Chapter Five

Monday Evening, 7:00 PM, 7th of January

Ivy Island, Ivy Express Airport

Mei Ling

The giant Airport Complex stood over us, its flat steel roof cutting morosely into the darkening sky. The long rectangular building seemingly stretched on for miles down the street. It was getting late, the sky, was a deep violet and I could see the stars were already out, shining brightly like tiny lanterns radiating across the gloom. The wind shifted and a cold zephyr caught me by surprise, screaming into my face and violently whipped about my clothes. Goosebumps rose all over my skin and sent my teeth into an incessant chatter. A car bleated its horn as it drove passed, disappearing down the slope of the littered tar road. Seth stood beside me, his frizzled blonde hair fluttering restlessly about his face, though it had settled down just a bit, it still remained in that horrible afro. He muttered about his nose under his breath. The plaster had begun to irritate him and his whining and complaints had begun to irritate everyone else. It had been more than once when we had told him to 'Shut yer bloody hole' as Tempest had so delicately put it.

"Dude, I'm hungry. You reckon we might be able to get a snack before we leave?" He wondered out loud. A low grumble erupted from his stomach, "See? My Old Friend is famished, can't you hear what he's saying. 'I'm hungry! Why aren't you feeding me! You are depriving me of my rightful dose of daily food' That's what he's saying. I mean, my mum would be so upset if she heard I wasn't looking after myself. What? Don't you believe me? Here, just listen very carefully - "

"You’re being a dick you know that?" Tempest snapped.

Seth folded his hands behind his head, "Ooh, that hurt. Just chill out babe!"

She stormed towards the lighted entrance, light glinting off her cast. I guessed that the cast would be ripped off in a day or two - despite doctor’s orders. A jet ripped into the air. It arced gracefully into the sky, breaking the sound barrier with a deafening BROONGM!!!!

Jiang, orange jumper flailing, nimbly pounced after the trainer, "Wait for me Tempy!"

She took one startled backward glance at her personal fan and immediately dashed through the glass door, disappearing inside.

"Get away from me!"

"Tempy! WAIT!"

I shook my head in disbelief. We'd followed her dust cloud and found Tempest on the other side of Ivy, ready to jump off if need be while Jiang had vowed never to leave her side.

Ever.

Then she did jump off, and I was forced to release Blaze, not that I wanted to, I really wanted her Cell phone, but who wanted to clean up 48 kgs of Tempest? To make matters worse, she'd tried to take off with my Charizard, urging him to fly as far away from the island as possible. Of course that didn't work considering his drunken stupor and I was slightly insulted that she'd thought she might've gotten away with it. After Blaze’s drunken little airshow, he had dropped Tempest, moaning and grumbling of altitude sickness before us.

After we let her gather her wits – and her stomach, we’d made a decision to head for the airport. We were tired of getting lost and had decided to catch a flight to the next island, camp out or rent a motel room and find the gym the next day. According to Professor Willow, there was no gym on Ivy and we’d kicked ourselves for spending an entire day wasting our time.

Seth sauntered after them. "Wouldn't it be funny if we locked those two up together for a week? I wonder who'd have a mental breakdown first? No wait, the question is; who'd survive?"

I grinned at the thought.

The Airport terminal was a long spacious hall and was surprisingly deserted. I guessed it just wasn’t the season for tourists. Fluorescent lights buzzed on the ceiling, reflecting on the cream coloured linoleum floor. A row of orange telephone booths lined the wall on the right, and on the left were souvenir stores. Their goods were marked with excessively high prices. Nothing caught my interest. In the centre of the floor, a long wooden bench acted as a divider, splitting the hall in two. A small ragtag group of tourists dressed in a mountaineer's attire scurried passed, the only signs of human activity. There were five of them, wearing thick khaki pants and white t-shirts. Slung over each of their shoulders were bulging oversized backpacks with thousands of pockets filled with mountain climbing and abseiling gear. Peeking out of the front pouch of an orange backpack of a middle aged woman was a thief's best friend.

A grappling hook.

Now there was something I could use. Remembering the fate of my previous hook, Morty, who'd been left in Countess Hermione's castle before the place exploded, I decided it was high time for a replacement. Grappling hooks were extremely useful, used by thieves across the globe. I could guarantee that a good old ‘gappa’ could get you out of almost any tight situation. In the space of a millisecond, my hands darted towards the ladies pouch, pulled it open and withdrew my prize. Speed was the key to a good thief. With speed, you could snatch anything.

Literally.

I tucked my new item into my own backpack, and casually followed after Seth. The lady or her friends remained completely oblivious.

The hum of the lights vibrated quietly through the air.

"Where is everyone?" Seth murmured, his stomach gurgling in unison. "And where'd Tempest and Microshit go?"

I shrugged, "To hell for all I care. Let’s hurry up and catch our flights, I honestly don’t feel like spending the night here."

* * *

"Whaddya mean we've gotta wait another bloody two hour to get out of this dump!" Tempest leaned over the counter and grabbed the receptionist's collar with her good hand, jerking him towards her. She glared into his frightened face.

"Look Miss, you have no right to lay a hand on me!" He exclaimed, whimpering as Tempest shot him her trademark death stare, "You missed the last flight, the second plane isn’t due for two hours!"

The trainer growled.

"There's nothing I can do!" He squeaked apologetically.

She shoved him away, hurling him into the wall where he toppled to the floor and lay in a state of shock.

Seth grimaced, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, wasn't that just a little bit too harsh?"

"Shut-up, or your next." She stalked towards the cushioned chair beside me and sat down heavily. She'd lost her sling whilst running away from Jiang who'd insisted on tagging along with us, ‘through the Iris league, at least’. Tempest now placed her plastered hand in her lap. The boy followed her every inch of the way, placing himself happily in the chair next to her.

Talk about being a lap dog!

The blonde haired dog trainer remained standing, gazing out the glass windows, watching the jets, and the pokemon owned by the wealthy rise into the air.

The four of us waited in the transit lounge. I yawned, stretching, it’d be 9:00 o’clock by the time our plane arrived. I wondered if I’d lasted that long. Slumping further into my chair my eyelids began to flutter closed. What the hell was I doing? I still hadn’t figured out how to get my hand on those badges. Battling for them was out of the question. It’d take me more than the given two years if I took that road! Steal them? Perhaps, but I doubted that would work. The thefts would be reported and records would be able to tell if I’d actually battled for them or not. Maybe I could just quit now. They had Jiang as their third party member, so they didn’t really need me. Besides, did I really want to be travelling in the company of her? There was every possibility that Tempest could lose her temper any time and we’d all be blasted to the moon.

I found myself yawning again. It had been a relatively relaxing day, I’d done some shopping, we’d said goodbye to Willow, had lunch and I’d called my folks. The day had flown by quickly and though quiet and uneventful, I was still exhausted.

Jiang had quickly fallen asleep in his chair beside the bird trainer, his breathing even and deep. Lucky little bastard. I attempted to do the same, hoping that maybe I'd be able to catch a few winks before we headed out. I rested my head against the back of the chair and closed my eyes. My stomach groaned. Seth wasn't the only one who was hungry. I dozed, drifting in and out of an elusive sleep. Time dragged by.

Tick, tick, tick.

If that clock didn't shut-up I'd march over there, pound it to smithereens and stomp ruthlessly on the remains.

Tick, tick, tick.

"Arrrg!" With a cry of frustration, I leapt up and flung myself at the wall where the clock hung. The damn thing hung too high up and all I could was stand beneath it, frothing at the mouth like a lunatic.

"Oh no! Where did I leave my suitcase?" A young female voice sounded abruptly through the transit lounge, breaking me from my tantrum and waking Jiang from his short slumber.

"Who's that?" He mumbled sleepily.

As soon as I turned away from the wall and my brooding, Seth had appeared instantaneously by the young woman's side. His comforting skills quickly getting to work. She seemed to about eighteen or so. Like the rest of us (except Jiang). She was tall, not as big as Seth, but big enough. Her hair was a soft lilac colour, cut in the latest fashion. Curving into her face, it framed her miserable features. Tears streaked black with mascara ran a river down her cheeks. Her eyes would've been a pretty chestnut brown if they hadn't been bloodshot and red. Despite the fact that she was crying her eyes out, I felt a tinge of repulsion at her bad fashion sense. A black leather miniskirt left little to the imagination, showing the smoothness of freshly shaved legs. Her black suede boots stopped mid-calf, silver zippers on either side. On contrast to everything else she wore that was cut low, her black leather jacket was full length, ending just below her knees.

"I can't believe I lost it again!" She wailed. She withdrew a handkerchief from one of her leather pockets, dabbing her eyes daintily, then blew loudly into the wet cloth.

"Hey babe, don't cry." Seth soothed, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. Although I could see his eyes were completely glued to the front of her tight red singlet.

"I'm sure we'll be able to find it for you. You just tell us what it looks like. 'Kay?"

"All right." She sniffed, eyeing his plastered nose wearily. "It - I think it - looked - oh I can't remember!" She buried her face into his shoulder, sobbing hysterically. Seth grinned, giving me a thumbs up.

"Score!" He mouthed.

I rolled my eyes, my attention elsewhere - namely at the pockets of her jacket. They bulged slightly, filled with cosmetics. I wondered briefly if she had a cell phone.

"Hey, just chill. We'll find it somehow, why don't you just sit down for a sec, hey?" Propelling her gently by the elbow to one of the chairs, he snapped his fingers at me as she sat down. "Tissue."

"But she's already got a hanky,” I whined, “and what if I don't have one?"

He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh alright, alright.” I muttered, searching my pack. I was a thief, of course I had one – a frilly pink one at that. He snatched it from my grasp and dabbed professionally at her eyes. Black smudging from her mascara gave her the faint resemblance of a hoot hoot.

"Thank, hic, you." The girl hiccuped. "Oh god, I can't believe it hic, happened again. I mean, first hic, the PokeCentre - " She bawled brokenly into her hands, "Now here!"

"There there, why don't you tell us your name? It’d help us look for your luggage." Seth smiled warmly, though not as charmingly as he was capable, considering the plaster and his afro.

"My name is Lethe." The girl sniffed, "Lethe Kiyali."

"Hey! I used to know a Lethe!" Jiang commented. He was leaning against the chair's arm, watching the girl curiously. His big hazel eyes widening as a sudden thought came to him, "I actually know a couple of Lethes! One from Evergreen, one from Tangerine, one from Yellow, one from - "

Seth silenced him with a sharp elbow to the ribs, "Shut-up."

"It's not fair, I never get to do what I want!" Jiang pouted, "You're no fun at all!"

I rolled my eyes, wandering away from Seth and found myself standing in front of the immense glass windows, staring out into the bleak night. I admired the dazzling lights lining the runways, signalling to pokemon and planes of its outline, hundreds of bright lanterns against the velvet darkness. I shivered, despite wearing my red hooded jumper and long thick jeans, the cold suddenly crept up on me. It's gnarled hands wrapping around my body.

"So," Seth said, "You new here?"

"Yes I am," The girl replied, "how did you know?"

"I always notice a pretty face I haven't seen before."

"But you're new here too." Jiang pointed out.

"Was I even talking to you?"

Tempest appeared by my side shortly afterwards, leaving the three to their banter. She pressed her petite face against the glass, "I hate skanks."

I was only partially listening and managed a vague nod. My energy completely drained.

"That's it. I can't stand it any longer!" She gritted her teeth. "I'm going!"

I gave her a sharp look, "You're kidding right? The flight attendant said the plane won’t be here till nine."

"Screw him!" Tempest stormed, "In case you hadn’t noticed, its nine thirty already. The service here is bloody crap! And look outside! There's no one/thing on the runway at all, we might as well use our pokemon and find someplace on the ground to camp out!"

She was right I guess, “But -,"

"Ello?" A deep guttural voice with a thick accent sounded behind me. Startled, I turned; no one was there.

"I like to make a leservation?" The voice paused.

I frowned, where was it coming from? I cocked my head, realizing it must have hailed from outside the transit lounge and somewhere in the hall.

"What?" Tempest asked.

"Shh, just listen."

"Mya na-a-ame? Von moment please." The voice stopped, and I heard him fidget around his clothes, pulling something from his pocket. The sound of static filled the air and a switch was flicked on.

"It must be a walkie talkie," My friend mused.

"Vlarblarglarbeckhucknovlar!" He turned back to his phone, "JOE."

I raised an eyebrow.

"J; for Johto! O: for overthrow your government! And E: for explode filthy Iris-people dog-pig!"

Another pause. "Smoking? It viiiill beee!! Mhaorwhahahahaha!" His phone was clicked off.

I turned to Tempest, "Now, wasn't there something just a little bit odd with that conversation?"

She shrugged, “Not our bloody problem.”

Unexpectedly, a huge shadow appeared in the doorway. We all looked up. A man with a barrel of a chest dressed in a black fur coat and thick black trousers strode towards the reception desk. His face was lean and traces of stubble made his appearance look even rougher. He had a bald head, gleaming from the light reflected off his skin. It was so shiny Seth could've used it as a mirror. His features were interestingly angular, he had a hooked nose and a pointed cleft chin. His face split into a wide smile, though none of us felt any warmth.

"Ello! I tink I have made a leservation! My tickets please!" He said to the pimpled faced flight attendant.

The young man looked up at him wearily, "Uh, name?"

I caught Tempest's eye, "That's not..."

"JOE."

I groaned, sensing trouble.

"Um are you sure?" The receptionist said nervously, eyeing the giant man with suspicion.

"Oh, I'm sure." The hooked nosed man grinned knowingly before reaching into his coat and withdrawing a polished pistol, cocking it at the man's head.

"Oh my god!" Screamed Lethe as her attention fixed upon the weapon.

"Now, if you just listen to me, everysing vill be okay - ." The man started.

"SECURITY!!!!!"

"Vat is dis?"

"Hup two three four! Hup two three four!" The sound of pounding boots filled the transit lounge, and a swarm of armed men filled the room. "Get your hands up you terrorist son of a bitch!" No nonsense type voices barked.

A group of six or seven men surrounded the massive bomber, furiously overwhelming him before he had a chance to use his gun.

The receptionist smirked, "Na na na na na!"

"Now's our chance, no one's looking!" Tempest whispered. She glided across the floor, heading towards the door which led out into the outside runways.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, even though it was obviously clear what she was doing. I frantically beckoned to Seth and Jiang. They shot me looks of confusion and Seth glanced pointedly at the frantic Lethe.

"Ey! Let me go! I am not a Terrorist!"

The large man cried as he was dragged from the room, the security guards following him.

"Just come on!" I mouthed urgently.

They nodded. Seth grabbed the girl's arm and led her after me.

"What? What are we doing?" She asked in confusion.

"Oh just taking a ride."

"Really? I love ponytas!"

Tempest had already left for the outside, leaving the door swinging wide open on its hinges. The raging current of frigid wind screamed around us and I shoved Jiang, Seth and Lethe out before me. All at once a siren ripped through the air, so stentorian a noise that I couldn't even hear myself think.

"Halt! This is a restricted area! Halt this is a restricted area!" A mechanical female voice bellowed over the noise, bright red lights flashed around the room, like the flashing neon lights of a disco pub. "Halt this is a restricted area!"

"You know, I think this might be a restricted area!" Seth cried.

"No shit!" I screamed, "Shut up and run!"

I darted wildly through the door, leapt down the steps and hit the bitumen running.

"Hey! What are you doing! You can't do that!" Cried the receptionist his attention immediately turning away from the terrorist as the alarm sounded. "You're not allowed! You come back here right now, or I'm gonna tell on you! Guys! Come back!" He whined, "That's it! I'm telling! SECURITY!!"

I sprinted into the black night, catching up with the others. The gust thrashed around us, our clothes fluttered everywhere. Seth's brown leather jacket billowed out behind him. I heard a scuffle behind me, gunshots and shouts of alarm.

"The terrorist! He's getting away! After him!" A man cried.

"What about those kids?!" The voice of the receptionist hollered.

A purring motor imbued the atmosphere and a familiar female voice barked authoritatively at us, "You five! Stop right now! This is a restricted area!"

"Oh crap! It's officer Jenny!" Seth shouted, "Look what you've gotten us into this time Tempest!"

"Quit bloody whining! Shit happens!"

"Yeah, but not as much as it does when you're around!"

"Where are the ponytas?!" Lethe shrieked.

"Shahman! GO!" I hurled my silver masterball into the air. With a scarlet resplendence, my moonlight dragon swept me up onto his back. We picked up acceleration as we gained altitude, tearing through the night sky faster and faster.

"Whoa!" I clutched his back fearfully as he sharply banked left, narrowly bypassing an elderly man on an aging pidgeot with grey feathers. I felt the wind stirred by its arcane wings blast into my face. He shook a wiry fist, "Damn youngins! Watch where yer flyin'!”

We U-turned and I ordered Shahman to swoop down beside Seth, Lethe, and Jiang. "Hop on!" I cried, the wind biting into my face.

"No! It's okay, I'll just use Ed!" Before I could protest, he released his huge pokemon who, as expected planted himself squarely in the middle of the runway.

"I'm not going anywhere until I get another book!" He crossed his arms defiantly, the tiny spectacles on his face sliding down to the tip of his nose.

"Fine, I’ll buy you all the books you want, JUST GET US OUTTA HERE!!!"

"Alright!" Ed whooped, "I'm gonna get me a new book! It better be a Stephen Seaking! I don't think I've read any of his books in ages."

Without any consideration for his trainer or the lilac haired girl, he grabbed the pair roughly and tossed them onto his back, whistling a happy tune as he took to the air.

"Stop in the name of the law!" Officer Jenny fired after us on her motorcycle, the roar of its engine blared in my ears. Her blue hair streamed behind her and her police hat flew off, flying to the ground behind.

"What about me?!" Jiang cried, tears in his eyes, "Don't leave me here!"

"It's okay, I got him!" Tempest's articuno dove down, the trainer reached out, grabbing the boy by the scruff of his orange jumper and pulled him up behind her.

"Woohoo! Neato!" The boy cried excitedly.

We raced through the darkness like rockets, gaining altitude with every second. The vexatious airport left far behind us. Ed flew in front of us, his great wings expanding into the night.

"Oh my gosh!" The new girl, Lethe screamed.

"What?" Seth cried.

"I - I - I forgot something!"

"What could you have possibly forgotten other than your suitcase?"

"And your brain." I grunted.

"Oh! I don't know!" The girl howled tearfully, "But I forgot something!"

Seth gritted his teeth, turning to me, "I'm going back!"

"Fine, but I’m not paying bail!" I blazed.

BLAM!! BLAM!! BLAM!!

I twisted my head in surprise, they were shooting at us! No, hang on a minute, it wasn't the police –

"Oh shit! The Poppinjenellos!"

"Who?"

"Never mind, just keep flying!"

Three pokemon materialized in the air behind us, two men on each one. A fearow, a pidgeot, and a charizard. I couldn't see them clearly at such a distance, but I immediately recognized the ekkons symbol branded on the pokemon's necks.

"I'll meetcha on the the ground! Don't worry! I'll find you!" Seth assured, steering Ed around and speeding back towards the airport and god knows what trouble was waiting.

"Just be careful!"

BLAM!! BLAM!! BLAM!!

I ducked instinctively, a bullet shot passed me, raising the hair on the back of my neck. Shahman swerved, dodging the bullets as best he could.

"What are we gonna do?" Jiang cried.

"Fight of course!" Tempest snapped, as if it were the dumbest question in the world.

"Oh look! There're my friends!" The young boy pointed down at the ground where hundreds of kids holding torches had brightly formed themselves into Tempest's name, screaming wildly as they saw her fly by.

"What!?" Tempest screeched. "JUST FLY!! DON'T STOP!!"

BLAM!! BLAM!! BLAM!!

The air filled with bullets often whizzing too close for comfort.

"Don't run away Mei Ling!" A Poppinjenellos man sneered.

"We still have a score to settle!"

BLAM!! BLAM!!

"That's it! We can't get away with these idiots on our tails!" I commanded Shahman to wheel around, "Moonbeam!"

"Finally, a sensible order for once." The pokemon murmured.

I ignored his remark.

He opened his mouth, his silvery moustache streaming by his face. A beam of silver luminance pelted out, launching towards them at lightning speed. The six men screamed as they were deluged by the attack, losing control of their pokemon and crashed to the ground below. I winced, I felt a twang of pity for the animals, it wasn't their fault they had bad trainers.

"That'll teach em." Shahman muttered.

We soared into the darkness.