph cried out a second or so too late.
Zen looked around a split second too late and felt a series of what seemed to be small nails digging into his furry arm. Yowling in pain he raised his arm to see the bemused Bagon latched tightly to his upper arm and not letting go.
<Augh! Get it off me, Kid! GEDDITOFF!> Zen wailed, running around theatrically and waving the Bagon around wildly as he capered all over the corridor.
Sapph and the Team Shadow operatives all sweat dropped in unison.
Sapph recovered first as the flashing of purple light erupted to his right and saw Anuvi dodging the furious stabs and swipes of Seviper’s Poison Tail with almost lazy ease.
<Seriously, don’t you have any other attacks?> Anuvi drawled, ducking beneath another Poison Tail attack aimed at his throat. The tail whipped around behind him and shot towards his back with a downwards stabbing motion.
“That’s it, now finish it!” the man said in a frenzied voice.
“Anuvi, run in close to Seviper now!” Sapph countered.
“Perfect,” the male supervisor said triumphantly. “Now, Seviper! Poison Fang attack!”
Sapph wasn’t fooled for a second. Smirking, he kept the tempo going and ordered, “Anuvi, grab his fangs and show him who’s boss!”
Anuvi leapt up towards the Seviper’s head just as Zen had done with Bagon a moment ago and grasped the Fang Snake Pokémon’s long namesakes and still holding on tightly, flipped over Seviper’s head, snapping the Poison type’s head back with him. Seviper struggled to regain control, and the Warrior Pokémon, smirking softly, pulled his arms down sharply, breaking off the squamate Pokémon’s prized teeth in one brutal movement, still glowing purple.
“Augh! Seviper, nooo!” The male supervisor shrieked, falling apart at the sight of his Pokémon’s and subsequently his own disgrace.
<SSSSRRAAAAAAH!> The Seviper spat in pain and horror as its fangs were torn from its skull.
“Do it now, Charmeleon! Dragon Claw attack, while it’s airborne!” the female supervisor commanded, totally unperturbed by her partner’s Pokémon’s fate.
Anuvi leapt away nimbly and Charmeleon, seeing his chance, lunged forward with his claws awash in greenish flames, intent on raking his Dragon Claw attack across Anuvi’s back.
“Anuvi, heads up!” Sapph cautioned swiftly. “Give him a taste of Seviper’s own attack!”
Anuvi nodded and turned on a dime, swinging the Seviper’s torn fangs around at the charging Charmeleon, whose eyes widened as the makeshift Poison typed attack approached his eye faster than he could retreat.
“Charmeleon, block and fall back!” its trainer ordered swiftly.
“Keep it there!” Sapph ordered.
Charmeleon raised his flaming fist to his face and took the poisonous tooth to the forepaw, snarling ferally as Anuvi expressionlessly dug in deeper and watched the Charmeleon twist helplessly in a vain attempt to break away.
“Now, Seviper! Avenge yourself! Poison Tail, now! Slice straight through them both!” The Fang Snake Pokémon’s trainer ordered, his voice full of malice.
<Honestly... can you do NOTHING ELSE?!> Anuvi yelled, flinging the Seviper’s second fang back towards the advancing serpent who bore down on the two struggling Pokémon, his poisonous tail first, glowing a venomous purple. The fang may have lost its poisonous nature but still did considerable damage as it impaled the Seviper just below the blade of its tail, causing it to spit and hiss furiously as its concentration broke, leaving its sharpened tail to slam down where Anuvi and Charmeleon stood once before.
“Charmeleon, get that Squirrage off you with a point-blank Flamethrower blast!” the woman ordered ruthlessly.
“Anuvi, back away!” Sapph said quickly.
Both Pokémon did as they were bidden, Anuvi was fortunate to have his tremendous speed to stay a second ahead of Charmeleon as he released his hold on the fang and vanished from sight as the Flame Pokémon released a river of fire that engulfed the Seviper below, making it cry out in pain.
“Hey! Watch where you aim that thing!” the man whined to his partner.
“Same to you,” the woman said coldly with an askance glance towards her ‘partner’. “’Slice straight through them both’, eh?”
Now’s our chance to level things up! Sapph thought as he watched the Seviper struggle to throw off the flames. “Anuvi! Use Kamikaze, one more time!” he ordered, pumping his fist.
Anuvi hovered above Sapph and flung a second pulse of wind right into the flames, causing them to erupt into a localised inferno that sapped the last of Seviper’s strength, knocking it out.
“Aw, no! Seviper, no! Return!” the man said in a weepy voice, his former arrogant persona all but gone.
“Hmm... just like at Lake Legendio, only this time we can localise the flames,” Sapph said thoughtfully, his mind going back to his fight with Zula:
-Flashback-
Lake Legendio, two weeks ago
“Shame,” Zula replied, yet not looking sorry at all for the excuse to destroy the figurative thorn in her flesh since the
Javelin incident. Raising all her thorny whips high, she said with a sense of indecent pleasure in her voice, “You’re someone the world’s not gonna miss mu... what the?”
Carla and Sapph turned and instantly shielded their eyes against the blast of frigid wind that swept the lake and froze the swarming Polyporh and Kurbaza solid. Even Tora, a Fire type, was reduced to shivering.
Arcana instinctively threw up a Flame Wheel to protect herself from the cold and surprisingly felt her flames double in strength and size. After getting over the initial shock of the sudden increase in her firepower, Arcana smiled a wicked smile.
<Ready to end this, shorty?> Arcana howled, getting juiced up, as a ball of white and blue fire welled up within her maw.
“What did you call me, you mutt?!” Zula screeched in a deranged voice. “Die!”
“Arcana, no!” Sapph bellowed in worry, rushing in to shield his Pokémon, though he was rather lacking in size to do this anymore. “Move!”
Arcana unleashed a tremendous stream of fire as Zula brought all her projections into a final, fatal strike. A second freak blast of wind came rushing in from behind Sapph and Arcana a second later and something incredible happened: Arcana’s fire attack increased in range a power dramatically, swallowing up all the evil branches Zula had summoned up to attack.
The flames didn’t stop there, however. Zula’s eyes opened wide as she unleashed an unearthly shriek, the fire overcoming her explosively, hiding her writhing form from Sapph and Carla’s sight, the latter of whom Tora had shoved aside in a last ditch attempt to protect her trainer.
-End Flashback-
A useful tactic, I have a feeling it will come in handy again, Sapph thought as he watched the man return the Seviper and descend to wallowing in defeat.
Aloud, however, he said, “Stay sharp, Anuvi! We still have one opponent left! And haven’t you gotten rid of that thing yet, Zen?!”
<Easy for you to say, Kid!> Zen snapped back. <This stupid thing feels more like a freaking Totodile!>
The Squirrage nodded confirmation regarding his ability to go on and locked eyes with his Fire typed foe, who returned the glare with a look of quiet interest and disquieting glee which bordered on tranquil blood lust as he wrenched the Seviper's fang out of his hand.
<
He’s skilled. Extremely so, if fact. Very well... for this calibre of opponent, it almost seemed appropriate,> the Charmeleon thought to himself as he began to glow white and grow larger.
<Hah?!> Zen blanched almost indignantly as he grappled with the Bagon’s large jaws which were still fastened tight around his arm as the Charmeleon grew wings Sapph knew would be large and leathery once the light died down. <No fair!>
<Oh, come on, big guy,> Anuvi said calmly as the light died down and a worn yet pumped up Charizard replaced the Charmeleon. <You’re making this even easier than it was before!>
“Nice,” the woman said coldly, flushed at the promotion she was sure to receive once the battle was over. Sweeping her green, shoulder length hair over her shoulder, she took command of the battle. “Bagon, keep your hold. Charizard, Flamethrower!”
“We can’t use Kamikaze here, Anuvi! It will only power up his attacks!” Sapph said sharply as Anuvi prepared a third Kamikaze attack. Raising his voice to a command, he added, “Get in close and use Fury Cutter!”
“Yeah, that’ll work,” the woman said with a cold sneer. “Fill the whole corridor with your Flamethrower!”
The fiery giant began to flap his wings with tremendous power generating a powerful gale that filled the corridor as he threw back his long neck, a fireball growing within his maw.
<Ah, forget this,> Anuvi snorted, raising his arm again as he shielded himself with his other forearm.
“Anuvi, don’t!” Sapph called out frantically.
Looking back for a fleeting second, Anuvi smiled and said, <Relax. We can localise the blast, right?>
And without a further clue fired off a concentrated Wind Attack just as the Charizard threw his head forward and began to open his mouth. If wind could be seen, the three trainers would be stunned to see the Kamikaze tear through the Wing Attack like it was nothing and land right on target in the Charizard mouth, expanding the flames to uncontrollable proportions faster than the Charizard was ready to contain them.
The Charizard howled in anguish as its own Flamethrower backfired (no pun intended) on itself, charring its mouth and searing halfway down its throat with a loud bang.
The large winged lizard spluttered angrily and turned to glare at the Squirrage through watering eyes as the smaller Pokémon clasped his forepaws together in what seemed to be a hand sign.
<Like I said... way too easy,> Anuvi the Squirrage said quietly, unleashing the torrent of bladelike leaves that was his Leaf Storm upon the Charizard.
“Charizard, block with your wing!” its trainer yelled.
“Leaf Storm?” Sapph looked bemused at Anuvi’s move. “But why?”
<
F.L. has a plan,> Zen said telepathically to Sapph as he finally dislodged the Bagon with an Aura Sphere attack from inside its mouth, effectively disorienting it even more. <
Trust me. Oh, and don’t blink. Not that you’ll see it happen, anyways...>
Charizard followed orders and was pushed back by merely the power of the forceful attack as the attack slammed into his shielding wing and spread far and wide into the air, creating a cloud of foliage all around him.
“What’s the matter, child?” the woman said brashly, sweeping a lock of black hair out of her cold eyes, barely noticing her Pokémon’s laboured breathing. “Given up already? You should know Grass type attack do nothing to a Pokémon of Charizard’s nature...”
“Too bad your Charizard seems to disagree,” Sapph countered wittily, as the leaves fluttered all around them. “Take a look. I won’t blame you if you don’t see it coming, though...”
“See what coming?” the older trainer demanded. “Charizard, burn all the leaves down!”
<Too late,> Anuvi’s voice echoed through the corridor. <It’s over, big guy.>
An arc of dark green flashed across the corridor and a long scar erupted on the Charizard’s yellow underbelly in a shower of crimson life. Charizard clutched the wound with a clawed hand but received a second cut, half a heartbeat later, across his right foot. Four more strikes rained down on the roaring dragon in such rapid succession they were impossible to tell apart and if it weren’t for the flashes of emerald for that seemed to dance among the leaves, it would be impossible to see Anuvi at all.
Sapph stared, mouth agape, at the attack‘s speed and precision. “What is that attack?”
The Grass/Flying type reappeared before the boy trainer and said softly, <That was my Dance of the Leaves. It’s just a series of high speed Leaf Blades within a cloud of my natural element, making it impossible to track my movements within the leafy vortex,> he added at the mystified look on Sapph’s face.
Sapph sighed and scratched the back of his head helplessly. “Must you always have a flair for the poetic in naming your attacks?”
The Charizard was apparently not impressed. It took one stomping step forward and let out a pained roar before passing out cold, with a tremulous thud.
“No... Charizard,” the woman hissed, returning her defeated Fire type Pokémon in a flash of red light.
Wait a second, she thought suddenly.
It’s not over! I still have...
“Bagon! Fall back and use... hunh?!” the woman’s dark eyes blanched as she beheld her Bagon waddling around on its stumpy little legs worse than ever. The Rock Head Pokémon’s mouth now issued copious amounts of steam. “Bagon! What happened to you?!”
“Guess three Aura Spheres were bad for its health,” Sapph laughed, despite the situation. “Zen, finish it off with Rolling Kick!”
<Right!> Zen said, taking a couple of steps forwards and bounding lightly towards the confused Bagon, who could only weave about tipsily. Twisting gracefully towards the little dragon, Zen planted his first kick square in the Bagon’s little yellow underbelly, causing the Bagon to choke in pain.
“Hold fast, Bagon!” its trainer screamed.
“Once more, Zen!” Sapph said firmly.
Bagon tried to summon resistance to his legs to keep them strong but winced as Zen used his small belly as a pivotal point and spun around once more, the next Rolling Kick attack connecting the Jutunkick’s heel to the Bagon’s lower jaw.
Pulling his foot free from his smaller opponent, Zen used the force of his second kick to throw his opponent into the steel door of the supply room, leaving the light blue Pokémon to slump there in total defeat.
“That’s all she wrote!” Sapph said confidently, pulling out their pokéballs. “Great job, you two. Return...”
The sound of laughing caused him to stumble in his speech. Looking up, he saw the two supervisors laughing at something apparently hilarious. The sight unnerved Sapph slightly.
Feigning calm that he for some reason did not feel, Sapph spoke up, “What’s so funny?”
Clutching his side in hysterical laughter, the man said raucously, “You really can’t think you’d won, can you?”
The woman pulled out a small device that looked something like a remote control with only one button. Raising it to Sapph’s eye level, she taunted, “Can you guess what this is?”
Sapph stayed silent, but had a feeling it was not his dad’s long lost TV remote.
“It’s a panic alarm,” she hissed triumphantly. “If I press this, you’ll have Team Shadow operatives all over your butt so fast, it’ll make your head spin,” she finished with a leer.
Oh, no, Sapph thought grimly.
“Bottom line? You will be captured and we will take the credit,” the man said feverishly, his orange eyes glinting maniacally.
“Be seeing you,” the woman laughed as she began applying pressure to the button.
Something long and green lashed out with a sound like a whip crack and disarmed the female supervisor effortlessly. Clutching her wrist in pain, the woman and her colleague turned around to see two thick yet supple vines come into being and in less than a second, snap shut around them roughly, tying them together neatly.
“OK, Pythorn! Now use Pound!” Nicola said as she emerged from the storage room, now also decked out in black Team Shadow fatigues.
Another snakelike Pokémon roughly as long as Seviper, but without the bladed tail and with a flatter, snub-nosed head had the two operatives in a bind. With a nod, this new serpent, swung its spike-ridden tail downwards twice and clobbered its prey hard around the head, rendering them senseless immediately.
“Well done, Pythorn. Throw them in here,” Nicola commanded calmly, indicating the storage room they had just exited. Her Pokémon agreed and tossing them lightly. Leaving her victims sprawled on the floor senseless, Nicola turned to Sapph and said, “Really slick, Sapph. It a wonder there haven’t been any reinforcements along yet... are you even listening to me?”
<We try not to,> n said blithely. <You kinda live longer not worrying about what you have to say.>
Sapph in the meanwhile had scanned the floor for the device the female supervisor had held earlier and noticing it lying face down ran over to pick it up and study it. Turning it over in his hand, he noticed that the blue button had been depressed by its fall against the hard floor and that in doing so, had turned from blue to a pulsing red.
“Well, they will be now,” Sapph muttered grimly as he stood up again. “Anuvi, Zen... return!” Both Pokémon returned in a flash of red and green and seizing Nicola’s wrist, pulled her along and said, “Let’s get outta here, now!”
“What’s eating you?” Nicola said sternly as her Pythorn slithered after them as quickly as it could.
Sapph held up the alarm and said, “While you were busy playing Zorro with your Pythorn, the lady supervisor dropped this panic alarm on its face, and the force of the fall activated it. Now thanks to you, Team Shadow grunts will be converging on this signal from all over the base!”
Nicola seemed stunned that she had made such a crucial mistake for about two seconds before she came up with a retort. Pointing an admonitory finger at Sapph, she snapped, “So what are you doing then, carrying it around like that? You might as well, wear a ‘We are intruders. Arrest us’ sign and have done with it!”
Stopping by a chute a good distance away from the storage room, Sapph opened the hatch and as a truly revolting stench filled the corridor, threw the remote down it, shutting it quickly as Pythorn, who had caught up at last, and its trainer, who hadn’t pulled up her mask yet, began to gag despite its part Poison attributes.
“Laying a false trail,” Sapph said with a smile. “Unlike some people, I’m adept at thinking on my feet. Now, pipe down and come on! We’re in enough danger as it is.”
Unable to find a comeback for Sapph’s latest jibe, Nicola did as she was bidden for once and returning Pythorrn, pulled up her mask and followed Sapph at a smart trot, catching him up at the top of a stairwell leading to a lower level.
“So,” Nicola said meekly as they came off the stairway two levels down and darted up yet another corridor together, “how’s your nose holding up?”
Sapph muttered darkly once more and did not answer. For one who preached delicacy, this girl sure lacked it at times...
***
Half an hour after her battle with Rachel, Haley left the Trigello Tournament Office, having successfully registered Tempest as part of her line up for the tournament.
“Well, that’s that,” Haley said, clapping her hands as the bright sun gleamed from the brow of her ten gallon hat. Looking around at the crowds that thronged all over the plaza, she muttered, “Now to wait for Sapph to get back from the Dragon Cove. I probably should train Tempest a bit, but according to the staff, the Tournament’s already...”
“Excuse me,” a voice said in her ear behind her. “But did you say Sapph? As in Mr. Sapphire ‘Sapph’ Manson?”
Haley swivelled around and came face to face with a youth who seemed to be several years older than herself. His red eyes sparkled in the sunlight which shone off his ebony locks.
“Depends,” Haley said cautiously. “Who’s asking?”
“So you
did say Sapph,” the mystery boy said cheerfully, his bright facial expression reflected in his manner of speech and ease at which he carried himself. “You must be Haley Kent.”
“OK, buddy,” Haley said, mildly creeped out. “First of all, how did you know who I am? Second, how do you know Sapph? And most importantly, who in blue hell are you?”
“Whoa, whoa,” the boy said genially, taking his hands out of the pockets of his black leather jacket and raising them in surrender. “I’m sorry. Orion’s my name, and I’m a field commander of the AGENTs.”
“’AGENTs’?” Haley echoed quizzically. “What’s an AGENT?”
“A secret anti-terrorist group,” Orion said promptly. “Sorry, I can’t say more than that. For obvious reasons,” he added with a gentle smile.
“For a secret anti-terrorist op, you sure are free with your info,” Haley said suspiciously. “You didn’t answer my-“
“My fellow field commander is an acquaintance of your friend Sapph,” Orion said casually. “You met him back at Green Hill Town.” When Haley continued to look lost, he added swiftly, “The youth with the blue hair who gave you your Eevee.”
Haley’s jaw scraped bamboo walkway at this pronouncement. “Tony’s an AGENT? Sapph never mentioned that!”
“I’m afraid that’s not all your friend has kept from you,” Orion said calmly. “I’d like to disclose some information to you that you’d be very interested to hear. Might I treat you to a late lunch?”
“Alright,” Haley said, obviously intrigued, falling into step beside the charismatic enigma.
The two teens walked for a few moments in silence, Orion looking left and right at the row of stores and restaurants that lined both sides of the street.
As they turned onto a side street, Haley turned to Orion and said, “If you’re an AGENT field commander, you must have heard of a Team Shadow, right?”
“Not here, Haley,” Orion said genially. “Wait ‘til we... ah, this will do!”
And without another word, he led a mystified Haley past Lou’s Pizza Parlour which was ‘Closed for Repairs’ according to the sign and into the Spicy Torchic, which looked like a side tavern of sorts.
“Uh, why here?” Haley asked apprehensively.
Orion merely nodded to the barkeep, a large, portly man with a handlebar moustache, who donned a large white and red striped apron and manned his post with a large cloth in his right hand and a clean glass in his other. The man inclined his head towards the back room slightly.
“Undercover AGENT HQ,” Orion replied with a smile back at Haley as he led the way into a small seedy room with a single incandescent bulb flickering from overhead beneath a wicker lampshade. Several round tables for two had been laid intermittently throughout the room.
Orion and Haley settled themselves at the table nearest the door and the barman came in a few minutes later with two root beers on a tray and a couple of menus.
Orion raised his hand as the rotund man laid the beverages before him and said, “The regular for me. Haley?”
“Uhm, a salad will be fine.”
The barman nodded once and left the room.
“He’s an AGENT too?” Haley asked Orion curiously once he had left.
“Each member of the staff here is,” Orion smiled, placing his root beer to his lips and taking a swig.
Haley looked mildly surprised but curiosity concerning the circumstances of their meeting stifled further questions that she figured Orion probably wouldn’t answer anyway. She opted instead to get to the heart of the matter as directly as possible.
“Alright, you mentioned information I needed to know...”
Placing his bottle down with a light thud, Orion looked Haley square in the eye and said, “Well, for the most part, you must understand that while our investigation into the Shadow’s activities have gleaned very little intel, what we have been able to learn is something beyond doubt...”
“What intelligence?” Haley demanded in a businesslike voice.
“Intelligence regarding the whereabouts of your father, Haley,” Orion said gently. “Damian Kent, I believe?”
Haley, who was in the middle of taking a gulp of root beer, gagged violently.
“What’s my father got to do with Team Shadow?” She half-yelled in panicked tones.
Orion raised his hand for patience which Haley only grudgingly complied to give before he answered, “We’ve discovered him to be in Team Shadow’s employ-“
“You’re lying, Orion,” Haley said in an angry voice. “My father would never collaborate with terrorist for anything!”
“Actually, he would, and has,” Orion said calmly.
“I don’t believe you,” Haley said firmly. “What in Arceus’ name would make him leave us to work with terrorists?”
“You.”
Haley heard, but could hardly take in what Orion had just said.
“I’m sorry?” She said, unsure she’d heard right. “What was that?”
“You. His family,” Orion expounded calmly yet not unsympathetically. “Team Shadow had obviously threatened you with some form of harm had he not agreed to cooperate. Naturally, he had no choice but to comply.”
Haley sank back into her chair; her insides curiously vanished in the aftermath of this startling news. She buried her face in her hands and fought to keep her scream of anguish at the thought of what her father must be going through for the sake of their well-being inside her throat. The barkeep brought their meals in and left, directing a slight nod at Orion as he left.
The older boy clasped his hands together and surveyed the distraught girl sitting across him in a concerned manner.
“I’m sorry, Haley,” he said finally. “Are you alright?”
“So Sapph knew this?” Haley said finally, her voice sounding numb and distant from behind her hands. “For how long?”
“Well,” Orion said hesitantly. “Tony informed him during your sojourn in Green Hill, but our sources have revealed there’s a possibility that he’d known for some time prior to meeting his friend and my comrade Tony.”
Haley’s voice was muffled by her palms as she asked her next question: “How?”
“Revealing that would probably get me in trouble with my superiors, but...” Orion started but Haley interrupted brusquely, “Orion! I don’t care, just- just tell me. Please.”
As her voice began to crack on the last syllable, her hands began to grip her reddish blonde bangs and her tears began to splatter the desk as her shoulders shook.
Orion stared at her for a few seconds, obviously contemplating her situation. Coming to a decision, he placed his hand upon her shoulder and said gently, “I’m sorry, Haley. I can’t.”
“Please,” Haley repeated, her goose grey eyes pleading with Orion’s crimson orbs. “I have to know.”
Orion seemed to struggle with himself as he looked away from Haley’s eyes. Steeling himself, he took a deep breath, turned back to her and said, “Very well: we now have reason to believe Sapph is himself a member of Team Shadow.”
“What?!” Haley breathed in shock, searching Orion’s eyes for a hint, a gleam; anything that would betray the joke in his statement.
Orion’s look was deadly serious as he shook his head a fraction to each side.
“Arceus,” Haley whispered in horror, gripping her hair desperately once again. “When?”
“We’re not entirely sure when,” Orion said gently, “but we assume it must have been soon before or after he was accosted by Tony... probably in the Rocky Path during your brief separation.”
“Why? Why would Sapph...?” Haley looked utterly lost as she gazed into Orion’s face. “Was he threatened? Forced?”
Orion shook his head slightly and said, “We have no idea. But we can safely assume he was neither forced nor coerced into it. I hate to say it, but it looks like he joined them of his free will.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Haley muttered more to herself than to Orion. “Team Shadow have been after him for months. They’ve nearly killed him twice. And that’s only as far as I know. Where’s the proof that he’s part of them.”
“There’s the possibility he was pretending to be hunted,” Orion said quietly.
“What? Why?” Haley gibbered, totally stunned. “You’re wrong. You have to be.”
“How so?” Orion asked curiously.
“The first time he met with Team Shadow,” Haley recounted, “they were ready and willing to kill us all...”
“And when was that?” Orion asked gently.
“He nearly got blown off an airship from fifty thousand miles up, for starters,” Haley said, an edge of rationality to her voice now. “If he was with Team Shadow then, why didn’t they save him?”
“An act, most probably,” Orion said calmly. “Team Shadow don’t necessarily portray much team spirit from intelligence reports gathered so far...”
“Are you hearing yourself?” Haley asked incredulously. “Who would throw himself off an airship just for kicks?”
“I’m under the impression Sapph was something of a daredevil,” Orion said slowly.
Haley had to mull his answer over for a few seconds before she could offer a counter argument. As she opened her mouth, Orion spoke again.
“We also have reason to believe that Mr. Manson has had a couple of run-ins with Team Shadow shortly before and soon after you started travelling together.”
“No, he hasn’t,” Haley said coldly. “The first time he met Team Shadow was...”
“...in EverWood Forest,” Orion interrupted her stoically, his eyes deadly serious.
Haley faltered, her argument, and her voice, seemingly lost.
“He next met them on a ferry bound for Nightspark City from Entover Harbour,” Orion went on dispassionately, his eyes boring into Haley’s. “And again in the Rocky Pass. I believe that is where you first met them yourself... in a manner of speaking...”
Haley had no retort to this as she shuddered at the recollection of Pyrrhus’s mother’s murder.
“Furthermore,” Orion said thoughtfully. “Do you remember how he escaped death that particular time? On the airship known as the
Javelin, I believe?”
Haley’s eyes widened as her recollection of Ace diving after Sapph’s falling frame and evolving in mid-dive came back to the surface of her mind.
Shaking her head at the thought, Haley struggled with speech once more as Orion watched her carefully. Finding her voice at last, she muttered, “It sounds insane... mad, forcing your Pokémon into evolution by placing yourself in danger... but knowing Sapph,” she said more to herself as the memory of Anuvi’s evolution during the battle against Ricon and his Farfetch’d swam to the surface of her mind and pushing away that of Bubbles’, “it sounds almost plausible...”
Looking at Orion, she went on, “But it still doesn’t explain Olde Teake Town. Frau Hiyori’s death... Zula and Vulca burning down the house with us still inside. Hell, Sapph stayed behind to let Nora and I escape...”
“Nora?” Orion said, his eyes contracting slightly. “Who’s that?”
“A girl Sapph helped become a trainer,” Haley said dismissively. “She caught up to us around Appleburn City and left with her brother Reg a couple of days later.”
“I see,” Orion said calmly. “We believe he had done so to give himself time to communicate with and assist Team Shadow in dealing with the Light peons that actually committed the murder of Frau Hiyori...”
“...what?” Haley said, her shock beyond description.
“The Light is another group of terrorists, although with anti-Pokémon activism as their main forte,” Orion said calmly. “They believe purging the world of Pokémon will bring ‘true salvation’ to its people...”
“’Another terrorist group’?,” Haley echoed in a distant voice. “How many bloody terrorist groups can one continent hold?”
*continued next post*