Two months, not too bad, all things considered! And Chapter 55 should be coming before too long as well. We're really getting into the thick of things now~
Air rushed past, streaming through my hair, my sleeves. My eyes watered, squinting at the trees below, my hands clutching at feathers. Our flight path was perfectly level, the way ahead clear. So far so good. I squeezed gently with my thighs and Swift banked into a smooth, gradual turn. I leaned into it like I always would, keeping my head low and my shoulders tensed and…
A sudden jolt of white-hot pain lanced across my back. My hands relaxed just for a second, grip loosening—I felt my balance suddenly shift sideways, and—!
Swift tilted himself abruptly the other way and I fell flat on his back, heart pounding. He glanced back at me with concern, but before he could offer to call off the practice, I said, “Let’s try that one again.”
He obliged, first waiting for me to ready myself, then tilting his wings and turning left in a wide arc. I kept my arms loose, my body almost completely flat against him, now very aware of each muscle in my back making the tiny adjustments needed to keep balance. It all felt foreign, detached, like there was a degree of separation between my body and brain.
I nudged Swift again to say ‘another one,’ and he banked into another turn, sharper this time. I leaned into it, trying to stay in that sweet spot to avoid straining anything. But my torso was sliding too far to the left, and I had to tighten my shoulders, and a flare of buzzing static tore across my back. Swift evened our flight and I sank against him, breathing hard.
“It still hurts,” I gasped out, clutching his feathers tightly. But I couldn’t just sit things out today. We couldn’t afford that.
“*If it hurts, we should stop,*” Swift said, gently drifting toward the ground.
I swallowed. “Well, if all goes well, I shouldn’t even need to ride any of you today.” This just confirmed what we already knew—that I was better off with the ground squad than the air squad. And yet, it still stung.
Swift flared his wings to slow our flight, and we touched down next to the rest of the team. Firestorm and Stygian were doing a few basic block-parry drills with Metal Claw and Night Slash while Aros hurled small rocks into the air for Chibi’s target practice.
“Everyone ready?” I asked the team. My eyes lingered on Jet, who was sitting off to the side, yawning widely.
It had been two weeks since she’d trained with the rest of the team. And while she’d been sparring constantly with Rudy’s team that whole time, that was almost definitely singles training, not the chaotic multi-battling that we’d learned on the Rebellion.
The Floatzel noticed I was staring at her and gave me a look, so I’d have to say something.
“You’re sure that you’re up for this? Been practicing your Prote—”
“*Yeah, yeah, o’ course,*” she cut in, scratching behind her ear.
I wasn’t sure if I believed her. Part of me wanted to remind her what had happened to Skarmory—what had happened to
her—during the last mission. But that seemed too harsh. So I just said, “That’s good,” and wandered over to where Ajia was standing next to Lugia.
She glanced at me as I approached, eyes lighting up. “Hey, check it out, I think we’ve just about got it,” she said proudly, gesturing to the legend.
I glanced up at Lugia and nodded. “Looks pretty good. Although…”—I tilted my head at the seabird’s stoic air—“the expression isn’t quite right.”
‘Lugia’ frowned. The towering legend swept its wings forward to send a rush of wind at my face, and I closed my eyes reflexively. But of course, it was fake—my hair didn’t move at all.
“I don’t think anyone but me would notice, though!” I added quickly.
Zoroark folded his illusory wings and gave a self-satisfied nod.
“Oughta fool the Rockets at least,” Ajia added with a grin. “This way the two of us can fly with Aerodactyl and no one would even see me.” And if they tried to fire on “Lugia” they’d be in for a surprise.
The mission was a two-pronged attack. While Ajia and Mew led the air squad to intercept the Rockets’ supply shipment, the rest of us on the ground would be investigating that new warehouse in Indigo. To figure out what the Rockets were doing there, and if it really was ‘just’ a warehouse, or something more involved than that.
Rudy was still clearing things with his team, hyping Fearow up along with Ebony and Breloom. Tyranitar sat off to the side, eyes half-lidded—it was pretty unlikely that she’d see any action today given how Rudy was going with the air squad. Darren was running teleport drills with Alakazam while Weavile tried in vain to hit them with Icy Wind, only to come up several seconds short each time.
“*Quit goin’ so fast!*” the dark-type hissed, panting hard with bits of frost clinging to her fangs.
“*That would defeat the point,*” Alakazam replied flatly.
The next time they vanished, he and Darren reappeared at my side. Ebony promptly bounded over and gave each of us a lick as Rudy wandered in our direction with his hands in his pockets.
“Sucks that we’re not on the same squad for this,” he mumbled.
“I can’t fly that well,” I said lamely, holding both hands up.
“And, uh, I don’t have a flier on my team anymore,” Darren added, rubbing the back of his head.
Rudy paused to think, idly kicking at the grass. “You could go with Fearow like we did in Hoenn,” he said, gesturing to the bird.
“Wouldn’t you have to fly with Moltres, then?” Darren pointed out.
A flicker of realization crossed Rudy’s face. “Maybe.”
Darren raised an eyebrow. “Soo, I take it you’re cool with the League seeing you riding Moltres? No issues with that?”
“Alright, fine, stay on the
boring mission then,” Rudy grumbled, folding his arms.
“Look at it this way,” I offered, “it just means you’ll have more of a story for us when we get back to the cabin tonight.”
Rudy dug his shoe into the dirt. “I guess.”
He held out a fist, and Darren and I tapped it with our own.
It wasn’t just him. I also wanted to go back to the days when it was the three of us on the Rebellion, and everything felt more doable. But those days were long gone.
I watched as Rudy and Ajia, along with Lugia, Ho-oh, and Moltres took to the air and flew out of sight. That left me, Darren, and Starr making the final preparations before heading out on our own mission.
Just investigating a warehouse. Figuring out what the Rockets were doing in Indigo and how urgent it was. Nothing too serious.
…Maybe if I told myself that enough, it’d be true.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So you guys used to just waltz right into the base back when you were on the rebel team. How do you plan to get anywhere
without Sebastian’s bullshit?” Starr gave me a sideways glance.
Darren held up a finger. “I figured that’s why you’re here.”
She let out a snort. “Got me there.”
The three of us were standing in an alley across the street from a rather nondescript parking garage in Indigo, along with Chibi, Raichu, and Alakazam. Like Ajia had said, just a couple of security guards out front. A few blocks to our right was the same construction site Ajia and I had been scoping out only a few days ago. We’d been
this close to a Rocket storage facility and we hadn’t even known it.
My watch beeped. Fifteen minutes since Ajia had messaged us saying that their ambush was a go. No messages since then—no news was good news in this case, but it didn’t keep me from wondering.
“Welp, guess it’s time to find out how much of a mess this is gonna be,” Starr said, cracking her knuckles. She motioned to Raichu and said, “Alright, you’re up.”
He stood at attention before dashing across the street and into the security booth. I carefully avoided watching as he dealt with the guards, and once we were sure no one else was coming, we made our way across the street. I peeked inside the booth, checked the security cameras… nothing too special. Part of me wanted to just say that this was an ordinary parking garage, except for the part where Ajia had definitely seen Rocket-owned trucks heading here.
“Yeah, this sure as hell doesn’t look like any base entrance I’ve ever seen,” Starr said dismissively. “Hell, maybe Ajia gave us the wrong place.” I was pretty sure she didn’t believe that.
I sidled past the traffic arm, followed by Starr, Raichu, and Darren. Alakazam teleported in after us, causing Starr to mutter, “Show off.”
The main floor was mostly empty, save for a lineup of trucks and shipping containers off to the left. Aside from that, the only thing of note was a service elevator on the far wall and a ramp leading underground. Nothing obviously Rocket-y at first glance. Maybe the supplies could give us a clue?
“This is the enemy’s hideout? It isn’t very well-defended.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin, whirling around to find myself face-to-face with—
“Suicune?! What are you doing here?” I blurted out.
Starr almost tripped. “God
damn—giving me a heart attack, that’s what,” she snapped.
The Legendary beast stood there, framed by the entrance to the garage, mane and tails rippling as always, despite the lack of wind. It glanced around the unremarkable concrete space. “I am here for my own reasons. Your presence is irrelevant.”
“You didn’t need to follow us,” Darren pointed out. “You could have just said you wanted to come with.”
Suicune glowered at him for a few seconds, but then gave Starr and me a sideways glance. “Where are your so-called ‘patrons,’ anyway?”
“They’re intercepting the Rockets’ shipment,” I said. Then, after a moment’s pause: “You know, they probably could have used your help.”
Suicune didn’t reply. The beast padded forward, walking past without looking at us.
I let out a sigh. Alright fine, Suicune was here, I guess. Hopefully it just wanted to look around to feel like it was doing something since it hated inaction so much. I tried forcing myself to look at anything else—but there really
wasn’t much else. It was a parking garage. Maybe we could check out the service elevator?
“I don’t want to be near that thing,” Starr muttered under her breath.
I glanced over my shoulder. Suicune had taken to sniffing at the trucks’ wheels and pawing at the side of a shipping container.
“Me neither,” I admitted. Having a Legendary with us was supposed to feel reassuring. That was a lot more firepower if we got into a fight. Instead, I just felt… unnerved.
“*I’ll check out the lower floors,*” Chibi said, leaping down from my shoulder and descending the ramp into darkness.
That left us with figuring out if there was anything of interest up here. While I paced around the closest shipping container, Darren took the liberty of hitting the button for the service elevator. To my surprise, it dinged, and the door slid open.
“Well,” Darren said, gesturing inside with an awkward laugh. “Where to?”
Starr folded her arms. “If there
are any Rockets here, they’d be upstairs. We use that thing, we’re basically just strolling right up to their front door.”
Darren grinned sheepishly. “I was mostly joking.” He glanced over his shoulder at the shipping containers and added, “I guess for an
actual suggestion, we could try cutting one of those open?”
Starr just shrugged, so Darren went ahead and let out Weavile, who drew her claws across each other with a dramatic flourish. She approached the side of the container, eyeballing it for an ideal place to cut, but then—
The crunch of metal caught my ear behind us. Suicune had just torn the lock from the back of the same shipping container and was now nudging the door open with its nose.
“Oh. Or we could do that, yeah,” Darren said while Weavile crossed her arms with a pout.
I wasn’t sure what to expect as I rounded the edge of the container and peeked inside. But there it was—in the shadowed interior, the unmistakable silhouette of an ALR.
“Alright
fine, I guess there’s Rockets here,” Starr grumbled.
Suicune gave a self-satisfied snort. Then it drew itself back, gathering a blue glow in its mouth.
I blanched. “Wait, wait!” I yelled, crossing my hands back and forth. “If we destroy that thing, the Rockets will
definitely know we’re here.”
Suicune tossed its head. “And why should I avoid that result?”
“I… wh…” I clenched my fingers, struggling to find the words to explain something so obvious.
“If you’re reeeally set on doing that, at least let us help you, yeah?” Darren said, sidling in between me and Suicune.
I blinked at him. “What are you doing?” I hissed.
Darren put a hand to the side of his mouth. “We’re not gonna convince it to lay off. The least we can do is make sure it doesn’t get caught, yeah?”
I paused. “Right. You’re right.” We’d done this sort of thing all the time on the Rebellion last year. That was the whole point of half our missions. So why did it make me so anxious now?
Suicune had already stopped paying attention to us. It took a stance in front of the container, inhaled deeply, and—
“I don’t like this,” Starr hissed.
A bright jet of water shot from the beast’s mouth, crashing against the machine. It toppled over immediately with a loud clang and the squealing of metal. Suicune fired another burst at its side and the cannon on top ripped clean from the base.
I stared. Suicune gave a small huff, but at the same time, it did look slightly… perplexed.
“That was
way too easy,” I said in a low voice. Almost like it wasn’t even…
A piercing alarm split the air with flashing red lights along the ceiling.
Starr threw her arms in the air. “Of course. What’d I tell you?”
My eyes darted around the area, sizing it up. Too many concrete pillars, bad maneuverability for fliers. My hands flew to my pockets and I let out Stygian and Jet in a flash, then ducked behind a concrete pillar, straining my ears to hear any other sounds over the alarm. No footsteps or shouting, as far as I could tell.
“*What’s the deal, where’s the bad guys?*” Jet asked loudly.
“None yet,” I replied, squeezing my temples and willing my brain to focus. If this was a trap like Starr thought, why hadn’t we been ambushed? I kept expecting to see the elevator door opening and a swarm of Rockets pouring out, but—
Suicune let out a snarl and fired another beam, punching clean through another shipping container. This one was empty. None of these containers held anything of value, did they?
A sound behind me—the crunch of grinding metal. I spun around to see the garage door partially closed with Feraligatr holding it open, the metal bowing around her claws.
“Can we get the hell out of here
now?” Starr asked, gesturing roughly to us from outside.
Right, what was I doing bracing for a fight if there wasn’t one? I jumped to my feet, motioned to Jet and Stygian, and broke into a run.
And then a bulky shadow passed behind Starr, and my stomach dissolved into nothing. That silhouette—a hulking beast with jagged spikes and smoky tail…
Starr’s brow furrowed. “What’s with that loo—”
“Entei!!” Suicune cried.
Starr whirled around, leaping back from the doorway like it was on fire. Feraligatr pushed her aside, already glinting with the white light of Protect. I skidded to a halt and lunged for the nearest pillar even as my brain screamed that there was no way I’d make it in time. In my head, I could already see it, that shimmering heat wave rippling outward from the beast before everything erupted into flames. This time it wouldn’t just be my back, it’d be everything, everything…
“*Focus!*” a sharp voice rapped.
My eyes snapped open on a yellow face, inches from mine. Chibi, standing in my lap, fixing me with a piercing gaze.
Nothing was on fire. Still no Rockets. Jet and Stygian were staring out the garage entrance, looking confused.
“Let’s go,” Starr said in a low voice, grabbing my arm and pulling me to my feet.
We ducked under the door and Feraligatr let go, allowing it to slowly clatter downward, now partially crumpled around the middle. Darren and Alakazam teleported out a second later. Inside, the alarm continued to sound.
Already, I found my eyes tracing the buildings, expecting to see Rockets with Master Ball cannons lurking around every corner. But there was no one else around. Just Suicune facing down Entei, right in the middle of the street. It was surreal. They could’ve trapped us if they’d wanted. What was going on?
“Where is the scum that controls you?!” Suicune barked, glancing sharply in every direction.
No one moved. We all stood staring at the pair of beasts, waiting to see who’d make the first move. Suicune’s eyes darted around, still hunting for the enemy.
And then Entei bolted, taking off down the street.
“Come back!” Suicune howled, dashing after it.
Chibi leaped ahead of me, tail twitching. “*I’ll stick with Suicune, I can deflect any Master Balls if the Rockets show up.*”
I nodded. “Go.” And he raced off after them.
As if he knew what I was thinking, Darren said, “We’ll keep an eye on them,” before he and Alakazam vanished.
“We’ll follow them too,” Darren added. “I figured we can check the side streets for Rockets while we’re at it.” He nodded to Alakazam, and the two of them blinked out of sight.
“Jade, Ho-oh’s asking if we need help, what the hell do I tell it?” Starr asked, holding a hand to her temple like she was straining to think.
Did we need help? Probably. But we couldn’t afford to let the League see us working with the legends, and this was just about the worst place for it to happen, too.
“Tell it we ran into trouble, but it’s not an emergency yet.” If we
really needed them, we could call for Mew and Ajia. But not yet.
“God, I don’t want to know what counts as an emergency, then,” Starr muttered.
A loud crash echoed through the air, coming from the construction site. Starr groaned heavily before recalling Feraligatr and releasing Arcanine.
“I
know you’re gonna say we should keep an eye on them,” she said, motioning for me to climb on after her.
I recalled Jet and Stygian, threw a leg over Arcanine’s back, and only had a second to grab hold of Starr before the firedog leaped forward, clearing two city blocks within seconds. Just a straight line—no twisting, swerving movements, nothing like the test flight earlier. And yet I couldn’t help flinching, expecting a flash of pain any second.
The construction site was totally deserted (had the workers heard the commotion and fled?). Arcanine ducked down behind an excavator where we could watch without being out in the open.
Fierce winds tore the air, whipping the dirt into a frenzy. Squinting through the cloud of dust, I could make out Entei leaping up the metal framework of the unfinished building. Blasts of water shot past the fire beast, some hitting nothing but air, others snapping girders in two. One cut straight through a heavy chain fastened around a huge concrete tube, sending it plummeting to the ground with an enormous thud.
Entei was just… dodging everything. Every so often it sent a rush of flames at its pursuer, but even that seemed defensive in nature, relying on the great plumes of steam from fire meeting water.
I wasn’t sure who to root for. This whole battle shouldn’t have even been happening and we had no way to stop it. The Rockets
had to be nearby. This was maddening.
And then out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning split the air from above. I sank back against the excavator, cupping my hands over my ears and feeling my pulse skyrocket. Lightning, here? I couldn’t help suddenly imagining that
Raikou had arrived, completing the trio. But no, that didn’t make any sense, it had to be—
I squinted up at the clouds above, my eyes locking onto a distinct, jagged silhouette rapidly descending.
“Zapdos!” I called out, feeling a rush of relief. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here!”
The huge, golden thunderbird turned at the sound of my voice, then swooped down to land in the alley next to us with a rush of air that sent cardboard boxes flying.
“I was concerned about Suicune acting rashly,” it said, looking over the disheveled construction site. “And… I was tired of hiding.”
Starr jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “Yeah, well, if you could get these two to knock it off, that’d be real swell.”
“Where are your patrons?” Zapdos asked, fixing its gaze on us.
“They’re off on another mission,” I said. “We’re not supposed to be seen working with them.”
Zapdos blinked slowly, processing that. “I suppose I shouldn’t be here, then.”
“No, we really could use your help,” I admitted. “
We just need to keep out of it as much as we can.”
Zapdos bowed its head. “Understood.”
The thunderbird turned to face the construction site, squinting through the cloud of dust obscuring everything. It had just spread its wings, preparing to take off, when a jagged blue beam crashed against its chest, scattering flecks of snow across the ground. What? What was…
I jerked my head upward just in time to see a second beam heading right for us. My eyes went wide a second before Zapdos spread its wing overhead, shielding us from the rush of cold air spilling out around its feathers.
“Articuno?!” I blurted out.
“Great, another one,” Starr muttered.
Zapdos retracted its wing and then, with a pained look, fired a string of lightning at the ice bird. It swerved to the side, drawing itself back for another beam. And then a jet of water shot from the dust cloud, knocking Articuno into the side of the closest building and sending glass raining down from the impact. A few seconds later, Suicune burst from the cloud of dust, a few scorch marks on its pelt, but otherwise mostly unharmed.
“I am going to free Entei,” it announced. “Will you aid me?”
Zapdos’s gaze had drifted to Articuno picking itself up from the rubble, a distant sadness in its eyes. “Your group was able to free Moltres, yes?” it said, and it took me a second to realize that it was asking me.
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, but that’s only because we tricked the Rockets. We probably won’t get a chance to do that here.”
Its face fell. “Yes, of course.”
Suicune stamped a paw, staring pointedly at Zapdos. “My element can best my sibling’s, and the same can be said of yours. We can defeat them—we can
save them.”
I wanted to scream. “That’s not how it works—we’d have to destroy the Master Ball.”
Suicune looked impatient. “Well? Are you not planning on doing that eventually?”
“Yeah, but we need a plan!” I shot back. “They’re not just gonna keep the ball somewhere we can grab it.”
Suicune turned away. “Then you ought to devise that plan while we defeat them,” it said, dashing back into the fray.
I clenched my hands on nothing.
Fine, I guess we’re doing this then!
Zapdos was looking at me, concerned. I rubbed my eyes and said, “Just try to keep Suicune under control. We don’t want to cause too much damage here.”
The thunderbird nodded and took wing. I watched the legends trade blows, bits of fire and lightning, water and ice shooting out of the dust storm every few seconds. But it didn’t really feel like I was seeing any of it, my mind was too busy racing, trying to process everything. Suicune and Zapdos versus Entei and Articuno, right in the middle of Indigo. Mewtwo had been showing up around here lately. People had been filming his appearances.
We needed to know if anyone was in danger. Needed to know if Zapdos should try to keep the fighting confined to a specific area. Needed to know if the Rockets were nearby. And all of that required getting a view from the air.
Starr and Darren didn’t have any fliers. It had to be me.
“I need to check something out,” I said suddenly. And then, before I could change my mind, I let out Aros and threw a leg over his back.
Starr gawked at me. “Jade, are you insane?”
“Probably.”
I tapped Aros’s side and we lifted from the ground. Just a bit of slow, smooth flying. No aerial combat, only scouting. I could handle that.
We reached an altitude that put us hovering just over the highest buildings on the block. From here I could finally see pedestrians several blocks from the construction site, some watching the battle, others running in the opposite direction. The roads nearby had all been blocked off. Several intersections held a small cluster of humans and Pokémon that I assumed were the rangers, waiting to see if the damage would spill out of the construction site. I could only hope that it wouldn’t.
And then I spotted them—two human figures on a rooftop a block away, accompanied by an Altaria and Flygon. It had to be them: the head combat execs, Raven and Ender.
A rush of anger hit me. I hadn’t seen them since the Hoenn incident. And I was tired of them always messing with us. Tired of them always being one step ahead.
I felt Aros tense up beneath me, and I couldn’t blame him. I
wanted to get even with them. But was there anything to be gained from fighting them directly?
“*You’re not just going to ignore them, are you?*” Aros asked.
“No, I just…”
Come on, think. There had to be something. If we could distract them while Suicune and Zapdos took down Entei and Articuno. If we could force them to reveal that
they were responsible for this, not the Legendaries. Then we’d finally have some leverage.
Aros and I landed next to Starr. “We’ve got company, up there.”
Starr glanced upward with a grimace. “Great, and here I was thinking we wouldn’t have to deal with any assholes today.”
On her order, Arcanine took a flying leap onto an overhang, then a balcony, then up to the rooftop. Aros and I followed them as Arcanine bounded from one building to the next, finally reaching the same one as the Rockets, staring them down from the opposite end of the rooftop.
Both Rockets turned at the sound of our arrival. They had more Pokémon out now—Ninetales, Nidoqueen and Xatu on Ender’s side; Gengar, Kabutops, and Honchkrow on Raven’s. So they obviously must have seen us coming.
“Long time no see, eh?” Ender said with a smirk.
“The hell are you two
doing here?” Starr snapped.
“Oh, I’m sure your group would love to find out,” Ender replied smoothly. “Unfortunately, now’s not the time.” He snapped his fingers and Nidoqueen lunged, ice crystals crackling around her fist.
A flash of Pokéballs opening—my team, Starr’s team, colliding with the Rockets’ Pokémon in the center of the rooftop. Firestorm and Swift flapped to gain altitude while dodging spurts of dragonfire that flew past them. Arcanine breathed out a flurry of embers at Rapidash and Flareon, powering the both of them up. And I only just realized what that meant (and ordered everyone on my side to clear out) before the two of them unleashed a raging inferno right in the middle of the rooftop. Ender’s Ninetales promptly jumped in the center, boosting its own firepower before hitting Rapidash with a flash of dancing lights. Feraligatr retaliated with a high-pressure waterjet. Gengar nailed her with a string of lightning. Swift rained blades of wind down from above, forcing the opponents to scatter.
God, this was way too open. Too many fighters, not much cover, no room for either side to mount a defense, half of them getting in each other’s way. Pokémon were dropping left and right.
On the plus side, the lack of cover meant nowhere for Kabutops to hide. I spotted it darting in and out of the fray, and I couldn’t help tensing up. But its slashes were frenzied, shallow, nothing like the critical strike that taken out Swift that one time.
(Bloodstained feathers, only seconds to recall him, falling, falling…)
Aros was still tensed, no doubt itching to jump into the fight. But we needed him and Arcanine to stick with us, in case we needed a getaway.
Altaria and Flygon had both stuck by their trainers’ sides, so Firestorm and Swift were relatively untouched until Honchkrow and Gengar challenged their control of the air. The Rocket Pokémon had the wind at their backs now; their attacks came faster, our side fighting to keep up. Psychic pulses flew from nowhere as Xatu teleported near-constantly, Stygian doing her best to intercept. She slipped in and out of shadows, doing her best to avoid being hit, but the flames were relentless and her fur kept getting scorched. Jet stuck by her side, trying to keep the flames at bay with rushes of Waterfall, but her aim wasn’t the greatest, and Stygian kept getting splashed.
“*What are you doing?*” the Absol snapped, rounding on her.
A heavy punch from Nidoqueen caught Stygian in the side, slamming her into the concrete barrier. Jet retaliated with an Aqua Jet, but was forced to leap back when Kabutops darted in, slashing wildly.
“Jet, get out of there; Stygian, parry with Night Slash!” I yelled.
Stygian picked herself up, sickle lit. Blades clashed with a clang. The Absol danced left and right, deflecting slashes while dodging more punches.
“Aim a Dragon Pulse at Nidoqueen,” I hissed to Aros.
The Flygon went perfectly still, watching the three of them trading blows, waiting for just the right moment when his opponent was open, and then—!
A spurt of violet dragonfire shot forward, colliding with a waterjet that was fired at the exact same time. What?
“*Stay out of the way!*” Stygian snarled, and it took me a second to realize that it wasn’t aimed at us, but at—
Another waterjet shot forward, splashing into Nidoqueen’s chest. She staggered backward, but then caught herself and swung a fist crackling with sparks. A garbled screech rang out and the Aqua Jet collapsed to reveal a coughing and sputtering Floatzel.
“Jet, get out of there!” I snapped, pulse pounding. What was she doing?
A brown blur; Kabutops lunged, blades flashing. Stygian darted in, knocking the blades aside with her claws and kicking Jet out of the way. Slash, parry, slash, parry. Then Nidoqueen struck with her horn and the Absol was forced to raise a Protect, leaving Kabutops free to—
A string of lightning from nowhere! Kabutops seized up, blades dangling at its sides. Chibi? No wait, he was with the Legendaries. It was Raichu! His aim was unreal—he’d managed to hit Kabutops from clear on the other end of the rooftop.
Stygian nodded gratefully in his direction, but her stance was weak, her shoulder fur bloodstained, like she’d been stabbed. Poison Jab? That just left—
Jet was flat on the concrete. Nidoqueen’s fist was sparking. Not hard to figure out what happened there. I sucked in a breath and recalled the Floatzel, and for half a moment I couldn’t help but feel glad that she was out of the fight.
“*How hard is it not to get hit by your allies?*” Aros muttered.
“*Not hard,*” Stygian grumbled in reply.
Not hard—for anyone with multi battle practice.
Aros took that opportunity to breathe out another Dragon Pulse and this time nothing got in the way. A burst of violet dragonfire exploded in Nidoqueen’s face and she stumbled back to her trainer, looking dazed
I gave Stygian a pecha, but even aside from the poison, the jab wound was still bleeding badly. Better to recall her. Still, we weren’t doing
too bad overall. Firestorm and Swift looked fine, Ninetales had just fallen on the Rockets’ side, Starr had recalled Rapidash, but Feraligatr was going strong.
Ender was glancing back and forth between the battle and… his communicator. Raven wasn’t paying attention—she was busy watching something on the ground. It didn’t even feel like they were trying. Just like half of our battles with them had been. Was this
another distraction? But from
what? Something going wrong with the transport mission? But we would’ve heard about it by now…
I had to check.
<How are things on your end?> I asked Lugia.
<We have completed our mission,> Lugia replied. <Ho-oh informed us that your team has encountered trouble. We are preparing to head there.>
I bit my lip. <Well, there’s definitely Rockets in Indigo, we just didn’t get very far with figuring out what they’re doing here before Suicune showed up.>
<Suicune?>
<It’s trying to free Entei.>
A pause. <Is it succeeding?>
<What do you think?> I replied, deadpan.
Lugia huffed. <I think this could be an opportunity.>
<Or it could just get the League breathing down our neck even more if you guys show up,> I countered.
A prickle of annoyance. <How long are you going to be afraid of that?>
I didn’t know how to answer that, so I didn’t.
“Lugia didn’t have anything to report,” I told Starr. “I’m gonna check with Darren quick.”
“Yeah sure, I’ll hold things down here,” Starr replied as Feraligatr swung an icy fist into Altaria’s head.
I tapped Aros’s side. “Come on, let’s go.”
“*We’re leaving them?*” he asked, incredulous.
“I’m worried about the Legendaries.”
He exhaled slowly. “*Okay.*”
I could tell he wanted to get back at the executives. Hell, I couldn’t even pretend like I didn’t want to. But not falling into their trap was more important.
Aros shot one last longing look at the battle but then vibrated his wings and took us over the edge of the roof.
“Leaving already?” Ender called out. I ignored him, and we put the battle behind us.
The construction site was a disaster. Toppled steel beams and overturned equipment. The excavator we’d been hiding behind was now on its side with one of its doors ripped off. But where had Suicune and Entei gone? They were nowhere to be seen.
A flash of fear hit me that Suicune had been caught while we’d been focused on the executives. But then a loud crash to the north cleared that up pretty quickly. I squinted at the tournament site off in the distance, where a small cloud of smoke was now billowing upward.
Man, why couldn’t this be simple… I pointed that way and Aros zipped down the street. I grit my teeth, struggling to hold on, half wanting to ask him to slow down, but knowing that we couldn’t afford to.
We reached the edge of the tournament site. Mostly empty, although the outer perimeter had gathered a modest crowd of people pointing and murmuring. As we ducked down behind a row of shrubs, I caught a glimpse of scattered bolts and flames in the gap between two stadiums. Then a waterjet crashing against the corner of a restaurant, scattering chunks of concrete across the brick path.
I couldn’t help feeling a wave of déjà vu, flashing back to when the Rockets had set Moltres on the tournament site last month. That time had been a distraction, but this time… this time I had no clue what the
point of any of this was. If they were hoping to catch Suicune, they sure were doing a garbage job at it. The only thing any of this had accomplished was getting Suicune super riled up, and—
I could practically feel the gears in my head clicking into place. The Moltres attack last month. Getting people worked up against Legendaries. Luring Suicune here…
The Rockets were trying to bait Suicune into attacking the League! And then people would see it, and—
“We need to get Suicune’s attention,” I hissed.
Aros nodded before taking off again, zooming low over the ground. I held on tight, clenching my teeth as we rounded the edge of the largest stadium to find Entei bolting toward the grand staircase to the League HQ itself, Suicune in hot pursuit. Almost there… just had to focus on anything other than the pain flaring up across my back. I squeezed my hands tight, digging my fingernails into my palm as Aros whipped his tail around, sending a rush of sand right into Suicune’s face.
The beast stopped short, rubbing a paw furiously against its eyes with a snort. Then it jerked its head in our direction and my blood ran cold.
“Y-you have to stop!” I called out. “You’re destroying things!”
“It’s not as though I’m
aiming to,” Suicune shot back. “There are not even any humans to be harmed, how can you possibly object?!”
I didn’t know how to explain that it wasn’t
just about people being in danger. We couldn’t afford for the Legendaries to
look dangerous either.
Suicune took several forceful steps toward us, and Aros recoiled slightly, flaring his wings to look bigger. But all the beast did was stare me dead in the eyes and say, “Look. I’ve nearly defeated Entei on my own. Can’t you free them now?”
“I—we
can’t, not without the Master Ball,” I stammered.
“Will it ever be the right time, then?!” Suicune demanded, and the pain in its voice clenched my heart. I didn’t
want to just let the Rockets get away with everything. I wanted to free Entei too!
“We can come up with a plan with Mew!” I exclaimed, words spilling out of my mouth without much thought. “We can use an illusion or something, and use that to get close without them seeing—”
Suicune let out a scoff and snapped its head back toward Entei, launching a Hydro Pump that sent the fire beast slamming into the grand stairs, cracks spilling across their surface.
“*It’s not going to stop,*” Aros said bluntly.
“I know,” I muttered, rubbing my eyes.
We had to force Suicune out of here. We had to convince it that Entei couldn’t be freed right now. But how—
We had to knock it out.
It was simple. Elegant. We had to knock Suicune out. What would normally be an absolute disaster in any other situation. Maybe I was insane.
“We have to knock it out.”
“*What?*” Aros glanced back at me incredulously. “*How?*”
I checked in every direction to make sure Raven and Ender weren’t nearby. Then I spotted Zapdos and waved my arms hurriedly to grab its attention. At this point I didn’t even care if the League saw me collaborating with a legend, we just couldn’t let the situation get any worse.
Zapdos flared its wings to land on the edge of a nearby rooftop, still watching Suicune below. “What is it?”
“This was a trap,” I said hurriedly, “but not like you’d think—they weren’t trying to catch or kill any of us, they’re trying to make you guys look bad!”
Zapdos glanced at me, perplexed. “I’m not sure I fully understand, but… you are saying we must leave?”
“Yes!”
“But then…” Zapdos looked back at Suicune, concern written all over its face.
I took a deep breath, trying to steel myself for what I was about to ask. “Zapdos. You can stop Suicune, can’t you?”
Zapdos blinked at me in surprise. “Yes…” it said carefully, no doubt piecing together what I was asking.
“Please, we can’t wait any longer.” This was asking too much, I knew it, but we didn’t have any choice.
Zapdos hesitated, avoiding my eye. Conflicted emotions flickered across its face. I didn’t want to push too hard or say to get over it, but we really needed this, and—
“*I’ll do it!*” a voice called out.
I spun around to see Chibi perched on a lamppost, sparks leaping from his fur. Would it be enough? We had to try.
I nodded sharply, and he took a flying leap straight toward Suicune, unleashing a wicked blast of lightning that struck the beast point-blank. Suicune stumbled mid-lunge, eyes going wide with shock. It threw a leg out to catch itself, but then collapsed to its knees, muscles twitching.
I let out a breath. Had we done it? It was still standing, but maybe the paralysis would be enough to…
And then Suicune rounded on us. “Excuse me?!” it snarled, eyes flashing.
It drew itself back, gathering ice crystals in its mouth. My pulse pounded in my ears. Chibi sparked, struggling to call up enough power for another bolt. Aros’s wings buzzed into overdrive, ready to dart out of the way.
And then another bolt stuck from above, twice as big as the last. Suicune howled in pain, its ice attack scattering into harmless mist. The hail of lightning kept going, striking repeatedly and without mercy, and it didn’t stop until the beast had collapsed.
I stared stupidly at the sight, heart still beating uncomfortably hard as sparks flickered around the impact area. I just barely had the chance to register that
Zapdos had done it when a flash of light appeared right next to the fallen beast—Alakazam! He tapped a spoon to its side, concentrated hard, and the pair of them vanished.
I blinked at where they’d left for a few seconds until Alakazam returned, this time with Darren, who ran a hand down his face with a huge sigh of relief. Then he gave me an awkward look and said, “Thaaaat’s probably going to bite us later.”
Alakazam coughed. “*That is an understatement,*” the psychic muttered under his breath.
I let out a laugh somewhere between incredulity and relief. “Doesn’t matter, at least we got Suicune out of here.”
With a whoosh of air and the clicking of talons on stone, Zapdos landed next to us, face wracked with guilt. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
I didn’t have the brainpower to come up with anything reassuring. Instead, I just said, “Can you go look after Suicune until it wakes up?”
“I can show you where we took it,” Darren offered.
Zapdos was silent for a few seconds before nodding firmly. It had just turned to leave when it paused suddenly, gazing at something with concern. I followed its eye to where Chibi was doubled over, sparks shooting out of his fur.
“*My power supply isn’t great,*” Chibi muttered.
Zapdos clacked its beak, humming. It then fired a small string of electricity from its wingtip. Chibi stiffened, feathers standing on end as the power flowed into him.
“Is that enough?” the thunderbird asked.
Chibi looked up at him gratefully. “*More than.*”
Zapdos bowed to us and then took flight, soaring low overhead. Darren gave me a small wave before he and Alakazam blinked out of view. They reappeared on a nearby rooftop, motioning for Zapdos to follow, and the next time they vanished I didn’t see them again.
So that was the end of that. We’d just lost both of the legends on our side, but… did that matter? Entei and Articuno had been hardly attacking the whole time, and if I was right, the whole point was to get
Suicune to cause all the damage. Did we really have anything to fear from them now? They were just standing there on the broken steps to the League HQ, staring straight ahead with those creepy vacant eyes…
I still found my eyes tracing the edge of the stadium behind us, hunting for any Rockets lurking just out of sight. Were Raven and Ender back where I left them? Was Starr still fighting them?
“*They’re here,*” Chibi said suddenly, pointing his tail straight up.
I jerked my head upward, already expecting trouble. But instead, I saw a pair of birds soaring high overhead—Lugia and Ho-oh. And just about the last place that we wanted to have more legends showing up.
<What are you guys doing here?> I asked Lugia.
<I had already said that we intended to help,> Lugia replied, baffled by my tone.
<Well, we managed to knock out Suicune, and the Rocket legends are just standing here, so you don’t really need to come down. In fact, please don’t.>
Lugia shook its head. <What? I’m going to need an explanation. You knocked out Suicune?>
I didn’t answer. Someone was clapping slowly behind us. I spun around to see Ender and Xatu standing next to the stadium entrance, looking pleased.
“Well done neutralizing Suicune, everyone. Almost makes me wish we’d been ready to catch it.”
“I guess that was all part of your plan?” I asked tiredly.
Ender just shrugged. “You think so?” Then he tilted his gaze upward to where Lugia and Ho-oh were still soaring overhead. “Playing it safe, huh? Hmm… do you think they’ll come down here if we up the ante?”
Ender tapped something on his communicator. Chibi lunged for him, sparks coursing through his feathers, but Xatu had already started glowing, and the two teleported away in a flash.
For a few seconds, no one moved. I had no idea what to expect. What did he mean by ‘up the ante’...?
Then a high-pitched roar broke the silence, reverberating through my whole body. A flash of green, in my peripheral—an emerald serpent, spiraling out from behind the League HQ.
What? Rayquaza was
right there the entire time?! Was this it? Was this the Rockets’ takeover? Right here, right now?!
<Flaunting their victory in Hoenn. Despicable,> Lugia’s voice echoed in my head, laced with cold fury. And then the seabird pitched its wings back and dove straight for Rayquaza.
<Wait, wait!> I yelled, but Lugia wasn’t stopping. This place was about to become a warzone, right on the League’s doorstop.
I tapped Aros’s side and he took us back toward the grand stadium just as Lugia landed with a screech, striking Rayquaza dead-on with an Ice Beam. Ice crystals flared up across the serpent’s body, frost spilling down the steps to the League HQ.
A flash of gray wings—Aerodactyl, fluttering around Lugia’s head. Then they vanished from view as a white haze spilled out around them. Smokescreen? No, probably one of Zoroark’s illusions. But this was way too big a commotion for him to effectively hide. Energy beams shot out of the cloud left and right. Rayquaza’s tail swept out in a wide arc. Lugia’s wings beat furiously, trying to clear away the illusory haze but just clipping right through it.
“Jade!”
I spun around to see Starr and Arcanine bolting toward us, Swift and Firestorm not far behind.
“Starr!” I called out, waving to her.
“What the hell is
this?” she asked once Arcanine had come to a stop. “What happened to just stopping Suicune?”
“We
did stop Suicune—then the Rockets went and started up another fight, in front of the League this time.”
Starr paused, gears turning in her head. “Don’t tell me this whole mess was just more propaganda.”
“Probably, yeah,” I muttered, running a hand down my face.
“God, I should’ve known.” She jerked her head upward to look at Ho-oh; the phoenix glanced down at us, the two of them most likely communicating.
Aerodactyl burst from the cloud of mist, flapping a few times to gain control of his flight before swooping down to meet us, Ajia waving to us from his back.
“Hey you two, Z’s keeping them busy, or at least, he’s trying—everyone okay?” she said quickly, looking rather frazzled.
“We’re fine,” Starr said impatiently. “Now how the hell do we clear this **** up before the League gets involved?”
No sooner had she said it than a loud voice filled the air, broadcasting over a PA system: “This is the Pokémon League speaking to the Legendary Pokémon at our entrance. We are asking you to stand down. Do not engage.”
<Stand down?> Lugia repeated incredulously. <Who do they think they are?>
I inhaled sharply through my nose. <Lugia, you know this whole thing
looks like you guys are just attacking the League out of nowhere, right?>
<That’s absurd. Rayquaza is right there, anyone can plainly see.>
<Yeah, but it hasn’t
done anything yet,> I said tiredly.
“Please cease this destruction at once,” the speakers went on as a beam clipped the edge of the League building.
Ice crystals and bits of dragonfire littered the stone walkway. Countless picnic tables had been crushed or scattered. Zoroark had completely given up trying to obscure the battle, so now we had a full view of Lugia pinning Rayquaza down, freezing it repeatedly.
“I don’t think it’s going to stop,” I said in a low voice.
Ajia glanced back and forth between the Legendaries and me, brow furrowing. “Well, at the very least, we’ve got to tell the League what’s
really going on here.”
I exhaled slowly. “Yeah, alright.”
The three of us took off for the League HQ, Aerodactyl vaulting into the air and Aros sticking low to the ground, right behind Arcanine. We gave the legends a wide berth and raced up what remained of the grand staircase, dodging the large chunks of concrete scattered everywhere. And we’d just about reached the top when—
An orange blur slammed into the stairs right in our path, forcing Aros to stop short in a maneuver that sent me slamming into his back with the inertia. My vision swam. I shook my head to regain myself, finally able to see that it was a Dragonite. And for a moment, my heart froze and I was half-convinced it was Stalker’s. Until it was joined by
two more Dragonite.
Three Dragonite? Who on earth—
The third one had a rider. A tall, red-haired man with a stern face and a commanding air, clad in a dark suit and—most obviously—a long, red-lined cape. My brain locked up, my voice catching in my throat.
Lance—
Champion Lance.
“I believe,” he said firmly, eyeing us, “we asked everyone to stand down.”
As if three Dragonite could stand up to the Rockets’ Legendaries. But of course, the Rockets had already stood down, their legends sitting quietly on the stairs. They didn’t want to look like the threat here, even if they were the cause of it all.
Aros glanced back at me, waiting for an order, but I couldn’t move—it was like Lance showing up had completely derailed my train of thought. Until Lugia took the opportunity to nail Rayquaza with another Ice Beam, and my brain restarted.
<Lugia, we have to stand down!> I yelled as all three Dragonite launched into the air.
Lugia jerked its head toward me, frost coating its beak. <Why should we? We can’t allow them to get away with their actions in Hoenn.>
I wanted to scream. <This is like the Viridian thing all over again.>
<The Rockets are targeting your leadership, as you feared,> Lugia shot back. <They nearly
killed you mere days ago. Do you really think any of that’s acceptable?>
No, of course I didn’t, but we didn’t have
time to debate that.
<Please,
please just let us talk to the League, alright?> I said desperately. We
needed to settle this nonviolently. We
had to make sure they knew we weren’t a threat.
Lugia’s mind crackled with frustration. <This is a pointless risk. But alright.>
I felt its presence fade, and I could finally breathe.
The Dragonite trio were hovering in a low circle overhead. Lugia glared first at them, then at the Rockets, before spreading its wings and taking off.
Articuno and Entei were still sitting calmly at the foot of the shattered stone stairs. Rayquaza had picked itself up from where it had been frozen and was now coiled up like a docile snake. I couldn’t help feel a prickle of anger—how dare the Rockets have them act all innocent
now.
Ender reappeared next to the legends, delicately running a hand down Articuno’s feathers. He turned to face us and said, “Excellent performances, everyone.”
“Why the hell are
you happy about this?” Starr snapped, glowering at him. “Do you really think you look like the good guy here?”
Ender shrugged innocently. “As far as I can tell, we haven’t done anything more than defend our property.”
“Are you for real?!” Starr slid down from Arcanine’s back and marched toward him, already drawing back a fist. He didn’t bother teleporting away. He didn’t need to—a Dragonite stepped in front of Starr before she got within five feet of him.
“We’re putting a stop to this right now,” Lance said, and the tone of his voice made it very clear that we didn’t have a choice. “Both sides are invited inside to come to an understanding.”
“Come to an understanding?” I blurted out. With Team Rocket? How on earth…?
He fixed his eyes on me, and I couldn’t help flinching. “You and your allies have access to the power of the legends, don’t you?”
I didn’t want to answer that. But it wasn’t like there was any point in lying. Lorelei of the Elite Four already knew.
“Who exactly does the League want to speak with?” Ajia asked carefully.
“There’s no need for everyone to be present,” Lance said. “Who do you want to represent you?”
Starr looked like she was two seconds away from leaving. But then she glanced back and forth from me, to Ajia, to Lance and said, “I think I’m gonna want to hear this,” in a low, cold voice.
Ajia made eye contact with me, and I nodded. So she turned to Lance and said, “Looks like it’s going to be all three of us.”
He gestured toward the League HQ. “Alright. This way.”
~End Chapter 54~
Next chapter: Checkmate
