Arc #2: Unlikely Allies Chapter #6: Upon reaching a small grove, Alice struggled to catch her breath. Beside her, the little Umbreon looked just as exhausted as she felt. Sighing to herself, Alice vaguely wished her car hadn't broke down in the parking lot, forcing them to sprint away from the lab complex and across the desert. Turning back in the direction they had come from, Alice estimated that they'd traveled perhaps a mile from the lab in the fifteen minutes since the group had gone their separate ways. From where she stood, Alice could barely make out the lab from the surrounding dunes. As she continued to watch, Alice noticed a bright light begin to engulf the complex from the inside out. “There it goes.” The comment didn’t startle Alice as much as the realization that it had come from her. As the pair continued to watch, the lab suddenly went up in a massive explosion. Alice could feel herself sway slightly from the blast's shockwave. She also felt herself growing slightly ill as she turned away; knowing that everyone who was still inside the lab when it exploded were dead. “I hope Alan and the others made it out safely.” She muttered softly after finding her voice. “They did.” Alice turned and stared at the Umbreon. “There are a lot of things about me that would surprise you.” the pokémon replied as a small smirk slowly crossed it's face. “Really?” The Umbreon nodded before looking toward the sky. Following the creature's gaze, Alice noticed light beginning to appear over the horizon. It would be daylight soon, probably a good idea to get moving. Alice was snapped out of her daze as the Umbreon spoke up once again. “I guess we'd better get moving before daddy-dearest has an anxiety attack.” The mischievous note in the Umbreon's voice as it spoke was just too much. Alice couldn't help but giggle softly as she began to follow her little guide. *************** The sound of voices slowly filtered into Jaden's consciousness and began to draw him back from the void as something gently shook him on the shoulder. “Hey, wake up!” a female voice spoke up in a perky, high-pitched swoon. Jaden groaned softly to himself and was rewarded by another gentle nudge. “C'mon! You've gotta wake up!” the voice said again. As he slowly opened his eyes, everything appeared as a blur. Once his eyes had adjusted, Jaden noticed that two individuals were standing over him. Neither of them however, were what he expected. On his left stood a Meowth and on his right was a teenage girl who was roughly about his height with a slim muscular build. Gazing back, Jaden noted that the girl was rather attractive, had shoulder length strawberry blond hair, and piercing hazel eyes. He also noticed that unlike most members of its species, the Meowth was standing on two legs rather than all four. Both smiled cheerfully at him as he sat up and grabbed his head. “We thought you was gonna sleep till da end of time.” the Meowth commented smugly. “I can understand a pokémon? Am I dreaming?” Jaden thought to himself as he stared at the creature. “Where am I?” he asked sitting up. “What's it look like?” the Meowth retorted. “You’re in a meadow on the ever craptastic continent of Orre.” “A meadow? How did I get here?” Jaden thought. “Kyle, be nice.” the girl spoke up, hands on hips as she gave a rather childish pout. Looking around, Jaden noticed that he was indeed in a meadow. In the distance, he spotted what looked like the desert. For the life of him, Jaden couldn't figure out how he'd arrived in this strange place. All he could do was shake his head in confusion. “Are you all right?” the girl asked looking concerned. “I'm fine.” Jaden replied, climbing to his feet. “I'm just not sure how I got here is all.” he continued after a pause. “What happened?” “Well, the last thing I remember is returning to my dorm room after a party and falling asleep. I had this weird dream involving a bunch of questions and the next thing I knew I woke up here.” “That must have been some party.” the Meowth commented. Jaden merely shrugged as the pair continued to stare at him. “Anyway, my name is Bianca Lockhart and this is my partner Kyle.” the girl remarked after a pause. “The name's Jaden Kururugi and it's nice to meet you both.” “So, where are you from?” Bianca asked. Jaden wasn't quite sure how to answer the question so he explained everything as best as he could. Bianca and Kyle continued to stare at him. “What brings you here?” he asked. Bianca's face brightened. “We were on our way back to base after visiting my grandparents in Agate Village when we found you.” she replied. Jaden responded with a polite but indistinct "Ah." “As it is, I was just hired as a member of the R.R.T.S.” she continued proudly. Jaden recognized the term for an entirely different reason then what was implied. “Perhaps they could help you.” Bianca said after a pause. “It's worth a shot I suppose. After all, it's not like I really have a choice in the matter.” Jaden replied “By the way, how did he learn to speak?” he asked after a pause. “I learned to speak human talk a long time ago. Long before Bianca and I met anyway.” Kyle answered. Jaden nodded. “Not that it would matter much anyway. I could've still understood him regardless.” Bianca spoke up. “Really?” “I've been able to understand pokémon for as long as I remember.” There was a moment of awkward silence before Bianca spoke up again. “Given your unusual situation, perhaps you have the ability as well.” Jaden stared at her; the Meowth mirroring him. “Let's try an experiment!” Just as Bianca reached for a pokéball, the sound of footsteps grabbed everyone's attention. Turning, Jaden spotted a woman running toward them. At her side was an Umbreon. Looking on, Jaden felt out of place as Bianca exchanged information with the woman. Kyle meanwhile, seemed to be having a conversation with the Umbreon. Letting his gaze drift, Jaden spotted a trio of shady looking individuals wandering toward them. As the trio drew closer, Jaden quickly sized up the situation. He couldn't help cocking an eyebrow at the attire the goons were wearing. One of the guys wore an outfit that resembled a cross between a biker ensemble and a cowboy uniform. The other two didn't look much better. “We've got company.” he remarked dryly. “Oh, great. Now what?” Bianca asked. “Take them to safety. I'll keep our guests occupied.” Jaden replied. “But you don't have any pokémon.” Bianca protested. “I'll improvise just get going!” Jaden snapped. As he turned toward the approaching group, Jaden heard the distinct sound of a pokéball being triggered. “Tilly go!” Turning, Jaden saw Bianca release a Taillow from the pokéball. “Help Jaden deal with these creeps then escort him back to the Ranger compound.” Bianca said. “Will do. Just watch yourself.” Kyle replied. With a nod, Bianca jogged off. The woman right behind her. After a moment of hesitation, the Umbreon nodded and followed them. Jaden meanwhile, focused his attention on the remaining pokémon as the trio drew closer. He noted that Kyle was stretching in anticipation of the coming fight. The Taillow meanwhile, was gazing around dispassionately. As he continued his inspection, Jaden noticed that the little bird-type was a female. With a start, he realized that the Umbreon had been female also but didn't know how he knew that. Jaden was snapped out of his thoughts as the Tailow spoke up. “Are you ok?” “Yeah, just had something cross my mind. So, you're Tilly. Nice to meet you.” “Likewise.” “So, what's the plan?” Kyle cut in. “Depending on what they do we'll just have to 'wing' it.” Jaden replied. “Uh, no offense.” he added turning toward the Taillow. “None taken.” Tilly replied looking confused. Kyle snickered in response as the trio reached them. “What do you want?” Jaden asked. “Just leave all of your pokémon and valuables on the ground and you can go.” the biker thug replied. “I'm afraid there is nothing of value here so I suggest you walk away.” Jaden said. “Well, I guess that's bad for you kid.” one of the other thugs sneered. Jaden sighed and rolled his eyes as each thug released a trio of pokémon. The biker thug, who was roughly his size and had long dark hair, released a Houndour, an Ariados, and a Zangoose. The second thug, who was the shortest and had a mohawk, released a Beedrill, a Machop, and a Mankey. The third thug, who was the tallest, had short red hair, and was somewhat stocky, released a Seviper, Spearow, and a Cubone. As Kyle and Tilly began to spread out, Jaden casually stepped into a relaxed variation of his 'Tai Kemp Aki' fighting stance. The Tai Kemp Aki fighting style he'd been studying was a fusion of the 'Kenpo' and 'Tae Kwan Do' fighting styles. He also fought the urge to smirk at the state of the thugs’ pokémon. None of whom looked particularly fit or intimidating. “Don't worry about 'em, this will be easy. Just observe their body language.” he muttered to his companions. Kyle shot him a curious glance as the trio ordered their pokémon to attack. Jaden easily sidestepped a slash from the Zangoose that charged him and countered by grabbing the creature's outstretched arm and twisting it. He followed up by quickly kicking the Zangoose in the chest before hurling it over his shoulder and onto the ground as the Cubone rushed at him. Once again, Jaden found himself sidestepping an attack as the Cubone tried repeatedly to hit him with its bone club. Spotting an opportunity, Jaden worked his way under the pokémon's guard and kicked it in the chest before managing to steal it's club. He followed up by battering the poor creature with a barrage of blows from its own weapon. He then proceeded to pummel the Zangoose with blows from the club as it lunged at him again. As the Zangoose dropped to the ground, Jaden cast a glance around to see how his companions were doing. To his left, Jaden saw Kyle holding his own against the Machop and Mankey. Tilly meanwhile, had somehow managed to take out both the Beedrill and the Ariados and was currently dueling the Spearow. A sudden hiss grabbed his attention. Turning, Jaden spotted the Seviper racing toward him. He quickly found himself using a combination of sidestepping and the bone club in order to fend off the Seviper's Bite and Poison Tail attacks. Dodging yet another Poison Tail, Jaden countered with a powerful spinning kick that sent the poor creature sprawling to the ground. Glancing around Jaden noticed that Kyle had beaten the Mankey and was holding his own against the Machop. Tilly meanwhile, was still dueling the Spearow. As he watched, Jaden spotted the Houndour sneaking up on Kyle. Without hesitation, Jaden whistled loudly and threw the bone club with all his might at the canine. He was rewarded by the sounds of the impact and pained yelp from the dark type as it dropped to the ground. The event momentarily distracted Kyle from his battle with the Machop. “You little punk! You're going down!” the biker thug roared angrily. Glancing toward the man, Jaden allowed a small smirk to cross his face as he waved the misguided fool over. The thug wasted no time in racing forward to attack. Upon reaching him, the thug threw a punch. Jaden easily dodged the blow and blocked another punch. He retaliated by elbowing the assailant in the face before delivering a forceful shove that caused the thug to back-peddle. Jaden followed up by launching a devastating five hit combo that knocked the man off his feet and rendering him unconscious before he even knew what happened. Casting a glance to the side, Jaden noted that Kyle had beaten the Machop and was helping Tilly double-team the Spearow, who quickly fell. Stammering and grumbling in disbelief at the battle's outcome the remaining thugs quickly recalled their pokémon and picked up their companion before running away. Jaden, Kyle, and Tilly meanwhile, did their best to relax. “That went well.” Kyle remarked. “That's for sure.” Tilly commented. “By the way, how did you learn how to fight like that?” she continued turning toward Jaden. “I spent four years training back home.” Jaden replied. “Well, we'd better get going.” Kyle stated after a pause. With that the trio began walking. As they walked, Jaden learned a great deal about the pokémon world and the R.R.T.S. organization itself. Before he realized it, Jaden and the pokémon had reached an instillation of some sort. Although he couldn't see much of the facility it reminded him of a military base located near his hometown. Jaden let the thought go as they reached one of the closer buildings. “Here we are.” Tilly commented. Upon entering the building, Jaden immediately spotted Bianca. Beside her stood that Umbreon and the woman. Two people he didn't recognize were also with them. “Jaden, you made it!” Bianca called out cheerfully. “C'mon, you can't get rid of me that easy.” he joked as the trio made their way over to the group. Before any more introductions could take place, Jaden noticed a pair of pokémon walking toward them. Both pokémon seemed to impose an aura of power and importance. With a start, Jaden recognized the pair as an Espeon and a Lucario. “I hear you provided assistance against some local hooligans.” the Lucario stated rather briskly. “Uh, yeah.” Jaden replied, confused. “Come with me.” Lucario remarked before turning and walking away. After a moment of hesitation, Jaden followed the creature.