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Bonds
By nightdragon0
“This is a mess.” Raguragi muttered, glancing over the burning remains of the building.
Citraz and the Swampert were standing on the roof of an adjacent building, watching as groups of dragons below worked to put out the flames. Those were just civilians in a sense, completely unaware of the motive and existence of Kaiser.
This was still the Kanto region, and being Dragon territory, Raguragi knew that it was a bad idea for him to be out in the open. With the conflict he had worked to start between the West and the East, the Pokemon and Dragons of the respective territories were now at each other’s throats.
The building whose roof they stood on was a ‘safe house’, one that was used for their operations. Citraz’s Dragon troops had no problem moving around the city, but Raguragi noted that not all of his Pokemon troops had made it here. It was inevitable, and as a commander, he couldn’t do much but eat his losses.
“The master is still out there, right?” Citraz looked out the wreckage.
“Hmm…”
“You should not doubt me. It was a valiant effort, but one that fell short nevertheless.”
Raguragi and Citraz turned to find the black Scizor standing on another rooftop, and quickly bowed as their master leapt over to their side. Clutched in Kaiser’s claw was a gleaming yellow crystal, the thunder Spirit Crystal.
“Of course not master, I never will.” Raguragi declared.
“Now that I have awakened, we must gather up enough Spirit Crystals so that I may be at my full power once more.” Kaiser spoke.
“These are what I have.” Raguragi offered up three Spirit Crystals representing water, ground and a non-elemental (normal). The first two had been used by him while the last one had been obtained by Juncan in an earlier brush with Nightslice and Firestorm. “Bashaamo has betrayed us and taken both her Spirit Crystals and the human child we needed.”
“The harmonizer is gone?” Kaiser growled, using his own description for Yusia.
“I’m sorry master! I will put all
our efforts into hunting down her and the traitor.” Raguragi affirmed. “I will
call Juncan back to bring his Spirit
“No, save yourself the effort and take these.” Kaiser shoved the water and ground crystals into a startled Raguragi’s hands. “Take them for now and make full use of them. Order what followers we have to move to our new base. And ensure that you do not fail again.”
“Thank you master! I promise that it will be done.”
With that, Kaiser walked away and consumed both the thunder and non-elemental crystals, leaving Raguragi and Citraz to carry out their assigned tasks.
“Soon, my time will come again.” The dark Scizor growled. “And it will at last be the end of you, Nightslice…”
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“Uggh…arrgghh….”
Alken was once again awakened by the wounded Salamence’s moaning. The orange glow of their campfire was the only thing that pierced the darkness of the cavern, covering the walls with that eerie lighting. He’d done his best with their limited medical supplies, but the Salamence still seemed to be in pain.
She kept moaning and groaning, but had never really regained consciousness for far. Nevertheless, Alken had aroused himself each time to watch over her. Abetos was curled up on the other side of the fire, somehow managing to sleep through the noise.
But the Salamence was stirring rather violently this time, causing Alken to sit straight up with concern.
“No…no…don’t…” The dragon type Pokemon muttered. “No…”
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, staring straight into Alken’s. The next reaction was an instinctive lunge to what she perceived to be imminent danger. Fortunately, Alken was swift enough to hop back and brace himself against the ground.
It helped that the Salamence’s front right paw was sprained, but sharp claws still cut into Alken’s skin as he used his arms to block.
“Grrrr…”
“Calm down!” Alken urged. “I’m not going to hurt you! You’ve got enough injuries already!”
Struggling wildly, the Salamence tore part of the bandages that were wrapped around her stomach area and flexed both her wings, even though the right one was broken.
Sensing the danger, Abetos sprang up and raced around the campfire. The hound grabbed the Salamence’s tail in his jaws and tugged, although not too hard. Distracted, the dragon type turned and roared.
Using the advantage, Alken shoved his body weight forward. He managed to push the dragon-type onto her back and carefully pinned her arms and neck down.
“Relax! Get a hold of yourself girl!” Alken muttered.
“If you’re going to kill me, then do it!” The Salamence hissed with a fiery look in her eyes.
“Hey, no one’s going to do anything!” Abetos added in. “The guy there just saved your life, so at least try to show some appreciation!”
“I…”
“I promise, we’re not here to hurt you.” Alken whispered. “Now, please calm down and don’t strain your injuries any more.”
Alken felt the Salamence’s struggling stop and released his grip. The dragon-type attempted to get to her feet, but stumbled and fell with a moan of pain.
“Are you all right?” Alken leaned closer to her face.
“It hurts.” The Salamence gritted her fangs, glancing towards her stomach area.
“Here, drink some of this.” Alken offered her a bottle.
The Salamence sniffed it and realized that it was cool, fresh water. She couldn’t even think about resisting as her parched lips immediately shot out for the liquid, sucking it down her throat.
“Why….why are you helping me?” She looked up after draining the bottle.
“We found you lying here in this badly wounded state.” Alken replied. “I wouldn’t have felt right to just leave you.”
“I see…” The Salamence lay her head down. “Thank you…”
“Just what happened to you?” Abetos queried. “You look like you’ve been through an inferno or something.”
“I…I…don’t want to talk about it…” The dragon-type closed her eyes. Although she was trying to hide it, Alken could see the tears welling up in her eyes.
Whatever happened to this poor girl must’ve been quite traumatic. Alken
sighed.
“It’s all right if it’s too painful for you.” Alken nodded. “My name is Alken, and this is Abetos. Can you at least tell me yours?”
The Salamence glanced from him to Abetos and back, before finally opening her mouth to speak.
“It’s Tanya….”
“Well Tanya, you should get some rest.” Alken suggested. “It’s late at night, but we can talk if you’re feeling better by morning.”
“Yes, thank you.” Tanya placed her head back down on the ground again.
As she did however, Tanya noticed the odd weapon hanging on Alken’s belt. It was some sort of machine gun, but it’s ‘presence’ felt rather odd. Or rather, it was almost as if there was some strange aura radiating from it.
An aura just like Myollnir or even her master’s…
Weariness took hold and Tanya finally drifted off into the darkness of sleep.
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The dim rays of sunlight woke Nightslice for his restless slumber. Small holes in the cavern’s roof allowed the little bit of light to seep in.
Although the cavern had been damp and chilly during the night, the two burning torches nearby helped. Apparently, they were lit with a sacred flame that never seemed to burn out.
Kris and Jade were still asleep, huddled up against each other for warmth. The remaining embers of their small fireplace still glowed, giving off the burning scent of smoke.
The two swords containing the spirits of Bahamut and Lombadra were lying nearby, though it was impossible for Nightslice to tell if they really ‘slept’ or not.
Only Firestorm was missing.
A quick glance brought Nightslice’s view to the shore of the underground lake, where his companion stood as vigilantly as ever. The Charizard was still sitting there with Dracia’s body, the fiery glow of his tail flame giving him away in the low lighting.
Dracia herself looked so peaceful…almost as if she were merely asleep. But Nightslice knew better, for this was a sleep from which she would never awaken.
Nightslice’s back hurt from lying on the hard, cold floor and he shifted about uneasily. When the Scizor looked up again, Firestorm had moved.
The Charizard was now closer to the shore. Yet, Nightslice could tell that his longtime friend was still mourning Dracia’s death. Firestorm uttered another of his soft, sorrowful moans, similar to the ones Nightslice had been hearing throughout the night.
I never knew he cared so much about her. Nightslice thought. All this time, he seemed pretty cheerful according to Jade. He must’ve been holding so much pain within. No, that’s not it.
The Scizor looked up at the ceiling.
That was how Firestorm dealt with his pain…by hiding it at the back of
his mind, covered by a veil of laughter. But look at me…I’ve been so caught up
in my own sorrows and worries that I even affected Kris’ feelings. Damn, why am
I such a…huh?
Nightslice blinked, staring straight at Firestorm. The fire elemental was no longer standing at the shore, but rather, he’d waded out into knee-deep water, carrying Dracia’s body with him. As expected, Firestorm kept the flaming tip of his tail above the water’s surface, but he was walking further and further out.
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Bashaamo looked left and right, making sure she wasn’t being followed for the umpteen time. The Blaziken then rounded the corner and carefully pushed the small hut’s door open.
“It’s me. You can come out now.”
At her call, Yusia emerged from under the shadows of the bed and walked up to Bashaamo.
“Here.” Bashaamo offered, revealing a wrapped up packet. “You should eat to keep up your strength.”
“Thank you.” Yusia took the packet and nodded, taking a seat at the table.
Meanwhile, Bashaamo continued to look out the window while eyeing the human child every now and then.
They never did really tell me anything, Raguragi and those others. She thought. After all, I’m just the mercenary. But the things I’ve heard, about this girl, about her being a sacrifice, about this other world and portals…I’m just not cut out for this sort of thing. So why? What made me do this?
She shot a quick glance over to Yusia, who was busy eating. The little girl had become very attached to her lately. No longer did she tremble with fear when Bashaamo was around, rather she smiled and giggled happily.
It was her. There’s something…just so different about her. But Raguragi and his troops well be relentless. I’ve got to be on my best at all times.
Bashaamo shook her head sadly.
But what can I do? I can’t go back to them for sure. But can I really bring this girl back to her companions? Yes, perhaps that is what I should do. I didn’t want to get so involved…no it’s already too late for that.
Already she had dragged Yusia through several different towns on their way out from Saffron. And she’d been very careful too, moving mostly at night, having Yusia wear a brown cloak with a hood and had avoided bringing her into crowded places.
The girl was fearful at first at just did as she was told, but it seemed to the fire-type Pokemon that Yusia was really beginning to trust her more and more.
Once I had a child just like her. Bashaamo took another glance. Once I had a family, a village that wanted to live in peace. But then, the wars started and Dragons attacked our village. So many died…my child was one of them…
“I’m sorry…” Yusia suddenly whispered.
“Hm?” Bashaamo snapped up in surprise. “I didn’t say anything.”
“No, but I feel your emotions.”
“Emotions? Like reading my mind?”
“A little. I’m sorry, it’s a power I can’t really control.” Yusia admitted. “But you’re projecting your thoughts in a way such that it’s easy for my psychic senses to pick them up.”
“So, you know then.” Bashaamo slowly smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m not angry. I feel glad actually. I’ve never had the heart to share this with anyone, so it comes as a relief to finally get it off my chest.”
“Thank you for helping me too.”
“You know, I became the way I am now because of what happened.” Bashaamo continued. “I thought I’d lost all emotion, all sense of feeling and compassion….”
“But you haven’t right?”
“I had….until I met you.” The Blaziken walked over and knelt by Yusia’s side. “However, I believe it’s best for you not to stay around me. I promise to get you back to your other companions, but after that…I have to leave.”
“Where will you go?” Yusia asked.
“I don’t know.” Bashaamo whispered. “I really…don’t know any more…”
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Tanya opened her eyes, feeling a wince of pain along her back. Her broken right wing was aching and her body felt sore all over.
Alken and Abetos were still asleep, leaving Tanya some time to gather her thoughts. And most of them weren’t good ones.
Her master was dead and now she was all alone. Torn apart from the only way of life she’d know since young. Tanya had been orphaned at hatching and the Prophet had found her one day, bringing her up as a powerful warrior. Despite having spent her whole life serving him since, her master had never treated her as a lowly servant.
The Prophet had won followers through respect, not submission.
But then, Tanya felt he had changed when he came across that odd shard…that Spirit Crystal. And he developed an obsession for finding out more about it, and then went on to look for others of its kind. Gradually, he stopped casually talking to Tanya, but she continued to follow her master and do everything she was told without question.
When that Dragonite, Dracia, had come along, he only drifted further and further away from her. And then this…all this had been the result. Still, the two strangers here had been very kind, even tending to her wounds.
None of them were life threatening, but Tanya nevertheless appreciated their assistance. Drawing herself up, the Salamence walked over to the sleeping duo…and abruptly paused.
I feel that aura again. It’s like…
Yes, an aura just like Myollnir’s or her master’s Spirit Crystal. That was what Tanya had felt before she’d passed out earlier. Now, she was able to trace it, and ended up staring down at Alken’s gun. It was that weapon that continued the Spirit Crystal, Tanya was sure of it.
Suddenly, simply thinking of those Spirit Crystals made Tanya feel enraged. It was because of those things that her master had changed. It was because of those things that Myollnir had come into being, and also why her master was now gone forever.
Tanya didn’t really understand what she did next. All she felt was the frustration, all the pent up feelings built up inside of her. In a fit of anger, Tanya snatched up Alken’s gun in her jaws and sprinted for the exit.
“Hey…what the?” Alken sprang up. “Tanya? Tanya!”
The black haired human was just in time to spot the dragon type Pokemon disappearing out the cavern’s entrance. He was initially confused, but quickly discovered why.
“Dammit! She took my gun! And Skiar’s Spirit Crystal with it!”
“I was afraid something like this might happen.” Abetos growled, leaping to his feet. “Would now be a good time to say I told you so?”
“I know! I know! Now let’s go after her before she gets away!”
With a sprained right forepaw and an inured wing, it was fortunate that Tanya didn’t get very far ahead of them. However, she was still considerably fast, fueled by blind emotion.
Despite all of Alken’s shouting, Tanya kept running precariously along the cliff edge. Thinking quickly, Alken gestured for his partner to take another route upwards while he continued the chase on the same level as Tanya.
Abetos’ excellent jumping ability allowed him to scale the heights extremely quickly. Having learnt how to ‘feel’ the wind and objects around him, Abetos’ blindness hardly hampered him at all. However, as the Houndoom ran, his keen senses picked up an odd vibration in the ground.
Oh no…something’s here…He realized. Something big!
But there was no time for him to alert Alken, for a sudden vibration shook the mountain, causing the dark-type to stumble.
Down below, Tanya was rocked off her feet and nearly went over the edge, if not for Alken, who managed to dive forward and shove her to the safety of the wall.
“You…” Tanya panted. “You still…”
“Shhh!” Alken whispered. “I think something’s…”
The next instant, a thunderous roar echoed throughout the mountain.
A massive dragon head burst out of the wall diagonally below them, one covered in a gray, rock-like hide. It eyes glowed with a deep red as they glanced around.
“Grrr…so there have been outsiders running around here.” The dragon hissed in a deep voice.
As the rest of the quadrupled dragon’s body emerged, everyone gasped in surprise at its huge wingspan and powerful body, which were at least 30 feet from head to tail.
“We’re not looking to start a fight here!” Alken called, although he knew almost immediately that it was hopeless. A lot of the dragons he’d encountered in this Kanto region attacked any non-dragons upon sight, and especially hated Pokemon.
The rock-covered dragon had murder in his eyes as he spread his wings and flew a circle, coming back towards their location. With a whip of his massive tail, the Rock Dragon shook the entire mountainside.
“Garrgghh!” Alken and Tanya gripped the jagged edges of the wall in panic.
“Shadow Ball!” Abetos appeared from a higher ledge and spit a black orb of energy at the dragon.
His shot was true, smacking their foe right on the cheek. That caused the enraged dragon to turn his attention towards Abetos, who fired off a second shot before sprinting for cover.
The Rock Dragon rose quickly past Alken’s position, although his tail still smacked into the wall and caused another rumbling.
“Abetos!” Alken yelled. He then turned towards Tanya. “Give me my weapon.”
Tanya hesitated for a moment, leaving Alken standing there with his hand held out. Finally, she released the weapon, and the odd power that she felt within.
“Thanks.” Alken lifted the gun in his arms. “Abetos! Coming your way!”
The tall man shook his ponytail out of the way before firing off several shots. With such a large opponent, there wasn’t any real need to take aim first.
Alken’s shots emerged as black energy bots, which pounded the Rock Dragon’s back with miniature explosions. As the Rock Dragon howled in surprise, Abetos suddenly leapt off the cliff and came diving down, just in time to jab their foe in the snout.
Abetos was far too agile and even though the Rock Dragon snapped at him, the Houndoom easily evaded all the attacks.
“Over here!” Alken had climbed partially up and now shouted to his partner as they prepared to unleash Skiar.
“Hoero! Dragon Meld!” (Roar! Dragon Meld!) Both partners shouted at they leapt towards each other. The next instant, the pair were shrouded in individual swirls of purple energy.
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“Storm?” Nightslice called.
There wasn’t the slightest bit of hesitation as Firestorm looked back for a second, then continued walking out. The water level was now up to his waist level.
“What are you doing Storm?”
The Charizard didn’t reply, but gazed out towards the deeper end. Nightslice gasped upon seeing the darker surface, indicating that the water there was much deeper. And Firestorm was moving right towards it…on his own will.
“Hey! Storm?” Nightslice was on his feet by now, the worst of scenarios playing through his mind.
All of a sudden, Firestorm leapt up. Clutching Dracia’s body tightly, he changed directions in mid-leap and dove headfirst into the deep end, disappearing into the dark waters.
“NO!” Nightslice’s screaming woke Kris and Jade, but the Scizor ignored their shouts and dashed out into the water.
Storm couldn’t be so depressed about Dracia that he would kill himself! It just can’t be!
Frantic with tension, Nightslice had almost reached the spot when a series of bubbles rose to the surface. Gasping wildly, Firestorm’s head emerged from underwater, followed by the flaming tip of his tail. The Charizard’s flames still burnt, although they looked a little weaker.
“Storm!” Nightslice swam over and pulled Firestorm to the shallow waters. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Hey relax…” Firestorm panted. “A bit of water won’t kill a Charizard. Especially not me…after the way Kris used to train me.”
“Are you crazy?” Jade waded over, followed closely by Kris. The two humans quickly helped Firestorm back to his feet.
“That was rather deep, even for you.” Kris frowned. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”
“You still haven’t answered my question.” Nightslice interrupted. “What the heck were you…”
“Putting Dracia to rest.” Firestorm smiled, shaking the water off his head.
That phrase stunned everyone else into silence.
“She came from the water, and so Dracia deserved to go back to it. I couldn’t call myself her true friend if I was afraid to do that just because of my weakness to water.”
For a while, no one said anything. Then, Jade slowly began to laugh.
“You’re more complex that I thought.” The blond haired man chuckled.
“Yes, I know Dracia would’ve appreciated it.” Kris added in. “But you could have at least warned us first.”
In response, Firestorm only looked back to the deep section of the underground lake. Beneath the waves was where Dracia’s body had now been laid to rest. Born from the water and passing on as a dragon, there was no better final resting place Firestorm could think of than here, the Dragon’s Den.
“Also, what do we do now?” Jade asked. “We’re at a dead-end. We can’t go back to face Kaiser now, that’s for sure.”
“Let’s go back to the Alenky Lab.” Nightslice suggested. “Zian will definitely want to know about the new information we’ve found out.”
“I just hope we can get the teleporter to warp up to the right place.” Kris lifted her sword. “Bahamut, Lombadra, we’re counting on you.”
(Humph, don’t underestimate us.) Bahamut’s voice growled. (Just make sure you’re rested up too so you have enough energy to channel into us.)
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When the light cleared, it was Skiar who’d taken Alken and Abetos’ place.
A black dragon with a humanoid, bipedal form and razor-like claws…he was a sight to drive fear into the hearts of the weak-willed. However, the Rock Dragon wasn’t one of these individuals, and howled in defiance.
Still, he did move back slightly and hover in the air as Skiar dug his claws into the rocky wall.
“W…what are you?” The Rock Dragon growled.
“This dragon is one of the legends.” Skiar replied calmly. “Come! See for yourself if you have the power to defeat me!”
Suddenly, it seemed as if Skiar had vanished. The Rock Dragon was initially startled, but felt a hard kick to the back of his head, sending him spinning into the wall. Skiar had in fact used a Faint Attack, appearing from behind to strike his foe.
Unfrazzled, the Rock Dragon tore huge chunks of stone out of the mountain and hurled them at Skiar.
(Incoming Rock Throw!) Alken urged.
Skiar was already ahead of that, throwing off a Shadow Ball in the form of a black blob of energy. The attack easily shattered the boulder, but there was another surprise in store for the Dark elemental.
Instead of falling, the broken pieces swirled around Skiar and began smashing into him. The individual pieces weren’t large, but they were sharp, cutting even Skiar’s tough scales at multiple places. One piece also ricocheted off the metallic mask molded over Skiar’s draconic face.
It wasn’t enough to hurt him, but the impact had Skiar’s ears ringing, which was a great disadvantage for someone who relied mostly on hearing.
The next instant, Skiar was suddenly knocked out of the air by his opponent, who’d cleared the distance between them in those few seconds. Skiar managed to upright himself in mid-air, and sensed a massive fist coming for him.
Agile as he was, Skiar didn’t have the time to avoid the blow entirely. However, he did manage to leave a long cut across the Rock Dragon’s arm before he was slammed into the mountainside.
Dazed, Skiar found himself coughing out blood as the Rock Dragon charged right for him.
“Hyper Beam!” Tanya roared, emerging from around a bend to hit the Rock Dragon in the face.
The massive beast was the one taken by surprise this time. His attempt to stop fell short, leaving him to crash headfirst into the mountainside. It was fortunate that Skiar had slipped out of the way moments earlier.
As the Rock Dragon peeled his face off the wall, Skiar literally ran up his side, slashing in all directions and leaving long cuts in the former’s hide. He then took up a perch on top of the Rock Dragon’s flat head, tauntingly stomping down with his foot.
In a fit of rage, the Rock Dragon brought his tail up and swung it with full force towards Skiar’s location. Smirking, the dark dragon simply leapt away…leaving his foe to dimwittedly smack himself on the head.
With a final burst of strength, Skiar slashed through the tendons of the Rock Dragon’s right wing. Distracted by the pain flooding into his mind, the Rock Dragon accidentally released his hold on the mountain wall, and started to fall. Only then did he realize he couldn’t fly properly because of the damage Skiar had done to his wing.
As a result, the Rock Dragon fell with a long howl, quickly disappearing beneath the treetops that surrounded the mountain. The impact was huge, sending up a large cloud of dirt and uprooted plants.
Panting, Skiar landed on the cliff beside Tanya and gave her a firm nod.
“This dragon thanks you for the assistance.”
“No, it’s me who should be thanking you.” Tanya replied.
However, a sudden roar had the pair looking up into the distance. The shadowed shapes of several large creatures could be seen approaching their position.
(Damn, he must’ve called for backup.) Alken muttered angrily.
And unfortunately, the cavern that held the teleport spot within had been destroyed during the fight. Using Skiar’s strange senses to construct a black and white image of the surroundings, Alken could tell that there was no way for just the two of them to open the way quickly enough.
(What do we do now then?) Abetos wondered. (Skiar can’t possibly fight all of them off. Plus this is Dragon territory…more will keep coming!)
“Perhaps there is a way.” Tanya
offered. “I’ve been to this area before and I remember there being an
underground tunnel that connects to
And
Nodding, Skiar split back into the forms of Alken and Abetos, who looked down at Tanya with interest.
“A tunnel from
“Nothing’s impossible in this world, I’m sure you’ve seen that.” Abetos reminded him.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Alken glanced towards Tanya. “Lead the way.”
“You’re trusting me already?” Tanya asked. “After I just stole your…”
(However, you did aid this dragon in the earlier fight.) Skiar’s
voice sounded. (This dragon feels that he
can extend his trust to you.)
“Let’s work together.” Alken held his hand out. “It would be beneficial to all of us.”
“Hmmm…yes, I do agree.” Tanya put her front paw into his hand. “The tunnel is this way.”
As the trio started to run, Alken made a mental note to ask Tanya more about her past and this world once they were safe. Somehow, his gut feeling just told him that she knew a great deal more than anyone else they could’ve run into.
What he would eventually learn were the same things that Myollnir had told to Kris’ group earlier. And also that the tunnel would take them all the way to a borderline town at the base of Mount Silver, inadvertently named Silver Town.
It so happened that
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“Well, this is it…” Hazuki muttered.
“Nice place.” Nala agreed.
Their hitchhiked truck ride had
finally come to an end in a village called
The long hours of riding inside the bumpy truck had left their muscles cramped and sore. They’d also had to put up with the heat and sometimes rain, which leaked in through several small holes in the canvas roof. And there was the case of Riot and Gwyen constantly bickering.
However, it had also given the four some time to plan their next moves. Having been separated from their main group for so long, returning to the Alenky Lab was deemed to be an appropriate course of action. But finding a way to get back there was a whole other story entirely.
The communication devices that they’d received early on in their adventure had been damaged, leaving the group with no choice but to look for a teleport point, or make their way back on foot or wing. Neither one seemed too appealing, and the group knew it.
Even as they trudged wearily into the town square, the party of four was in for yet another surprise.
“I hate walking like this.” Riot was complaining. “This really doesn’t suit a flyer like me. I should probably be up there looking out for any…”
“Shh!” Hazuki suddenly raised her hand.
The entire group stopped and drew back into a nearby alleyway.
“What is it?” Nala lowered her voice.
“Look there.” Hazuki gestured.
She was pointing to a large Blaziken standing across the street. While it could have been just any other Blaziken, Hazuki, Gwyen and Asiyu knew better. The imposing figure, blazing eyes and the way she carried herself…it was none other than Bashaamo.
(It’s definitely her.) Asiyu confirmed. (I can sense the energies of her Spirit
(Whom? That Blaziken?) Erizar asked, confused. Unlike Asiyu, the Poison elemental dragon hadn’t encountered the warrior in battle before.
“Is this the one you mentioned?” Riot queried. “Who works for the same fellows that got Erizar stuck in that ice cube?”
“Yes, and not to mention kidnapped
Hazuki’s sister too.” Gwyen added in. “Wait, Asiyu…if you can sense her Spirit
(In theory, yes, but look at her.) Asiyu’s voice sounded. (Bashaamo seemed completely exhausted. I don’t think she has enough energy to focus properly.)
Indeed, even from their distance, it looked as if Bashaamo hadn’t slept in days. It also seemed odd that an enemy commander would be walking around some town all alone, without any real sense of purpose. All Bashaamo was doing was browsing through the roadside stalls.
“I don’t know what’s with her, but we should be able to take her out this time.” Hazuki muttered, stepping forward.
“Wait Hazuki.” Nala tugged her arm. “We can’t afford to start a fight in the middle of town and draw so much attention to ourselves. I know you’re worried about you little sister, but we won’t be able to do anything if we get into too much trouble ourselves.”
“Yes, you are right.” Hazuki sighed.
“Don’t look now guys, but I think some other Pokemon have taken interest in Bashaamo.” Gwyen spoke up. “Check out dumb and dumber over there.”
She’d been referring to an Aggron and Rhydon pair who were lumbering into the town square, making absolutely no attempt to be inconspicuous.
Another pair of unfortunately familiar faces, Sano and Uno, who’d been outwitted by Hazuki and Gwyen on a recent encounter. It startled Hazuki about how quickly the two had caught up with them.
Bashaamo seemed to take notice of the pair too and immediately disappeared from the scene.
“Something is going on with those few.” Nala remarked. “They’re supposed to be allies right?”
“Allow me to take a closer look.” Riot offered.
“No, I’ll go.” Gwyen moved forward. “We need to be close enough to eavesdrop on anything they say. I can do that better than you.”
“But…”
“Gwyen’s right.” Nala agreed. “Let her do this for once.”
“Thanks.” The Suicune breathed.
Without wasting any more time, she nimbly scaled the nearest wall and leapt up onto the roof. Gwyen then jumped from rooftop to rooftop until she was at the one above Sano and Uno’s heads. The water elemental silently dropped down onto the fire escape and crouched behind the ledge.
Sano and Uno were talking relatively loudly, but Gwyen still had to strain her sensitive hearing to catch every word.
“I don’t see that Blaziken anywhere.” Uno the Rhydon glanced around again.
“According to this device, she’s here…or at least her Spirit Crystals are.” His Aggron partner replied, holding up an electronic scanner.
“I sure don’t see her.”
“That’s because she’s hiding duh! Bashaamo is well trained, so she won’t be so easy to find.”
“Yeah, but if we can get that little human girl back from her, we’ll be reaping in the rewards, right?”
“If we can find her before the other search teams do.” Sano frowned. “There are quite a few in this town itself, if I remember.”
“Hey, be a little more optimistic bro.” Uno patted his shoulder. “If we can pull this off, we’ll be able to get back in Juncan’s favor!”
“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s keep searching.”
As the two begun to walk away, Gwyen emerged from her hiding place.
“Hmm…interesting developments.” The Suicune grinned, before taking to the roof again. She had a lot to tell Hazuki and the others now.