Tempest

Who the hell did they think they were?

Me?!

And if they were thinking I was giving up my Pokemon?

Fat bloody chansey!

The cowards who had been shoving their way through the door to escape the falling debris of the roof, had swept me along with them, but now that I was outside I had the advantage of surprise. I elbowed through the crowd until I found my way to a clear patch on the now churned up lawn. Speeding towards one of Ebonisa’s black walls I released my prized bird.

"Go Artemis!"

As my Articuno swept by me I leapt onto her back to be nestled between her crystal encrusted wings. I shivered from the cold emanating from her body. Gritting my teeth we gained altitude and flew high above the building. Seeing the gaping hole the Rockets had made, I ordered her into a stoop.

But before she had the chance to obey my request, something totally unexpected and extraordinary happened.

The skies above me darkened, melting into a fiery crimson. It looked like the whole bloody sky was on fire!

The wind began to pick up, an arid gust which whipped my hair into a blue frenzy. Artemis stopped in mid-flight, looking around in confusion.

"Fair dinkum." I murmured in awe. A jagged bolt of lightning split the sky and a deafening clap of thunder followed thereafter. A tree, not far away from where we hovered, immediately burst into flames, the trainers below whirled about, horror stuck. I watched the ground suddenly begin to shake madly, violently rocking to and fro, people were hurled to the earth.

What was bloody going on? You don't get earthquakes on the Indigo Plateau!!!

Screams of confusion rose to meet me in the sky. I was relatively safe, up on Artemis's glossy back, but I felt the shocking vibrations of the ground even at this height.

Remarkably, despite the new commotion I remembered the Rockets, and realized this freakish weather change and quake was just the distraction I needed. Ignoring the growing shrieks of panic, I plummeted towards the skylight that the bandits had created earlier.

We zoomed through, catching everyone by surprise and, realizing how good I looked on the back of a legendary bird about to save the day - despite the fact that everyone was screaming about madly - I stood up grinning like a maniac.

I saw that in here, the quakes were much more disastrous, hardly anyone was standing. Shouts and screams vibrated against the violently shaking walls. Trainers were thrown all over the place. Chairs collided into each other, bouncing wildly upon the ground. The amps had fallen from their perches in the corners of the hall and lay broken and smashed upon the ground amid piles of wreckage.

The two Rockets looked about fearfully. Lilly-what’s-her face held desperately onto their craft from where she sat on its roof, I spotted Mei Ling in the air on her Shahman, struggling to keep from falling. I shot a glance up at the open hole; the sky was utter chaos, a furious crimson. Clouds, stained with a blood red tint rolled and tumbled against each other.

This was impossible, what kind of freak of nature was going on?!

But just as suddenly as it had started, the shaking ceased, the deep rumbling stopped. A frightened silence descended upon the room, broken only by the occasional random sob.

A wave of relief washed over me. The dust cleared, and I noticed that the sky was once again the good old southern blue.

The section of fallen roof had shaped a giant sloping mountain of junk separating one side of the hall from the other. Unfortunately, I was on the side blocked from the door, as were the two distraught Rockets, about forty or so trainers and, to my surprise, Mei Ling and her Shahman. The trainer, scared beyond her wits, glanced feverishly about, looking ready to bolt at any moment.

I collected my thoughts and regained my composure, stroking Artemis's neck, rubbing just above her translator in an attempt to calm her. She gave me a nervous coo.

Below, Lillia (was that her name?), recovering from her fear, glanced about snidely as if nothing had happened. Or at least nothing that was too important to bugger up the Rocket's plans. "Don't think that just because we had a little weird weather that we're going to just let you go."

"Yeah," croaked Luke, inching his head up bit by bit from behind the control panel in the cockpit of the aircraft he was cowering in.

"Put a sock in it!" I cried. Quickly falling back into my usual self, I ordered Artemis towards the two thieves.

"Ice Beam!" I yelled pointing at the Rocket aircraft. A jagged bolt of blue lightning crackled through the air and encased it in ice, Luke with it. He pounded on the window yelling and screaming for Lilia to get him out.

"Use your Charizard you fool!" Lilia hissed, she had leapt off the hood of the craft just in time and now stood beside it on a hill of plaster wreckage.

The huge from of Charizard manifested within the cockpit, squashing the Rocket against the walls. Luke's lips moved again and Charizard roared in response. A jet of flame burst from his nostrils melting the cockpit and the icy prison.

"Much better," Lillia murmured, absently examining her pink painted nails.

"Fuck," I muttered to myself. Then out loud I yelled. "Fine! Children who play with fire only get burnt."

Charizard roared again and blew another blast of flame. Artemis barrel rolled and avoided the attack easily. I laughed in defiance as we ducked under another flamethrower. We whistled through the air inside what was left of Ebonisa Hall.

"Don't just stand there!" Luke barked.

Charizard took to the air to follow. Another spurt of fire whizzed nearer, singeing Artemis's wings. She shrieked in anger and pain.

Looking back at me meaningfully, she hissed, "No more games!" And pulled to halt. "Hey you! Lavabreath. Looks like your mother got too friendly with a Slowpoke, cos you don't have a chansey of catching me if that's the best you can do!"

He bellowed and pumped his wings. Another flamethower blew by, narrowly missing Mei Ling and her Shahman.

"Hey! Watch where you’re flaming!” Mei Ling swore, ducking her head, “Shahman, moonbeam!"

Her pokemon turned his head to cast her a baleful gaze, “You sure, gov?”

“Yes I’m fucking sure!” She snapped heatedly.

“Well, you see. Under the current circumstances, that attack wouldn’t really work. So how’s about a meteor-shower, eh?” He answered, as if speaking to a child.

I saw her shoulders sag in exasperation, “Ok fine, we’ll do it your way. It’s not like as the trainer I get an important say or anything.”

Shahman’s sapphire eyes shone bright, then suddenly, TSWIIIIINNNG!!! A dazzling light erupted into the air and the Charizard was momentarily blinded. He howled and covered his eyes painfully.

Using this to her advantage, Artemis darted nimbly around the distressed fire type. She shot out short bursts of ice, always keeping a metre out of his reach when he lashed out blindly, aggravating the fire dragon further.

Finally we were in position. "Forget Slowpoke, must have been a Magikarp. A matchstick is better then you!"

Charizard's voice thundered around the hall, trainers on the ground cringed against the ruined walls.

Charizard released his most powerful attack; Fireblast.

It tore through the air aimed directly at Artemis's breast. But we waited, hovering in front of the Team Rocket aircraft. Just when it seemed like we were done for...

"Now!"

Artemis veered upwards. The Fireblast left her tail in ashes, but nothing a max revive wouldn't fix. The important thing was that it had hit its target.

'NOOOO!" Team Rocket shrieked as they finally realized what we were doing. Luke evacuated the machine as it was about to be engulfed by the blaze. And both Rockets dived behind a pile of debris to avoid the fire. The flames whirled around their machine faster and faster and suddenly, BOOM! The whole thing exploded.

The shock waves knocked us into a tailspin. We crashed against the wall and I disappeared beneath Artemis's glassy wings.

Mei Ling

I groaned, "Oh shit."

See what I mean about an unlucky day? I’d have been better off staying at home counting my money.

I wondered if Tempest was injured and I almost felt guilty about taking her watch. Almost.

Shooting a look at the gaping skylight, I said to Shahman, “This is our cue to leave.”

“Aw gov,” Shahman murmured, “Not now, things are getting fun.”

I threw my hands up in exasperation, “Does the word trainer mean anything to you?”

See what I mean about my utter hopelessness when it came to battles?

"Oh man!" Luke poked at the pile of smoking rubble which had once been their ship.

"No time for that," Lillia snapped, "We have business to finish, things to kill." She glared at the still figure of Artemis. Somewhere beneath the cold blue feathers, was Tempest.

The pink haired woman threw one of her pokeballs into the air, "Typhlosion! Get out here!"

Her giant fire beast materialized in front of her.

"Now, Finish them off with flamethrower!"

"You too Charizard!"

"Look, I really wouldn’t recommend it if I were you.” Shahman interrupted, his tail whipping threateningly.

“Excuse me?” Lillia smirked, “Since when did trainers let their pokemon do the talking for them?”

Waving my hand in a slight motion, I replied drily, “No no, don’t mind me. I’m only here for face value.”

The woman laughed scornfully, “Alright then. Bring it on, pokemon. Show us what you got.”

“Oh shut up you butt ugly old hag.” The lunar dragon retorted disdainfully.

Lillia froze. Luke glanced about nervously.

Her fists clenched tightly till her knuckles turned white, and her bottom jaw twitched. Lillia exploded with fury, "How DARE you! Typhlosion, Charizard, get her!!”

"HWROOAR!!"

“Shit!” I swore, frantically leaping forward to grab one of Shahman’s fins as he shot through the air in response, “You’ve done it now!”

Two giant bursts of flame leaped towards us

"Aaaagh!! Up! UP!" I cried, but was I listened to?

Of course not.

Shahman dived, rocketing towards the ground, the pair of flamethrowers missing my head by inches.

That was the second time today!

I promised myself then and there that I would never go anywhere without any of my lucky charms ever again.

Without warning, we abruptly arched up again, as blast upon blast followed us around the room.

Shahman avoided each attack nimbly, "Piece of cake." He murmured, rolling his eyes.

I on the other hand, wasn’t entirely convinced. Those flames were getting way too close for my liking.

We accelerated through the air, the Charizard bellowing as he furiously flew after us gaining speed with every second, till I swore I could feel his sweltering breath against my back. Shahman whipped around in a full 360 degrees turn, almost hurling me off his back in the process. His silver tail slammed into the Charizard's face, sending him into a chaotic spin. The beast hollered in pain, Shahman shot upwards, wheeled around and blasted out a shining moonbeam. The attack exploded on impact, the fire beast screamed, and was hurled to the ground, crashing to the floor not far from where the typhlosion stood, building up for another flamethrower.

“Hey!” I whined, “How come moonbeam works now but not before?”

Ignoring my complaints, Shahman grinned, "Hah! He ain't got nothin' on me!"

Luke scowled, "Return Char!" The unconscious creature disappeared in a red luminance. "Moltr-"

"Don't bother," Lillia barked, "I'll take care of this."

"Be my guest," The male Rocket muttered.

She grabbed another pokeball, "Deidra! GO!"

The august form of a yellow, small winged Dragonite appeared beside a pissed off looking Typhlosion. "Destroy her!" Lillia ordered.

My eyes widened and a small cry slipped from between my lips, “Now what genius?”

“Leave it to me,” the lunar dragon assured.

“Oh jeese. I’m gonna die.”

They charged.

Typhlosion leapt, airborne, he sneered, brandishing an array of sharp glittering teeth. Clawed arms struck towards us.

"Whoa!" Caught off guard, we narrowly missed being sliced to ribbons.

“I thought you knew what you were doing!” I wailed, as Shahman swept into the air, away from those deadly claws.

“Well I wasn’t expecting that!”

Deidra swooped down upon us from behind, electricity shooting at us from between her antennae.

Learnt from a stolen TM no doubt.

Shahman swung around again, his pulsating tail colliding into the Dragonite at the same instant the lightning bolt struck us. We screamed. Shahman convulsed painfully. I could hear Deidra’s shrieks of agony. I was too shocked myself to do anything but clutch desperately onto my dragon’s silver body. We pelted towards the ground at shocking speed, the building around us a whir before my eyes. We were a tangled mess off scales, limbs and wings tumbling through the air. We hit the floor with a crash. The wind exploded from my lungs as I smashed into a collapsed row of chairs, agony erupted across my body and my vision blurred.

It was hard to breathe. Gasping for air, I tried to sit up, sharp pain knifed into my chest, I felt like I had broken a rib, no, make that several ribs. I heard footsteps rush to my side. A face, another trainer perhaps, appeared over me.

“Are you ok?” The face demanded, “Help is on the way, don’t worry. We’ll take care of these assholes.”

Where were you when we needed you? I felt like screaming, but my strength had all but gone. With a moan I twisted my head. Shahman and Deidra lay in a tangled heap. My pokemon uttered a small groan and struggling to his feet, he didn't notice the purple creature, its collar alive with flames, gleefully descend upon him.

NO!

I parted my lips but managed nothing more than a strangled cry.

The typhlosion was getting closer.

"Mo… moon…MOONBEAM!!" I screamed frantically.

Shahman turned weakly, startled, "Huh?" His eyes widened as he saw his attacker, opened his mouth, shot out an attack.

Missed.

Again.

Missed.

“COO!”

“CUUUUUNOOO!!!” An blue energy beam from across the room suddenly crushed the typhlosion against the opposite wall, encasing him in ice.

“Good job Artemis.”

I turned to see Tempest limping across the room, her fatigued bird flapping just above her.

I flashed a weary smile in thanks before crawling to where Shahman had collapsed with exhaustion.

“Damnit!” Lillia swore, “Return, you good for nothing spark plug!”

TTSSSSOOOOP!

The fire type disappeared in a red luminance. The ice remained upon the wall.

Lillia backed away, eyeing the trainers who had slowly begun to converge upon them, holding their pokeballs menacingly. She grabbed Luke by the arm, “Well, looks like this is where we say goodbye!” Turning, the two made an attempt for their aircraft but were instead ran headlong into the jelly-like gut of a snorlax who had suddenly materialised behind them.

“What the?” The pink head woman shrieked, incredulous.”

“Oh dear…” Sighed Luke.

The owner of the snorlax, a fifteen year old boy with dark brown hair ordered, “Snore, grab em before they get away.”

Before either Rocket could move, the huge pokemon’s arms swept down, grabbed each by the shirt collar and hefted them into the air. They dangled there, kicking and punching furiously in a futile attempt to break free.

At that instant, a new voice echoed across the hall. "Halt where you are!"

I turned curiously, was it my imagination or did that voice belong to...

"Officer Jenny!" I exclaimed, resisting the urge to dive behind a pile of rubble.

The blue haired policewoman's motorcycle flew over the mountain of wreckage which split the hall in two, the engine revved as it sailed through the air, their wheels spinning furiously. The pokemon parted respectfully as she landed, "You two are officially under arrest!" She declared, wheeling to a halt in front of the surrounded thieves.

Lillia raised an eyebrow, "Under arrest? Officially?" A malicious grin spread across her arrogant features. "I rather think not."

She reached for her pokeballs. Luke did likewise.

“Oh bloody hell! Give it up already!” Tempest snapped, “You’re outnumbered, outmatched, and furthermore, you’re the ones dangling from the paws of a snorlax for chrisake!”

The two Team Rockets glanced at the encircling trainers, each other, and sighing, replied, "Oh all right, all right. Can’t say we didn’t try though."

I sighed with relief, painfully pushing myself to my feet. I stumbled across the remaining distance towards my dragon, wincing as I collapsed beside him in a mass of sore limbs.

“Had your fun?” I asked ruefully, stroking his scales.

He shrugged, “So so.”

I rolled my eyes. “Your impossible.” Withdrawing his pokeball, I returned him. There was a flash of silver and he vanished. The ball shrunk and I clipped it to my belt.

Sirens shrilled in the distance, ambulance, police, and firefighters. A hum of excited voices began to build within what was left of Ebonisa. The remaining trainers picked their way through the rubble, climbing carefully over the makeshift barricade segregating the two areas of the hall. Officer Jenny scrawled statements from various others into her spiral bound notebook, while she left the two Rockets swinging from the arms of the snorlax.

I shook my head in disbelief.

What a fucking day.