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Chapter 77: The Ties of Friendship
All at once, the winds all around us began to swirl violently. Dead leaves and small pebbles flew all around us. Toshin, Makoto, and Sakaki?s cloaks raged as the winds blew. The winds howled and roared as Emily clung to me tightly.
?What?s happening?? Gold asked Toshin as he continued to help Silver restrain Red.
?He?s regained some of his powers!? He replied, yelling out in the wind. ?Get ready!?
Everyone took out their Pok?balls but Pryce was quicker. All of our Pok?balls suddenly flew in the air, out of our grasp and all of them landed next to the monument?s white slab where baby Kenta lay, crying.
?This isn?t supposed to happen,? Sakaki yelled out loud.
?It?s never supposed to happen!? Makoto continued her sentence.
I wrapped my arms around Emily in order to protect her. The wind blew stronger and stronger. Along with the howls of the winds, Pryce?s laughter was heard. But then, the wind stopped.
I blinked as I looked around the desolate clearing. My arms were still around Emily, and her arms around me. Pryce was breathing deeply as silence prevailed all of us. Kenta?s bawling was heard in the night and Pryce?s wheezing.
??Dad?? Melissa?s weak whisper was heard. ?Dad??
?Melissa! Hold on! I?m going to get you away from there!? Red yelled as he finally broke away from Silver and Gold.
?Dad!? Melissa cried as she attempted to struggle weakly. ?Dad!?
?Red, no!? Toshin yelled but it was already too late.
Pryce?s icy tentacle came out of his robes all of the sudden and hit Red directly into his arm. The tentacle went through as Red screamed in pain, clutching his bloody and injured left arm. The tentacle withdrew as Red fell down on his knees, moaning in pain.
?Dad! No!? Melissa cried as she continued to struggle away from the slave?s grasp. ?Don?t hurt my dad!?
Pryce laughed his chilling laugh. ?Foolish child,? He spat.
I looked over at Toshin hoping that he will somehow conjure up a plan. I was right. ?Get the Pok?balls!? Toshin yelled, pointing towards the monument.
Everyone ran over to the monument as fast as they could. However, Pryce was faster. He blocked us as we came to a stop. Sakaki and Makoto didn?t stop, however. They leapt over Pryce at a great height. Toshin continued to run and towards Pryce. Before Pryce could stretch his tentacles towards Makoto and Sakaki, Toshin already tackled him with great force.
A thud was heard and we noticed that Pryce?s slave has dropped Melissa. He was coming towards Toshin and Pryce. Red took his chances and hurried off to Melissa. Pryce?s slave tore Toshin away from Pryce and punched him out off the clearing. He chased Toshin as he went to where Toshin landed.
?Fools!? Pryce yelled as his tentacles managed to grab Sakaki and Makoto?s feet even before they could reach the monument. Pryce stood up as he dragged Makoto and Sakaki away.
?Oh no you?re not!? Silver yelled as he ran towards Pryce. He jumped and positioned himself to kick Pryce to the back of the head.
Pryce immediately faced Silver and caught his foot with his tentacle. Many tentacles protruded from his body as they stretched and headed towards us. The tumult of everyone shouting to run panicked me. I avoided one tentacle and then another. Behind me, I heard Toshin?s yells of pain as he combated Pryce?s slave. The crashing sounds followed.
Before I could realize, the tentacles caught Emily and Marina. Before long, the tentacles had already wrapped themselves around their captives. Makoto and Sakaki struggled as the tentacles wrapped harder. Silver gasped as the tentacle spread from around his foot to his whole body. Emily and Marina both screamed in pain as the icy, slithering tentacles had started to suffocate them.
?No!? I yelled as I ran towards Pryce.
?Marina, hang on!? Gold yelled as he, Michelle and Nick suddenly followed me towards Pryce.
?Aye, I hate it when this happens,? I heard Makoto painfully as he continued to struggle. In one massive yell, he stretched his arms and shattered the tentacles. He fell down to the ground and then headed straight towards Marina and Emily.
As all of us neared them, ice spears came right towards us. One spear barely hit my arm and it bruised my left arm. I yelled out in pain as I clutched my arm. Nick, Michelle and Gold managed to dodge them.
?I?m comin?!? Makoto yelled as he jumped to Emily and Marina, who continued to scream in pain. Before he could reach them, Toshin came flying out of nowhere and hit him, causing the two to crash into a nearby tree.
Pryce?s slave came out to the clearing, breathing and gasping for air. He was messy and bloody as he walked to Toshin slowly.
Sakaki?s struggling gasps were heard and Emily and Marina?s cries of pain. Silver squirmed as he tried to stretch his arms in order to break the tentacles like what Makoto did. Makoto swore as he pushed Toshin aside. Toshin immediately stood up along with Makoto, facing the possessed man.
?Makoto, you handle this guy. I?ll get to those two,? Toshin muttered as he ran towards the Emily and Marina. The slave tried to follow him but was grabbed by Makoto around the waist.
?You?re not going anywhere, mister!? Makoto yelled as he tried to carry the slave but failed when the slave grabbed Makoto?s head with his arm. ?Ack! Not good!?
While Michelle attended to my wound, Nick and Gold were dodging ice spears being lobbed at them. Toshin was heading towards the girls, too. The good thing was that Pryce didn?t notice Toshin. He was busy with Gold and Nick.
?Yes, yes! Run in fear!? Pryce laughed as he continued his barrage of ice spears.
Sakaki let out one final scream as the icy tentacle shattered around her. She fell to the ground, on her knees as she began to cough up blood. I stood up, ready to help but Michelle held me down.
?What are you doing?? I yelled at her as she held me by my shoulders. ?They need help!?
Michelle continued to restrain me as I struggled. ?You?re hurt, Gary! Don?t move you?re bleeding more!?
I watched helplessly as an ice spear bruised Nick?s leg. Before an ice spear could impale him, Sakaki was to the rescue as she ran towards Nick and grabbed the spear with her already bloody hands. She kicked Nick away as she threw the spear towards the tentacle holding Silver. It was a direct his as Silver fell to the ground, coughing and choking.
Behind Pryce, Toshin was running as fast as he could as he took out a small knife, shining with the moonlight. By this time, Emily and Marina were both unconscious. Toshin jumped, brandished his knife in midair and cut off the tentacle holding Emily first. Silver came to the rescue as he caught Emily from falling. Then, Toshin leapt up again and cut off the tentacle holding Marina. Gold was next as he caught his daughter in his arms.
?Hey! Help!? Makoto yelled as he was thrown back out of the clearing, the slave moving towards him.
Before Gold could move, Toshin halted him. ?Don?t worry about him. He could handle that guy.?
Gold tried to hesitate but his impulse seems to have stopped him. He nodded, still carrying his fainted daughter.
?Impressive,? Pryce chuckled. ?An impressive display. But??
A loud yell was heard from where Makoto was. And then, out from the distance came the slave?s body flying towards Pryce. Pryce grunted as he was slammed to the ground. Makoto leapt out of the darkness, bloody and his clothes torn. ?That?s what you get for holding my head!? He muttered.
I was able to escape from Michelle?s grasp since he was now tending to Nick, who was refusing to be aided, too.
?Everyone, catch!? Toshin yelled. I looked back and saw him throw two Pok?balls towards my direction. I caught it immediately and saw that it was Blaze?s Pok?ball and one Pok?ball contained a Pok?mon that recognized quickly as a Feraligatr. Toshin threw one Pok?ball each to everyone except Makoto and Sakaki. I noticed that their Pok?balls are already in their pockets.
?How did you get them?? I asked Toshin as he placed his last Pok?ball in his pocket. ?And whose is this??
?No need to explain. That?s Emily?s.? He muttered quickly as he went towards the monument and picked up Kenta from the slab. Gold left Marina to Michelle?s care. Toshin handed Gold Kenta.
I ran up to Silver and he was still holding Emily who was now awake. She stood up quickly with the help of her father.
?Here,? I said as I thrust her Pok?ball in her hands. ?This is yours.?
She looked at her Pok?ball curiously and then looked at me and smiled. But then, a shriek filled the air once more. Pryce?s slave came out to the clearing once more, walking towards us.
?Now I?ll fry you!? I yelled as I released Blaze. A cloud of smoke came out of the Pok?ball and released Blaze. My Charizard stomped on the ground as it waited for an attack. ?Flamethrower!?
Before Blaze could inhale, Red came running and jumped up, and used his body to push the slave away from the attack. Blaze let out a yell as a stream of torrential fire flowed from his mouth and burn nothing but the grass. I was in shock to what I saw. Red stood up slowly as the slave lay on the ground, panting and wheezing.
?What were you doing?? I yelled at him.
He didn?t reply as he looked to where Melissa was and she now sat up. I looked around at every person in the clearing. Everyone had a shocked expression except for Toshin and Makoto, especially Toshin, who had a smug expression in his face.
?Why did you let him do that?? I yelled at Toshin, pointing at Red, who was now going back to Melissa. ?Why??
?Gary, no time to explain.? A shriek was heard as Pryce stepped out to the clearing. More tentacles appeared all around him now. ?Attack him while we open the gate!?
Even though anger was swelling inside me again, I obeyed Toshin. I could hear Pok?balls opening in mid air as Pok?mon appeared with Blaze.
Michelle?s Blastoise along with her Blaziken was there. Emily?s Feraligatr stood alongside Blaze. Nick?s Swampert and Venusaur were there, too. Marina, who was now awake and with the aid of Nick, was able to release her Typlosion and Meganium. Gold released a Pok?mon with orange skin and a long slender black tail that ended up to what looked like a thunder bolt. I recognized it immediately as a Raichu. Red was still tending to Melissa and Silver didn?t seem to want his Pok?mon out.
?This looks familiar, eh?? Pryce laughed as our Pok?mon growled at him. ?Yes, yes. This looks familiar. So what now? Attack! What are you waiting for??
In a loud unison of cries, we all yelled out our attacks. All of our Pok?mon obeyed as they fired their attacks towards Pryce. Bright colors of blue, green, red, and yellow hit Pryce as our attacks continued. Even though the attacks hit him, all it did was just push him. He laughed.
?Is that all? It doesn?t even hurt!?
?You forgot something?? Toshin smirked. He was in between our Pok?mon and us. Along his sides, Makoto and Sakaki stood. They stretched their arms towards Pryce?the same position that they have done years ago. Pryce immediately knew what was happening.
His tentacles flailed as they hit our Pok?mon one by one. One by one, all of my friend?s Pok?mon fell. They all fainted immediately as Pryce started to yell.
?I shall not be defeated!? He yelled as everyone started to return my friend?s Pok?mon and just watch helplessly. All of their Pok?mon have been fainted?except mine. Blaze withstood the harshest slaps of the tentacles. His stream of flame continued as the gate behind Pryce began to open. Now, Pryce was trapped.
All he can do now is just push the fire back?and that was what he did. I could see his tentacles melting as Blaze?s fire turned blue. It was the most intense heat I ever felt. It felt as if my skin was burning, as I was the last one standing, along with Toshin, Makoto and Sakaki. The gate was now wide open. I could see Unowns grasping Pryce. This time, he won?t escape. The purple plasma spread all around Pryce?s body as he shrieked, walking towards the flame, pushing it, struggling to not be swallowed up again.
I suddenly felt weak as the intense flames pounded on my skin. All I could see was a blur of things. The three figures that were in front of me, my trusted Charizard in front of them, the bluish flames that were fired at the masked man. The masked man?s robes were caught in flames and his whole body was in flames. The dark, purple vortex tried to devour him but he was persistent as he walked towards us. I felt sweat trickle down my forehead as I kneeled down on one knee.
I heard Emily?s voice calling to me but then Silver?s voice stopped her on her tracks. I could hear footsteps walking towards me. I could hear the soft grass scraping against the bare feet. I was gasping for air. The fire must have eaten up all of the oxygen around the area. I was feeling light headed as I gasped for air. I was sweating profusely and the pain in my arm was unbearable. Nevertheless, the three figures continued to stand and Pryce continued to move towards us.
Then, I saw a red and white sphere fly above my head. It exploded, and out from the smoke, I could see another Charizard, much taller than blaze. I heard a command from behind me and the Charizard obeyed and fired a huge circle of fire towards Pryce. Pryce shrieked in pain as he was being pushed back inch-by-inch. I looked to my side and I could see myself, helping my own body up.
?Don?t give up yet,? I read his lips.
I nodded and he smiled. The familiar smile flashed in my mind as I faced Pryce. He helped me up?even though he was taller than me.
?Fire blast!? Our cries were heard in unison. At once, Blaze?s flame raged and so did the flame from the other Charizard. The force was enough to knock Pryce off and he let out one final ear-splitting shriek.
The Unown gate closed and both Charizards stopped attacking. I gasped for air as I sat on the ground, gasping for air. The man who helped me had long, disheveled, dark brown hair. He let out one final sigh as his Pok?ball returned to his hand. I recalled Blaze, too as I heard cries of joy from behind me. I felt someone?s arms wrap around me and tackle me at the same time. I laughed as I stood up and everyone was smiling and laughing at me.
But then, I looked back at the man. He was sitting down on the grass, and all I could see in him was his long, dark brown hair. I noticed from his clothes that he was Pryce?s slave. His smile flashed in my mind. The vivid smile?the same smile that I?ve imagined from one person that I knew in one photo?
My heart was beating faster as everyone fell silent. I could feel the beat of my heart on my throat. As I tried to take out the words from my lips, I let inhaled.
?Dad??
He looked up at me. His eyes?two sharp green eyes, looking at me. A smile?the same smile that I?ve seen in the picture that I?ve kept with me for so long. Even though his cheeks swallowed to his skull and his body was filled with wounds?I recognized him immediately.
It was true to what they said. I do look like my father. As he stood up, it was as if I was looking at a mirror of myself. He stood up tall and straight.
?Yeah, son??
To be continued...
