Theoleung@sprint.ca

Melody landed onto the beach of the closest Trilands island. The island was better known as Hyris Island, for reasons unknown to anyone. Ignite was awake and happily waiting for his time on solid ground. Nil, however, remained unconscious, still tired from her near-death experience with that Muk. Ice held the Pikachu close to his body and leaped down onto the beachhead. The two Pokémon followed, leaving Melody in the water.

"Er…we don’t have a Pokéball…" Ice realized, seeing the Lapras abandoned on shore. She shook her head, smiling.

"Just meet me at the other end of the island," she told them. "Get Nil restored, acquire some supplies, and then get over there so we can depart on our journey once again." Ice agreed to the terms the Lapras presented.

"We better be fast then," Styx told the Ice Angel. "The longer we wait, the better chance of us getting caught." Ice nodded, waving his hand and heading towards the inner mass of the island. Melody took off from the shore, speedily heading for the other side.

* * * * * *

"NO!" Nil cried out, rushing after the escaping van. She cried out his name, releasing a weak Thundershock attack against the vehicle. The white van continued to speed away while the Pikachu continued to chase after it.

"Wah!" she screamed out, tripping and falling flat onto her face. She look back up, seeing the vehicle drive off.

* * * * * *

"NO!" Nil cried out, bolting up right in her bed. She blinked once, trying to figure out what was going on.

"What’s wrong?!" Styx exclaimed, leaping onto the bed. Nil examined her surroundings.

"A…a Pokémon Center?" she asked, with all these wires hooked up to her and all. Styx nodded, taking the female Pikachu’s hand. "I-I had a bad dream…" she told him. "Something I didn’t want to remember…"

"The effects of Dr. Sapphire’s serum must be setting in," Styx told Nil. She nodded, wondering if that was good or bad. "What was it about?" Styx inquired after a brief moment of silence. Nil started into his eyes. Fear was written all over it.

"I…I would rather not talk about it," she spoke softly. Styx nodded, not wanting to evade the privacy of his companion. "I-I’m sorry…"

"Don’t be," Styx quickly replied, feeling guilty for trying to pry. "You have the right to your privacy."

"I…I…" Nil couldn’t get the words out. "If…if I was stronger…they might not have taken you," Nil thought, unable to express this to the other Pikachu. She had a strange feeling now when she was with Styx, a feeling she couldn’t express, but it was familiar.

"Nil…" Styx spoke softly, placing his other hand on her shoulder. "You don’t have to tell me," he told her. "Just rest…we’ll be departing as soon as Ice gets everything he needs to continue our journey." Nil exhaled and nodded, lying back down on the bed. She closed her eyes, letting the darkness embrace her once again.

Styx sighed softly, leaping down from the bed and exiting the area. Ignite waited for his Pikachu companion outside.

"How is she?" the Vulpix asked as the Pikachu walked by.

"She’ll recover," Styx replied plainly, continuing to walk away. Ignite was confused, curious of what did transpire in the recovery room. Nevertheless, the Vulpix didn’t persist, but continued to follow the male Pikachu.

"You’re pretty close to her, you know," Ignite told him. Styx turned to face Ignite, not startled by that comment, but instead was a bit disgusted.

"Took you a while to figure THAT out," Styx spoke sarcastically. He sighed. "It’s just…" Styx started, trying to find the right words to fit the situation. "She reminds me so much of her…"

"The one left back home?" Ignite asked, but knew Styx was the referring to the lone Pikachu left behind when his home was raided. For that fact, Styx knew he didn’t need to answer.

"Think Ice is back yet?" Styx asked his companion, trying to change the subject.

"Doubt it," Ignite answered, seeing the topic his companion was trying to evade from. "He’s got to pick up a lot of supplies it we want to make it to Cianwood without making too many stops."

"So, in other words, he’ll be shopping for a bit," Styx concluded, sighing. "The faster we get away from that blasted ship, the better I’ll feel."

"I agree completely," Ignite responded, the two reaching the main area of the Pokémon Center.

"I guess we wait…" Styx spoke up. Ignite nodded, looking around.

"A long wait…" he added.

* * * * * *

Alex glanced around, trying to search for his friend. He wore a long trench coat to cover his back, though he got strange looks from other people. It was quite a hot day today, and most people were in T-shirts.

"The mutation has gotten worse…" he thought, looking up. His other two companions were high in the sky, also searching. Alex knew, however, he’ll find his target before his companion will. He was a Psychic Angel after all…

Alex reached out with his mind, searching the mass for his friends. Slowly, after eliminating unlikely possibilities, he detected the three Pokémon at the Center, two in the main area, one recovering in a treatment room.

He found Ice at the Pokémart at the other side of town. He seemed to be purchasing items for his journey.

Melody was detected at the far side of the island, anxiety clearly felt in her mind.

"Who’s there?" she spoke telepathically. Alex mentally slapped himself, remembering Melody was partially Psychic herself.

"It’s me, Alex," Alex answered. He could feel how surprised the Lapras was.

"Alex…? But…how?" she questioned.

"No time to explain," Alex quickly answered. "Fuge is coming to take you all back. Be prepared to leave A.S.A.P." Melody wasn’t sure how to make of this, but ‘nodded’, becoming even more anxious to leave.

"Alright, Styx, Ignite, and Nil first, then get to Melody…" Alex thought, planning out his entire route. He sent a Psychic message to one of his companions, part Psychic, to pick up Ice and meet them at Melody.

* * * * * *

Ice paid for his goods and packed them into his backpack, which he also just purchased. He held a Pokéball in his hand, twirled it once, regarded it for a moment, then clipped it to his belt.

"Well, we’re set, I better check up on the others…" he thought, leaving the mart.

"Ice!!" a voice called out. The Lapras infused human turned around quickly, seeing Void dashing towards him.

"Void?!" Ice exclaimed, surprised with the appearance of the Eevee. "But…what are you going here?!"

"No time to explain!" Void spoke, panting. "We need to get to Melody, fast! Fuge is coming, and he ain’t very happy."

"But, I can’t leave the others behind," Ice protested.

"Alex got them! Now come on, let’s move!" he shouted, dashing off again to find Melody.

"Hey, wait!" Ice was about to shout, but to no avail. The Eevee was gone already, using Agility to speed off. "Damn…this sucks…" he spoke, running to get to the meeting point they assigned that day.

* * * * * *

Alex stepped out of the Pokémon center quickly, Nil, Ignite, and Styx close behind him. Nil wasn’t in perfect condition, but was quite capable of running.

"Know when Fuge and friends will be here?" Ignite quickly asked, bolting in the direction where Melody would be waiting.

"Probably already here, but it’ll take them some time to find us," Alex quickly answered, keeping pace with the Vulpix and two Pikachu’s.

"Or he’ll get lucky and know where to wait," Nil spoke sarcastically.

"Most likely not," Styx replied, getting a short burst of speed with Agility. "But I’d rather not take any chances." Alex nodded, increasing his pace slightly so they would arrive faster.

* * * * * *

Ice skidded to a halt, surprised at who was waiting for him at the outskirts of the town near the beach.

"And so we meet again," Fuge spoke menacingly, blade in hand, and another sword hooked to his back.

"Move it or lose it," Ice responded calmly, hand falling onto the weapon of his own.

"No can do," the Venom Angel answered. "Orders are orders, I’m bringing you back home. Whether you are alive or in ten pieces, it doesn’t matter." Ice gritted his teeth, taking the pencil like object from his pocket and pressing the button, expanding it into a full-length staff.

"Go ahead and try," Ice answered. Fuge’s smile became wider.

"That‘s what I intended to do," he answered, drawing the second blade. "This ain’t training anymore. I don’t need to hold back."

"Funny, I never knew you be a type to hold back," Ice joked dryly.

"You are dead, traitorous Ice Angel," Fuge growled, entering a fighting stance.

"Try it, Venom Angel," Ice retorted. Fuge nodded, rushing forward and slashing hard with a forehand strike. Ice twirled the staff quickly and blocked the blow, slamming one end of the staff into the ground, pushing the striking blade with it. Using the momentum, he tried to smash Fuge’s head with the other side, but that was block by Fuge’s other weapon.

"You improve…" Fuge grunted, pushing Ice off his two weapons. The two stood at a stand off, neither moving yet.

The Venom Angel made his move, rushing forward and slashing overhead with both blades. The reckless attack was easily blocked by the staff. Fuge followed up with cross slices from both blades, also easily blocked. Persistent, Fuge brought both blades up and slashed in a scissors like arc.

Ice took advantage of the situation, blocking one of the blades and pushing forward, the other narrowly missing him and slicing the ground. Ice pushed the blocked blade out of his face and jammed his staff into Fuge’s stomach. He staggered back a few steps, giving Ice a few moment of breathing space.

"You’ll regret that…" Fuge spoke, slowly standing up straight again.

"I never regret a thing," Ice answered without emotion. Fuge rushed again, beginning a rapid series of slices in hopes to catch Ice off balance. His plan worked, opening Ice for a brief second, resulting in a slash across his left arm.

"Damn…" Ice cursed, stepping back, holding the open wound with one hand, staff in the other.

"It is over," Fuge spoke, rushing forward again. With one arm disabled, Ice could hardly defend himself from the relentless assault coming from the Venom Angel.

Ice fell to the ground from a strong blow by Fuge’s blade. He raised a sword, ready to finish what he always wanted to end since the two ever met.

Well, he would’ve liked to if Ice didn’t raise his uninjured arm.

An Ice Beam blasted from the hand, freezing Fuge’s shoulder. He couldn’t move the arm, the weapon stuck a few inches away from Ice’s face. Before Fuge got the idea to bend down to finish the job, Ice was rolling out of the way.

The Ice Angel jumped back to his feet and directed another two Ice Beams at Fuge’s feet, pinning him to the ground.

"Damn you!" Fuge cried out, trying to crack the ice away once more with his unfrozen arm.

"No…damn you all…you Rockets…" Ice replied bitterly, retracting his staff and running off the meet Melody.

"No…because I will get the last laugh…" Fuge muttered, remembering he laced his blade with a certain item before this encounter.

* * * * * *

Alex, Ignite, Nil, and Styx reached Melody. On her back was Skymin and Void, waiting for their arrival.

"Where’s Ice?" Nil asked quickly, unable to detect him with her initial scan. Alex reached out once more, trying to find his Chimera companion. Ice was quickly found, leaving the scene where Fuge was frozen in place.

"He’s coming," Alex spoke quickly, leaping onto Melody’s back. As if on cue, Ice came dashing over the hill, waving. Nil waved back as Styx and Ignite also leaped on. Void decided to hop onto Skymin’s back as the Pidgeot took off.

"We’ll scout ahead and makes sure it’s safe," Skymin told the other members of the party. Without waiting for acknowledgement, the Pidgeot took off.

Ice leaped onto Melody’s back, the group ready for departure.

"What happened to your arm?" Melody asked in a concerned tone, pushing off from the shore.

"Run in with Fuge," he answered, sitting down and beginning to wrap the wound with some bandages he got. "No concern, let’s just get out of here."

"I couldn’t agree more," Styx concurred, sitting down and admiring the view.

<Fin>