[Pokémon] Pokémon: Wing of Zapdos

[Silawen]

Thanks for reading and thanks your advice! I'll fix those points as soon as I get the time!

About Grey though, I don't want to give too much away, but things aren't exactly going to be plain sailing in his future, lol!

Thanks for your help!

No problem. I still feel that him losing that battle would have been the better option. It would have set him up as a believable and likeable main character if he started out with rising above adversity. Especially because you set him up as having won so much and needing a real battle, such as the one with this Tawny person. Instead of losing, he won through luck, with seemed unnecessary to me.

Also, what happens later on in the story shouldn't excuse what happens in the beginning of it. It's a response I get from a lot of Sue/Stu writers. (Not saying your character is a Stu, just using it as a reference.) If someone gets hit by a truck at age 82, then that doesn't excuse being extremely lucky the rest of their life.

 

[Porygon-Z]

No problem. I still feel that him losing that battle would have been the better option. It would have set him up as a believable and likeable main character if he started out with rising above adversity. Especially because you set him up as having won so much and needing a real battle, such as the one with this Tawny person. Instead of losing, he won through luck, with seemed unnecessary to me.

Also, what happens later on in the story shouldn't excuse what happens in the beginning of it. It's a response I get from a lot of Sue/Stu writers. (Not saying your character is a Stu, just using it as a reference.) If someone gets hit by a truck at age 82, then that doesn't excuse being extremely lucky the rest of their life.

Yes I do see what you're saying, but the story has two main protagonists and it's important to have Grey portrayed in that light so other characters can develop later on, but again I can't say too much.

One of them has to win and one of them has to lose, so either way one protagonist will come off better.

Also perhaps Grey losing would seem more contrived if you get my drift. Strong people winning is more realistic than them being swatted out on page 1, but then I suppose it's a double bluff situation if you weigh it all up.

All I will say is that Grey really isn't the "main character" type, mainly because this story doesn't have one.

But I do see your point, and I'll give it a going over when I get the time.

 

[Porygon-Z]

Hey everyone sorry it's taken me so long to post more! I've been mega busy recently!

Anyway here's the latest installment! Hope you all enjoy!
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Chapter 4: Dawning

​

Route 202 was a long, uphill road that ascended a number of small cliff faces. The road itself was situated in the centre of a very wide clearing in a dense wooded valley with the odd cluster of trees at the bottom of some of the cliff faces. As the sun crested the horizon in the east, light began to slowly advance down one side of the valley woodland, lighting the residual rain water on the tall trees, like a shower of morning stars.

It was beauty far lost on Grey and Tawny, the sombre pair pressing through the fading shadows without a word. They were heading north to Jubilife city and then on to Canalave from there. Neither one of them had said it, because both knew that the plan was to head for the Kanto region, so the nearest port was an obvious choice of destination.
From Canalave they would get the morning ship back home to Johto, (it being the most affordable) and make their way toward Kanto by foot and pokémon wing from there…neither of them knew what came after that however. There was no plan, and no warning for what was around the corner. They were as lost as that precious cargo that they were carrying, and they knew it.

Grey felt the soothing heat on his face as the sunlight reached the floor of the valley and the road ahead. The rain had stopped almost an hour ago, but he had a feeling that worse storms were yet to come.
The sweeping sunlight should have helped lighten his spirit as he was beginning to dry off, but the feelings of nervousness in the bottom of his gut just wouldn't give way…not yet.

He looked up to the lofty trees and the sun peeping out from over them from a clear blue-ing sky that was overcast not so long ago. He gave a sigh and reflected how a new day can give a fresh perspective on most things, but this day only brought grave realisation, that he and his friend were about to become something barely short of fugitives, and had been told in all seriousness that only danger awaited them in their near future.

As the pair approached the first wind in the path, that snaked up and around one of the small cliffs, Grey noted Tawny's expression. It hadn't changed since they left the lab. She just stared at the ground in front of where they were walking, here face motionless, as if she was in a trance. Neither of them had spoken since leaving Sandgem town, and where normally silence between the two friends was comfortable, in this instance Grey found it made him quite uneasy.

"Tawny," Grey started, but she didn't react. "Tawny." He tried again, this time provoking a weary sigh from his redheaded companion. "You haven't said a thing since we left the lab. Are you okay?"

She rounded on him and the pair stopped. Looking him dead in the eye she replied, "No" and left a long pause to see what Grey had to offer in amendment, giving an unsurprised shake of her head when none came. She continued walking, Grey following shortly after.

"Listen Tawn-" he began again, but this time she wasn't going to reserve her feelings of irritation and was quick to reply.

"No Grey, you listen. I still don't completely understand what's happening now, but I know the long and short of it is that were on the run, and I know it makes sense to talk and rationalise, but all I want to do right now is concentrate on getting on that boat, is that okay? Is it?"

"Fine," Grey gave, after a short pause, and powered a few paces ahead of her, as she turned her own attentions inward and her eyes back to the ground.

It was a little while later and quite a way further down the road before either of the pair spoke. Grey reached for a pokéball at his waist and sharply flicked it open.
With a flash, his Yanmega appeared hovering before him.

"Yanmega, scout ahead, let us know if anyone is there, and if anything untoward is going on."

The bug pokémon dutifully obeyed and zipped away into the morning air.

"We can't be too safe," Grey justified to Tawny, who looked a little surprised by Grey's action, but with a curt nod signaled her accord.

"Agreed." She blinked from behind her glasses.

It wasn't long before the Yanmega reported back with the all clear, and they knew their way into the city would yield no trouble. Small relief, but appreciated widely by the duo.

As they approached the city, passing small rows of cottages, which gave way into streets, they found the area eerily calm. It was still early morning, but a city like Jubilife never really sleeps. Before they knew it they were in the city and besides from a few older folk walking their snubbul and growlithe, the puddle filled streets were almost vacant. Perhaps yesterday's news had a larger affect on the public than Grey or Tawny had anticipated.

"We need supplies," Tawny finally spoke.

"Oh," Grey said thoughtfully, "Aren't we meant to be staying hidden?"

"Low profile, Grey," She retorted sarcastically "it doesn't mean we turn into ghosts it just means we stay out of the way, because you never know who's watching you."

"Right." Grey shook his head. He could appreciate the reason for Tawny's mood, but she was beginning to become a pain.

"Listen," she said as if reading his thoughts "I'm sorry for being such a pill, but we need to leave Sinnoh a.s.a.p. and we'll talk about everything later, but right now we need lots of supplies….we never know when we might not be able to use a pokémon centre."

"It's okay," he said with shrug, and the pair hastily made for the pokémart.

* * * * *

​

The battle was drawing to a harsh close, as the morning light began to break through the high ceiling windows of the lab.

Uri and Sally had used all but three pokémon between them; one of Sally's and two of Uri's.

The strains of the battle were evident on the lab itself too. Windows were shattered, tables toppled and broken, the entire floor was covered with a layer of sand and small puddles of water lay spattered across the tiles.

The situation was bleak at best, and it was almost certain that there would be no victory, so the entire battle became about stall tactics and Rowan felt that their enemy knew this too. The pair of defending trainers had actually been forced to cheat using nine of their pokémon collectively and only managing to remove four of the hunter's team. It was a necessary measure…and a desperate one.

In the centre of lab stood four pokémon: a Gengar and a Ggarchomp on the attacking side and from Uri and Sally's effort: a Bronzong of Sally's and a Mamoswine belonging to Uri.

"You're pathetic," said the woman in black, flatly. "You double in numbers but somehow only posses half the power." She looked to Rowan with a sneer, "And you expect to beat me with this? Ha!"

"Hey!" growled Uri sharply "The battle's over here and we're not done yet!"

"Oh yes you are." Came the cool and venomous reply. "Garchomp – Dragon Claw on that Mamoswine!"

Then came the attack, empowered by two Swords Dances performed earlier.

The Garchomp leapt from its spot with incredible speed and slammed its glowing red claw into the mammoth pokémon's side. The Mamoswine, to slow to react, could not withstand the attack and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"Damnit!" Uri grunted under his breath, recalling the pokémon.

"Useless!" The hunter added, followed by her sinister command to her Gengar, "Now Gengar – Focus Blast!"

The Gengar summoned glowing orange energy into its hands and within an instant the energy was unleashed and sent hurling to the Bronzong, ploughing into it and forcing the pokémon backward several feet, but was not enough to K.O. it.

Uri gave Sally a quick nod, and she knew what to do. "Bronzong – Explosion!"
A blast of intense yellow and white powered outward pushing warm air in a heavy stream in all directions.

When the residual blast cleared, two pokémon were down. One remained.
"Bronzong, come back, good job," said Sally, her voice quivering.

"Return!" the hunter snarled at her Garchomp, and then looked toward the pair her expression of quiet vitriol unchanged. "You may have thought that was clever, girl, but I still have one left," she uttered pointing one of her skeletal fingers toward her Gengar, floating forebodingly above the floor. "Explosion won't work on ghosts, obviously, or perhaps you can't count?" she continued with haughty sarcasm.

"Count this!" yelled Uri, as he threw down his very last pokémon, and their last hope. With a flash of white light a brave Tauros, stood before him.

"My Gengar's Focus Blast will take that filthy Tauros apart, boy. You're all out of luck." The hunter mocked.

"Whatever," Uri murmured back at her, for he knew if his Tauros could use Zen Head-butt before the Gengar could land a Focus Blast, then this battle might just be won. But both pokémon species were equally as fast, so there was no certainty that this final desperate gambit would succeed.

It all came down to who had the fastest pokémon. A roll of the dice and a despondent prayer.

"This is over!" the hunter jeered with a toss of her thick black hair, and the pair simultaneously provoked their attacks:

"Gengar – Focus Blast!"
"Taurous – Zen Head-butt!"

As the Gengar closed its eyes and began to summon the glowing focus of energy, the swift Tauros charged at the ghost pokémon, its head glowing purple and white, with all its speed.

In an instant contact was made as the Taurous drove its gleaming head toward the Gengar and the Gengar thrust the ball of orange light in the opposing direction.

In a flash, white smoke filled the lab and it was unclear which pokémon had prevailed.

The shatter point had been reached and Uri felt his heart sink.

* * * * *
​

The streets were gradually beginning to fill again as Grey and Tawny passed the TV station square. The images of last night's events were being broadcast, depicting the silhouette of the enormous bird flying overhead against the backdrop of a raging sky. A group of tourists had congregated around the fountain their eyes fixed intently upon the big screen on the station building, their expressions aghast, for apparently they had not yet discovered what had transpired in Veilstone that had provoked such fear and enthrallment across the nation.

Even so, the screen's illustration was a stark contrast to this morning's sunny weather, which made it even harder to believe that these pictures were from less than 12 hours ago.

Tawny's mood had improved somewhat, but Grey couldn't shake this feeling that they were being watched…like they were exposed. He had to keep reminding himself that nobody knew what they were up to, and they didn't look out of place at all, but the sense of vulnerability would not lift no matter how many times he told himself this.

The duo pressed on for a good half an hour, out of the city past the streets on the outskirts of town by foot until reaching the sparsely wooded area that opened onto route 218 and a small hut stood at the end of the copse. Grey looked around surveying their surroundings and upon finding they were alone, gave a subtle nod to Tawny.

"Flygon," she said quietly, dropping a pokéball to the ground and with a flash, the Flygon appeared before them. "We need to fly again Flygon. It's only a short trip. Can you carry both of us?"

Grey thought the Pokémon much too small to carry two people and was about to summon his Fearow, when the Flygon gave a nod, issuing an affectionate hum toward Tawny, bowing down so that they might climb onto its back.

"Tawny, I can fly with Fearow if you like, you know." Grey gave, looking sceptically at the dragon pokémon.

"Well I wouldn't want you to tire-" she began, but was interrupted abruptly by Grey who jumped in suddenly and began to recite expertly from the pokédex:

"Ah but with its huge and magnificent wings, Fearow can keep aloft for days without ever having to land for rest."

"Wow Grey," said Tawny as Grey grinned with pride, which changed to a playful grimace when she sarcastically added; "I don't recall meeting a bigger nerd!"

The pair began to laugh briefly until they remembered their situation and their laughter once again was ended.

"Let's just get on okay?" Tawny gave with a weary sigh, and the pair mounted the Flygon.

Grey found he had been absolutely right, as the pair huddled together on the back of Tawny's pokémon; it was a very tight squeeze. Grey hugged into Tawny's back tightly, struggling to keep on the Flygon, but there was not time to complain, for in an instant the pokémon had taken flight.

Over the way-hut and onto route 218 its self, the Flygon soared over a small grassy, waterlogged, field that lead up to a wide river filled by a network of small piers, the water shimmering in the morning sun. The waters were higher than normal due to the storm, but the river appeared especially calm today. Grey looked about him: a fantastic vista of clear blue skies over a base of lush greenery in the south and to the east, and a shimmering sea to the north and the west. Grey clung tightly to Tawny, as the water far beneath them seemed to zoom passed and eventually gave way to a rocky precipice and not too far into distance another small field that lead to a quaint wooded clearing and another way-hut.

Tawny issued Flygon to set down in the clearing and soon enough, they were once more safely, on the ground. Grey jumped off the pokémon's back with the utmost speed, eager to be back on his feet, and thankful to be back on the ground.

"Thanks a million, Flygon" said Tawny recalling her dragon with a nod.

"Yeah thanks," Grey muttered rolling his eyes, which made Tawny shoot him a reprimanding scowl. "Come on," Grey said, moving on, "we don't want to be late."

And with that the pair moved on through the clearing and the vacant way-hut and were at once in view of the small harbour town of Canalave.

A short walk later and Grey and Tawny were approaching the foot bridge over the river, small boats passing slowly beneath and several staryu peeping out of the water here and there as they swam out to sea.

On the other end of the bridge stood Canalave's tallest and oldest building, an impressive historic-looking library, towering above the other smaller two story buildings with splendour, wingull perched atop its lofty heights.

As they passed the library, the boarding pier for the ferry to Johto came into view and before they knew it they had their tickets in hand and were approaching the boarding ramp. A friendly looking, tall man stood at the bottom taking the passenger's passes, and another stood at the top of the ramp greeting them on with a smile.
The pair handed over their tickets politely and approached the ship as they ascended the steel ramp.

"Welcome aboard the S.S. Endargo," began the man, smiling broadly, "May I check your bags please?"

Tawny and Grey looked at each other as panic set in; Tawny's face turning instantly pale, for both knew what was inside her rucksack, and that it could not be discovered by anyone, especially not this early on into their journey.

"Your bags please," pressed the steward politely,

"Actually," began Tawny looking all around her hesitantly, her voice shaking, "this is the wrong boat, we need to be on the other one."

Grey looked behind him ready to turn away.

"I'm afraid I'll still have to see your bags Miss," urged the man more sternly this time, which attracted the attention of the steward at the bottom of the ramp who turned to see what the problem was, blocking their exit.

"We have to go," quavered Tawny, backing away, but the man grabbed her tightly by the arm holding her in place.

"I'm afraid I need to search your bag Miss," he said angrily, reaching for the bag, with the box, and the egg inside.
Grey's head began to race and in an instant he slammed hard into the steward with his shoulder, toppling him over and releasing his grip on Tawny. The other Steward began to race up the ramp but Grey's reaction was too quick.

With a sweeping flick of his hand Grey threw a pokéball high into the air and with a flash his Fearow emerged. Grabbing Tawny tightly, he held his forearm high above his head, and the Fearow latched onto it firmly and unyieldingly, like a sturdy handshake, and scooped the pair up. With a strong downdraught of air from its enormous wings the pokémon launched itself skyward carrying the two with ease, as Tawny clutched Grey tightly, hanging on for dear life.

The steward was to slow to catch them and the Fearow soared away with impeccable speed, leaving behind the uproar of shouts and shrill alarm whistles, which signalled that a pursuit may follow.

Grey felt a distinct feeling of dejection, as his spirit hardened in the face of the danger which had only just begun to befall them. He then knew that this event was likely to be the smallest in a long chain of troubles that stretched far into the distance of the road ahead, its end invisible. Vanishing beyond a bleak horizon.

 

[Skull Guardian]

Wow, you are keeping me in suspense, about the battle in the end... I really liked how you described the attacks.
I am eagerly waiting for the next chapter!

 

[Krystallyn]

I love how you left this as a cliffhanger. I ♥ cliffhangers.

It's good to see Tawny realistically snappy. Heck, if I were in her situation, I would be beyond cranky. :)

 

[Krystallyn]

That was a well written and descriptive chapter. I'm glad to see they're being cautious. *coughs*

 

[Skull Guardian]

wow, I really thought that they were going to find the egg!
I hope that they will get a boat though...

 

[Porygon-Z]

Hey guys, glad you're all enjoying the story so far! Here's chapter 5! Enjoy!

__________________
​

Chapter 5: Knight​

As the smoke cleared, there was no doubt in the hunter's mind that she would be the victor. She had a refined knowledge of the statistics of her pokémon against her enemy's so she had known from the start that the resistance of Rowan's underlings had been nothing more than ceremony. Even thought they doubled her in the number of pokémon they had used, Darkis had little trouble in putting them down one after another. She was never once worried. Always two steps ahead, just like she had worked so hard to become since the very beginning. Now victory was effortless, and the consequences were inevitable.

"You pathetic little reprobates," she said coolly as the last of the smoke dissipated from sight and Uri recalled his final pokémon back into its pokéball. "I was going to let you run away, but now…"

She clicked her fingers at the Gengar, still floating proudly before her, as it began to summon yet another ball of energy between its arms, this time dark, absorbing the surrounding light, like a miniature black hole.

With a wave of its masters hand the Gengar let rip the shadow ball sending it hurtling into Uri knocking him to the ground with a dense thud.

"Uri!" shrieked sally, at the sight of her companion lying motionless on the floor. Her eyes began to fill with tears and she was about to make a charge toward the sinister huntress, when Rowan arms came about her in a securing hug.

"You and the girl are next if I don't get what I came for." Came the hunter's threat from behind her evil grimace, as the Gengar came to rest beside her.

"You can turn this lab inside out if you want to, and we can't stop you, but if you think I'm doing you any favours you've got another thing coming!" Rowan snarled defiantly, his voice deep and resonating over the muffled sounds of Sally's tears, her face buried in Rowan's chest.

The hunter only laughed in response. A slow and breathy laugh, mocking and full of malice, her head thrown back and black curls of hair bobbing behind her shoulders.

"Who are you?!" Rowan shot out at her, unable to resist.

"If you're not going to help me, you may as well be dead. Both of you." She clicked her fingers at her Gengar once more, her eyes narrowing with sheer wrath. "I am Knight... and you're both ended!!"

Rowan held Sally tighter still, pulling her ever nearer into his protecting embrace and closed his eyes as hard as he could, as the Gengar began to summon one last shadow ball in its hands.

"Please let this work!" he whispered, and as soon as the plea had left his lips, there was a brief flicker of light and the two had vanished from the labs completely.

"NO!" screeched Knight as Sally and the Professor vanished before her eyes and the shadow ball from her Gengar was sent crashing into another desk, behind where the pair had stood not a moment before, shattering it in two and decimating the surrounding wooden floor.

Her eyes were shot open with fury and she recalled her Gengar without a word as she walked fiercely over to the body of the boy lying on the floor, abandoned by Sally and Rowan. Her lips curled as she gave him a sharp kick to the stomach and he violently awoke coughing up blood over his face and onto the floor boards, his muscles tensing. She delivered yet another kick, this time to the young man's head and he was once again unconscious.

"Still alive…" she uttered in her dark musings "...I can use you after all" And with that she hoisted Uri's body over her shoulder and left the lab through the open space where the huge metal doors once stood, knowing that what she was looking for could not be there. Rowan's retreat was a dead giveaway, he would have defended the egg from her to the last had it been there. It was clear now that it wasn't, and now neither was he. But she had other ways of getting results… in fact now she had a much better way altogether.

* * * *​

"What now?" Grey asked quietly, turning to Tawny , whose head was buried in her arms, as she sat curled up against a rock.

The pair had set down briefly on a cliff top on route 204, north of Jubilife city. The view was fantastic, overlooking a sea of evergreens, and even the distant rooftops for Jubilife were visible, shining from afar in the sunlight. But once again neither of their minds were on the view.

Tawny looked up, and Grey was surprised to see that she didn't look upset at all, but appeared focused, her brow furrowed from behind the peak of her cap, in deep thought.

"Do you think they knew what we had?" she asked Grey, ignoring his first question.

"I doubt it," he replied, "remember Rowan said we were the only ones who knew"

"You're right," Tawny nodded "but why did they need to see our bags?"

"Security," Grey answered flatly "When we tried to run we probably looked like terrorists or thieves or something." He saw Tawny give him a puzzled look, "you know what its like nowadays," he said, and she gave another nod of understanding.

"Well either way," she began again "we can't leave Sinnoh through Jubilife now, and we certainly can't head back to Sandgem."

"Why not?" Grey cut in apprehensively

"Because…." She paused and gave her friend a long look of worry that searched for an understanding of her thoughts, but frustratingly found none.

"Because what Tawny?" he enquired with a little more worry.

"I mean, you don't think there's a possibility we might be being followed or tracked?" she finally gave out.

"What?" Grey shook his head in confusion.

"I know Rowan didn't say it, but I could just tell, that he thinks we're likely to be tracked, after all that's why he put us in charge of the egg, right?"

"Right," Grey urged her on still sounding sceptical.

"So we never know when some one has our tail, and if we back track at all we'll just be running into them. As well as which, if they ask enough questions in Canalave they're sure to work out something's not right. Right?"

"I suppose," Grey said showing signs of agreement.

"Right. So even at this stage, we can't afford to back track on ourselves, because we never know who's going to be waiting for us if we do."

"Okay." He nodded once more understanding now that in this new fugitive life that had landed on their plates, they had to think more strategically.

"So that only leaves Sunnyshore as our exit, which I suppose is more convenient for heading to Kanto" Grey sighed. He was half looking forward to going home to Johto first, but he knew these notions were of little consequence.

"Or there's Snowpoint," Tawny told him dipping her glasses so her eyes peeped over the rims.

"Why would we want to go there, it's the furthest out of the way of all!" Grey said returning to his confusion with his friend once more.

"And the least expected." She shot back keenly.

Grey gave out a large sigh turning his back on her and facing the beautiful landscape before them, as he put one hand up to his forehead in dismay.

"Tawny," he began in slow frustration, "we're not actually being followed. You do know this, don't you?"

"You don't know that." She countered indignantly.

He turned back to face her looking dumbstruck and irritated:

"Fine," he said stubbornly, "but even so it's not the easiest route and there are no ships for Johto or Kanto that leave from there, they're all freight ships going out to Fiore and Hoenn, and they're the last places we want to be."

"I know that Grey, but don't you remember we're meant to be avoiding Veilstone too. It's best to stay west and not risk passing near to it," she pleaded with him.

"Well you're right about that." He relented. "But what happens when we get there? We'll need to find someone with a ship, who'll be willing to take us to Johto or Kanto."

"I'm sure there'll be someone there," she assured him.

"So that's it then?" Grey pressed her once more "That's the new plan?"

And with a nod Tawny confirmed, her hand resting upon her bag, containing the egg.

"Yes, that's the new plan"

 

[Skull Guardian]

That kept me going.... but one question....
Doesnt Rowan have pokemon? So wouldn't he protect Uri? And why would he leave Uri like that? Oops, thats 2 questions...
Anyways, I liked that part. I really hope that Grey and Tawny manage it to Snowpoint!

 

[Krystallyn]

Good luck Grey and Tawny!! I'm rooting for you!!

 

[Fire Blazer]

The grammar skills need some work. I'd review commas and quotations for sure.

Windows were shattered, tables toppled and broken and the entire floor was covered with a layer of sand with the odd puddle of water here and there.

Structure not parallel here, or something like that. It should be

Windows were shattered, tables were toppled and broken, and the entire floor was covered with a layer of sand and odd placements of water puddles spread about.

I edited the last part of the sentence but the main idea is that you need to add the word 'were' for correct grammar.

"Oh yes you are." came the cool and venomous reply.

You need a comma after "are".

The story itself isn't too bad, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

 

[Porygon-Z]

The grammar skills need some work. I'd review commas and quotations for sure.



Structure not parallel here, or something like that. It should be

Windows were shattered, tables were toppled and broken, and the entire floor was covered with a layer of sand and odd placements of water puddles spread about.

I edited the last part of the sentence but the main idea is that you need to add the word 'were' for correct grammar.



You need a comma after "are".

The story itself isn't too bad, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

Thank you for reading! I will try to correct those errors when I get the time. I'm actually posting from stuff that was written a while ago, so I will give it a combing over when I get the chance! Thank you for pointing that out to me!

That kept me going.... but one question....
Doesnt Rowan have pokemon? So wouldn't he protect Uri? And why would he leave Uri like that? Oops, thats 2 questions...
Anyways, I liked that part. I really hope that Grey and Tawny manage it to Snowpoint!

Sadly, in this story Rowan doesn't have any pokemon of his own! :(
As for saving Uri, those questions will be answered in chapters yet to come! :)

Thanks for reading!
More to come tomorrow!

 

[Porygon-Z]

Chapter six! Please enjoy!

___________________________

​

Chapter 6: Lucian

​

Sally's eyes flickered open as she finally began to stir, taking in a long breath of warm and musty air. She was still half asleep at first, but she soon realised she didn't have a clue where she was and sat up abruptly with panic as her eyes began darting from left to right, surveying her surroundings: an old-fashioned-looking room that seemed to radiate a dim hue of deep red. She didn't appear to be in any danger. She had been lying on a firm, red leather couch at one end of the very cluttered and stuffy room. A jumble of various ornaments, trinkets and piles of old books towered on a few small glass tables that stood by the rest of the studded leather furniture that inhabited the space.

She got up, the leather of couch in the half-light, squeaking quietly beneath her as she slid to her feet. She stepped onto a coarse burgundy carpet and quietly made her way to the large wooden door, the sound of her soft footsteps almost hidden under the loud dull ticking of the grandfather clock that stood near to the covered window.

The door creaked open with a gentle push flooding the dark room with clear morning light and forcing Sally to cover her eyes with her hand until she adjusted to the light. She stepped forward, a sudden chill from the cold stone floor touching her bare feet, made her recoil in surprise. She wondered where her shoes were, and more importantly who had brought her to this place. It all seemed like a dream in the dead quiet of the morning in this empty hallway, the ticking of the clock in the other room, the only sound to be heard.

She pressed on down the small stone corridor and paused beside an open doorway, but did not yet dare go in, for she heard voices in the room to which it lead. The first voice she did not recognise, but the second, she was relieved to hear, was that of professor Rowan.
"If you knew she was coming, why did you stay?" The first voice said, bringing memories of the night before flooding back to Sally's mind as she continued to eavesdrop, holding back the sudden urge to cry that overwhelmed her at the thought of it.

"It was necessary," came Rowan's deep voice, thick with regret. "We needed to create the illusion that we had the egg in order to give them enough time to get away, otherwise she would have tracked them with ease."

"Yes, I suppose we should be thankful to the storm to that end," the first voice responded, softly, "It must have washed away their tracks."

"The storm was no coincidence. You know what we're dealing with," Rowan assured. "I had heard about that hunter before, the one they call Knight but…" he paused "but I had no idea it was her. I thought 'Knight' was just an alias."

"She really has changed," came the softer voice of the two, sounding even more saddened than Rowan. "Darkis…" it tenderly spoke again, trailing off into thought.

"I hope Grey and Tawny are alright," Rowan said shakily changing, what was clearly a bad subject. But something inside Sally began to stir. A realisation and anger and sadness all at once and she could no longer hold back the tears as she revealed herself from around the doorway, stepping swiftly into the bright room.


The attention of the two men sitting at the kitchen table was drawn instantly to her, tears welling up in her eyes. Rowan stood up to engage her, but she gave him a savage look of incrimination and began to weep bitterly.

"You knew she was coming for us and you made us fight for you and now Uri's dead!!" she shrieked at him "and you're not even sorry!!"

"Sally you knew what I was asking you to do, please try and understand-" He pleaded with her desperately.

"And you made us abandon him. Just left him there to die with that woman! We could have saved him!!"

"There was nothing we could do!" Rowan continued toward her trying to meet her in a consoling hug, but she only flailed about slapping his arm away, crying all the more.

"No! No! That's not true!" Sally yelled, choking back a hard sob, and she sank to her knees crying more and more intensely, as Rowan stood vacantly above her, unknowing of what to do.

Then suddenly she felt an arm come around her gently, but it was not Rowan's. It was the other man, whom up till now, she had barely even noticed. She looked to him, still sobbing. He was a very slender man, and much taller and younger than Rowan, but with very pale skin. His long lilac coloured hair fell about his shoulders as he knelt down to hold her.

"I'm sorry for you're friend my dear but I assure you he is not dead," he began softly

"How would you know?" Sally sobbed back, her face buried deep in her hands"

"Because I am the one that rescued you," hHe replied every more gently

"So you're the one that left him!" she cried standing up and backing away from him.

"The professor was right. There was nothing we could do for him." He paused giving the young girl a look of deep regret. "But I'm afraid Dar-" he stopped abruptly and corrected himself "I'm afraid Knight has him now"

"That woman?!" she trembled.

"Yes." Rowan nodded coming closer to Sally, who did not urge him away as she did last time. She was growing gradually calmer. "We owe our lives to Lucian" he said soothingly, gesturing to the tall and ghost-like man who stood before them. "But we still have to keep strong if we have any hope of retrieving Uri."

Sally looked to Rowan once more, only now finally understanding what had happened. "Oh professor." she said sobbing, and let him put his arm around her again.

"How were you able to save us?" Sally asked the man, Lucian, wiping away tears from her cheeks.

Lucian smiled tenderly producing a pair of indigo tinted spectacles and placing them delicately on his face as he answered:

"I heard the professor's cry for help. Alakazam did the rest." At the sound of its name an Alakazam instantaneously materialised with a flicker at its master's side, looking fondly up at Sally and Rowan. "He teleported to save you and brought you back here to my home."

"What cry for help?" Sally sniffed confusedly.

"Lucian is a psychic," Rowan explained gruffly. "He heard the message I sent out telepathically, and knowing he was near by I realized that would be our only chance of escape."

"I see," said Sally brushing back her long blonde hair with her hand. "Thank you both." She patted the Alakazam on the head shyly, and looked up once more. Her crying had stopped. "Professor," she said again, but this time with a more focused resolution about her, "we need to start making plans for rescuing Uri at once."

"As a member of the Sinnoh elite four, I will be happy to assist," Lucian added, and Sally shot him a look of surprise only just realising who it was that had come to her rescue.

"Oh-" she began to try and explain, but could not find the words.

Lucian gave a coy laugh at Sally's expression and said simply "Lets get some breakfast, and then we can concentrate on making our plans and finding Knight."

And with a nod from Rowan, the three sat down to eat, Sally overwhelmed by what had happened to her in one short night, and moreover that she was still alive, escaping certain death by mere moments. One thing she knew now was, that with Lucian on their side, Uri might not be lost after all.

* * * * *​

"It's hard to remember we're in danger on a day like this." Tawny smiled, looking down at Grey who lay sprawled out in the long grass by her feet, as she sat cross legged on the ground.

"This could even be the last time I can watch clouds," he replied dreamily as the benign afternoon sun drenched the Floroma town embankment on which they were resting.

"I wish we could stay here longer," Tawny sighed gazing down the gentle grassy slope toward a sea of flowers: a wash of pinks, yellows and reds that stretched across the field at the bottom of the incline.

Grey gave a friendly laugh. "It's not that easy to forget."

"I know," she replied sadly "but after what happened in Canalave yesterday…." She didn't say anything more, but Grey could tell it was still playing heavily on her mind. "I'm really tired." She murmured.

"It's hardly surprising," he yawned back at her, "We were up all night and we've walked all the way from sandgem to here. We definitely need a rest if we're going to get to mount coronet tomorrow." He finished with a brisk nod, and went back to cloud watching.

"You look like you're falling asleep yourself," she noted jokingly and Grey gave a lazy wave of his hand dismissing the notion.

"Grey?" She continued.

"Yes, Tawny"

"You know when we get to Kanto?" she spoke sullenly.

"Yeah," Replied a sleepy Grey

"Well, what do we do then?"

Grey paused for a moment and gave a quiet sigh. "I think Rowan was expecting us to have gathered enough information on the way for us to know what to do by the time we got there, but it's not like we can go around asking door to door. We'll get caught. Personally I don't even know where to begin."

"Yeah." Tawny frowned "Me neither."

"We've just got to keep our eyes peeled for leads and hope for the best, but our priority right now is minding this egg and leaving the country." Grey rationalised to her.

"I suppose that's all we can do then," she said with a tired half-smile. "Still it's not like a lead is just going to wind up landing in our laps right?"

"Yeah…" Grey trailed off.

Tawny stood for a few moments looking at the flowers thinking as she removed the loose open chequered shirt that she was wearing over her tightly fitting T-shirt and threw it by her feet. The sun felt so good on her arms as she stretched them high above her head, removing her baseball cap and throwing down by the shirt. As she shook her head her dark-red hair fell by her shoulders, she produced a hair tie from her jeans pocket and then began to gather her hair within it.

Grey's attention shifted from the sky to his friend as she struggled with her hair. He was surprised by how attractive she had become since he had last seen her. She wasn't the same Tawny he remembered. She had always been pretty to him, but now she was-

"Grey?" said Tawny interrupting his thoughts, unknowing that he was watching her out of the corner of his eye, "do I look okay?"

"Um…well…I-" Grey responded awkwardly

"What?" asked Tawny indignantly believing his hesitation to be an adverse sign.

"No- I mean-" he stammered in reply, "you look great."

"Oh." She looked at him confusedly "Good, because I want to make a quick trip down into the town."

Grey sat up and gave her an analyzing look of cynicism. "Okay, but low profile," he reminded her, which warranted one of Tawny's trademark over-the-glasses stares.

Grey rose to his feet and the pair began toward a short path that ran through the field of flowers and lead to the small town not too far away.

They were about half way through the field when they heard a loud voice not to far away. The pair turned in surprise to see an extremely tall, broad, well muscled young man in jeans and a red T, striding toward them trampling out a path of crushed flowers in his great wake.

"Tawny!" he yelled waving his arm high in air, holding what appeared to be a large book.

"Tawny?" Grey whispered worriedly.

"It's okay I know him," she replied cheerfully waving back to her newly arrived friend.

"Yes, but what about low pr-"

"Tawny!" cheered the blonde haired Goliath as he descended upon her with an enormous bear hug. "What are you doing here?"

Grey shot Tawny a look of caution, but she only rolled her eyes. Slightly annoyed by this, Grey decided to cut her off before she could answer.

"So Tawny who's your friend?" He half smiled, half growled.

"Please to meet ya!" boomed the young man stretching out a colossal hand to shake Grey's, "name's Babe Morgan."

"But we all call him baby," chuckled Tawny as her friend began vigorously greeting Grey with his vice-like grip.

"I bet you do," winced Grey sarcastically as Babe released him from the crushing hand-shake. "Who's 'we all' anyway?"

Babe gave a hearty laugh, putting one hand to his tree-trunk like neck, behind his spiky blond hair.

"Tawny and I met up in the Hoenn region. She spent a little while traveling with me and some friends of mine. In-fact, tawny was the one who knocked me out of the Hoenn league!" he said as he gave her a heavy pat on the shoulder which caused her glasses to slip down her face.

"Yes but Yan knocked me out right after," she amended modestly re-adjusting her glasses.


"So is this Grey?" Babe nudged her in the arm suggestively.

"You know me?" Grey asked confusedly, and Babe gave another hearty laugh.

"Are you kidding?! Back in Hoenn she'd never shut up about you!" he jovially boomed.

Both Grey and Tawny began to blush heavily, and Tawny decided changing the subject quickly would be quite favourable.

"So what's the book, Babe?" she pressed quickly.

"Oh, this?" he said "It's just some old book from the Johto region I got given by some professor guy doing research at some old ruins. I thought I'd take it to the book binder's at Canalave and see how much it's worth. It should fetch a fair a bit. Apparently it's the only one ever printed, since the subject material isn't so hot with the sceptics in the science community… Or at least that's what he said anyway." He handed her the book. "Here take a look."

"Legends of the main-lands," she read aloud as she ran her fingers over the weathered cover. Greys ears pricked and his head snapped to attention staring at the book along with her. She opened the book revealing the first page which showed a picture of the three legendary birds of Kanto outlined in silver ink, within an ornate green patterned border.

Briskly snapping the book shut again she handed it back to her giant friend, and Grey shot her a nervous glance. Tawny did not acknowledge Grey's stare, but only commented:

"Very nice, Babe. I really love it."

"Really?" he responded surprised.

"I can't believe somebody just gave it away like that?" Tawny continued, as Grey simply stood aghast, staring at her.

"Yeah, weird right?" He said slightly distracted by Grey's nervous stares toward Tawny. "Is you're friend alright?"

"Must be the heat," Tawny said un-phased, whilst Grey snapped back to normality.

"But I have an idea." She continued merrily "It's been a while since you and I battled. Why don't we have a pokémon match?"

Grey shot her another look of pure shock.

"Awesome idea!" bellowed Babe in excitement

"Winner gets the book?" Tawny suggested sweet-and-innocently.

"Hmm I dunno," murmured the monolithic trainer.

"Oh please….I really love it…..and you'll only sell it anyway…." She pleaded in her cutest possible voice.

"Oh okay then, since it's you!" he submitted with another booming laugh.

"Three on three okay by you?" Tawny asked politely placing her cap back on her head, threading her ponytail through the back.

"Suits me," came the reply, "no time like the present." Babe had already began stepping backward, obliviously trampling more flowers, opening the distance for them to battle in.

"Tawny! We need that lead!" Grey gave her a harsh whisper.

"Relax," she replied "I know what I'm doing." And with that Grey shuffled back disgruntled. "Ready?" Tawny yelled over."

"Born ready." Came Babe's thunderous reply.

"Then let's go," she breathed to herself as her finger came to rest on the centre button of the first pokéball she would send, in the battle for the book.

 

[Skull Guardian]

Awesome! I really liked how Tawny's friend turned up from nowhere and had a lead!
Also, if Alakazam had helped them escape, why hadn't he come back after he helped them?
Anyways, I am really kept in suspense. And I am still wondering how that guy back in chapter 3 (part one) will fit in!
Hoping to hear more!

 

[Gary Oak FTW]

Really good fan fic,it reminds me of Lord of the Rings.

 

[Porygon-Z]

Thanks guys! :)

Really good fan fic,it reminds me of Lord of the Rings.

Hmm seems I've been rumbled! Muhahaha! XD

I didn't think about this initially but this is probably where I got the idea, without even realising, lol!

I'm glad you enjoyed it so far! I hope you keep with us! :)

...
Also, if Alakazam had helped them escape, why hadn't he come back after he helped them?
...

Because after it left with Rowan and sally, Knight wen't over to Uri's body. If it had have teleported Uri out, it would have ended up taking Knight along with him as well. :(

Here's chapter 7! Enjoy!
___________________________________

Chapter 7: Paths​

Kanto seas: The Year 1261

​

Although Hotaru had been following the coast for the whole of his long and arduous sea voyage, there was no land to be seen by the naked eye, especially not through the mist, which seemed as if it went on for ever. Despite being in seas south of the continent, the air and the waters seemed ice cold, and he had lost track of how long he had been at sea. Gyarados could have just as simply flown instead of swimming through the oceans, but Hotaru knew that flying would only tire his companion pokémon even more so than the endless sailing that the two had already endured so much of. Both of them were beginning to tire.

It was in this unfathomable mist that Hotaru had the time to reflect on his situation and how best to figure out a way to end the crisis in this land of Kanto. Although he had gone against the order council's wishes by coming here, and did not wish to make his identity known on his journey, there was nobody in a position sufficient enough to stop him, and with this in mind he had resolved to first discover the fate of Kanto's own high sorcerer Phaste Endargo. To do so he would need to consult the order council of Kanto, which in turn would mean revealing himself prematurely. It was a measure he was prepared for, but not one he would enjoy.

After recovering High Sorcerer Endargo he would have a better insight in where to begin with his life's greatest task yet. He only hoped he could find him alive.

But all of this plotting was of secondary concern. The fact Hotaru had to face was that he was lost at sea, with only a compass as his guide.

"Well…" he mused from the back of the Gyarados. "I suppose heading east blindly like this isn't doing us any good is it friend?"

The Gyarados gave a weary hum in response. "We may have plotted too far south in this mist, and if we keep on at this rate we may miss Fuchsia port altogether. The safest course is North I shouldn't wonder…"
The Gyarados gave another sigh.

"Ah, yes…sorry my friend." Realising that Gyarados could not see the compass as he himself could, leaned forward over the pokémon's head and pointed an arm in the direction of North "That way, if you please."

Another hum of understanding from the water pokémon and their course changed yet again.
"At least if we head North we're bound to hit land..." Hotaru reassured himself. "…unless we've gone too far east altogether and then well be home again, ha ha ha!" he chortled to himself, over yet another low hum from his gyarados.

"Come friend," he said patting his Gyarados' back, "lets not be glum, let us smile and laugh and b-" A sudden violent jerk sent Hotaru flying swiftly forward from the back of his Gyarados and through the air! In less than an instant he felt himself thrown flat onto on hard, wet, stony ground.

With little concern for himself or the pain he sustained from the fall, Hotaru swiftly but unsteadily rose to his feet from the rocky surface beneath him, confused by this sudden and peculiar change of environment.

"GYARADOS!" He yelled, unable to see his pokémon in the dense fog. "GYARADOS!" he cried again as panic set in. He looked all around his strange new setting but all he saw was thick clouds of mist!

Another low hum came through the mist, and Hotaru rushed almost blindly to its source clambering down what seemed to be round boulder like rocks, slipping on moss as he went. Gyarados' large and dragon like form began to come together in his sight as he stumbled through the thick fog and in moments he was at his side.

A mixture of great relief and acute annoyance washed over Hotaru as he found his Gyarados, lying peacefully asleep in the sea foam, on the pebbly shore, and he knew at once what had happened.

Hotaru gave a loud staged cough, and Gyarados' eyes suddenly shot open as he sprung upright, moving his head around like a confused furret, struggling to take in its new surroundings, just as Hotaru had been only minutes before. Another theatrical cough from Hotaru, and the Gyarados too, realised what had happened.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?!" Hotaru shot at his pokémon sarcastically, glaring at his companion. "You know, I do the navigating so it's your job to look where you're going and not take naps at sea when there's land coming up!"

The melancholy Gyarados put his head to the rocky ground and made his best attempt at cute Skitty eyes to charm his master around from his exasperation. The relenting Hotaru (overwhelmed by the bizarre sight of this enormous leviathan, attempting to appear adorable) sighed and patted Gyarados on the head "Well I can't stay mad at a face like that can I?"

Hotaru reached beneath his travel torn cloak and producing the chain, holding the crystal in which the Gyarados usually resided, called out "Return."

In a red flash the Gyarados was back once more in his Crystal, which had now turned from transparent, back to its usual glowing red.

"You deserve a good rest, friend," Hotaru said looking fondly at the crystal which he placed once more around his neck.

"It's impossible to tell where we are," he continued to talk to himself walking steadily inland, "but I'm sure this isn't part of Kanto."

The air here was freezing, stinging, biting at his face and arms, as he continued up the beach, and Hotaru was beginning to see his own breath on the cold sea breeze.

"This can't be right," he murmured. "This place is much too far south to be this cold, especially in spring. What's going on here?"

He paused and looked up through the curtain of mist.

"I wonder."

* * * *

​

A stab of icy water over his head brought Uri back around. His mind raced with panic as he opened his eyes but found he was entirely unable to see. Within a few moments he'd worked out that he was blindfolded and bound by the hands to a steel framed chair. His long hair was dripping wet and his entire body was freezing cold. He couldn't feel his wrists and his throat stung, as dry as the deserts or Orre. The air was thin and hollow. He tilted his head back to let the water on his face trickle into his thirsty mouth, but found little relief.

"It occurs to me…" came a cold voice from the echoing darkness, "…that you and I could benefit from one another."

Uri remained silent, his head swimming in panic. He wasn't really listening to Knight's voice, but its presence heightened his anxiety, as he struggled to break from his impossible bonds.

"And you're wasting your time flailing around like that. Have some dignity," she scorned, lowering her voice to a callous hiss.

He began to pay attention, and was still, letting his head drop back and inhaling deeply.

"Better," said Knight as Uri heard her taking a seat. "Now listen," she began, "I know what I want and you know what I want and you think you know what you want but you don't do you?"

"Are you trying to confuse me?" Croaked Uri, the pain of talking more acute than he had thought it would be.

"Idiot!" she exclaimed. He felt her hand come toward his face as she tore the blindfold away from his eyes, her pointed finger nails clawing at his brow.

He could see. It was just the two of them alone in the darkness. A single candle on the floor lit a small patch of space surrounded entirely by a veil of shadow. Every sound echoed through the cold sparse air and Uri could tell they were in a very large room, possibly a church or a cavern of some kind. Knight was glowering at him through the dim light, her face lit from below like a death mask.

"I'll try again," she spat. "We both know what I want don't we?" Uri just stared at her tiredly. "Yes we do," she went on "You however, don't know what you want." She paused and rose to her feet as Uri followed her with hazy eyes. "Well I can tell you." She said and suddenly brought her foot up to his chest kicking him and the chair over backwards, his head landing on the hard stone floor with a crack! She stepped over his body and looked down at him. Uri couldn't see her face, but only her silhouette in the faint candlelight.

"Right now you want to be out of this place, and free, and out of danger so you can be with your girlfriend and not with me, right? Hmm?" She didn't wait for a reply. "Thought so. But what you really want though, and it's painfully obvious to me, is that you want to be good enough to have beaten me in the first place. Beneath all this squirming and fear, I know there's guilt and resentment and torture, because you just weren't strong enough to prevent this, even when it was two on one! You thought you could save yourself and your girlfriend and everyone because you were just that strong. You know now of course you're not, right? That you're nothing!"

He looked up at her shadow angrily, his temper rising. She'd made him listen, and she was right. Those feelings, they were all true, and they'd just dawned on him as soon as the words left Knights lips. He turned his head away and winced, the bitterness of the recent memories too much for him to take. But another worse thought had also dawned on him.

"Sally!" He barked no longer concerned about the intense stinging in his throat.

"Oh, your girlfriend?" Knight murmured smugly. "We'll let's see. Did I leave her dead or alive? Hmmm. That's a toughie-"

"LIAR!" he screamed, "If you'd killed her why'd you keep me?!"

Knight gave a long and dramatic sigh. "Yawn, yawn, yawn, and here I thought I was the one asking the questions. But I won't be so low as to take more of your dignity, seeing as you have so little to begin with. She's alive. All be it against my plans, but your friends escaped."

"Escaped?!" whispered Uri, glad that Sally was okay and new hopes of rescue taking root.

"In a manner of speaking," said Knight matter-of-factly, "although it was more of a rescue. My brother I presume, but I don't want to rule out other possibilities." She stopped and her face moved to a smile. "Back to business."

"What do you want with me?" groaned Uri.

"Well that's more like it." Knight smiled. "Obviously I want to know where the egg is, where it's going and who has it. It's clearly not with Rowan, I know that much. I just need you to fill in the blanks."

"What about me?" Uri asked, beginning to realise his only way out may be co-operation.

"Well for starters I'll let you loose. Alive of course," she added with a nod. "And I'll give you what you really want."

"Wha-?" Began Uri, but was cut off by Knight's answer.

"It's simple really. I'll make you stronger. Lift you from your…inferiority," she said articulating her words carefully. "But you have to help me get that egg understand?"

"What do you want with it? What will you do once you have it?" Uri retorted indignantly.

"I'm a hunter, I collect rare specimens. What do you think I want with it?" She laughed.

Uri knew she was covering up her true motives. He knew she wanted the pure, unbridled power for herself, but he could see no other way out. He needed to know more.

"And Sally?"

"No harm will come to her unless she gets in my way…" she held up her hands thought for a moment, "and if she does I'll leave her to you. You have my word."

"Your word?" Uri gave a quiet laugh of desperation, almost crying. "I have no other choice do I?"

Knight didn't answer she merely bent down to cut Uri lose with a knife she pulled from her belt, and took his hand, bringing him to his feet. He tried to stand but he stumbled as her hand left his, and he found himself kneeling at the hunter's feet.

"Good," she said serenely. "Everything is falling into place."

__________________________

Chapter 8 on Friday! XD

 

[Skull Guardian]

Because after it left with Rowan and sally, Knight wen't over to Uri's body. If it had have teleported Uri out, it would have ended up taking Knight along with him as well. :(

Oh, I see.... that would have been a problem, huh? xD

Although Hotaru had been following the coast for the whole of his long and arduous sea voyage...

There he is! I've been wondering when he'll show up!

Anyways, I liked it! I really am thinking about what Uri will do!

 

[Porygon-Z]

Okay everyone I'm really sorry this has taken so long to post, but I've been really busy lately and I've had to revise some of the plot points yet to come, but I've got it all worked out now...mostly, lol.

From now on I should be back to regular posting on Mondays and Fridays!

So sorry for the delay, I hope you are all able to get back into the story!

Without further a do, here is chapter 8!

Enjoy

_______________________________

Chapter 8: Shortfall

​

It wasn't long before the two trainer's Pokémon were staring each other down amidst the vivid array of flowers in the June sunshine. Tawny had opted for Cloyster as her opening Pokémon, and her opponent had chosen Primeape. The two Pokémon, somewhat obscured by the surrounding congregation flowers, awaited eagerly the opening commands of the battle. Tawny gave a wry smile, met by an even wider grin from Babe, and the pair began to declare their commands.

"Cloyster, Explosion!" Tawny yelled, as Babe gave a simultaneous shout:

"Primeape, use Endure!"

Babe's Primeape wilfully complied as it braced itself, eyes shut, pressing one fist hard into the flowery ground.

"What?!" yelped Tawny, as Her Cloyster's shell snapped shut. It was too late. The Cloyster had already begun its attack and within an instant an immense blast engulfed the battling area, spewing out a brightly charged cloud in all directions, clearing a sizeable portion of the field of its flora.

As the blast cleared the Cloyster lay shell open and unconscious on the scorched earth as the Primape opened its eyes again, severely wounded, but still standing.

"Damn it," Tawny cursed under her breath as she recalled the fainted Cloyster into its pokéball.

"Pretty rash opening play there, don't ya think?" boomed Babe with a smile.

"Well I figured… type disadvantage… get it out of the way," she mumbled back unconvincingly.

"Tawny come on!" pleaded Grey from the sidelines, his heart in his mouth.

"Ha ha, I don't fall for the same tricks twice, Tawn," Babe called over coolly.

"Well it's nice to see you change it up!" Tawny replied, forcing a grin. "Well at least this next one's a no brainer." She whispered to herself.

"Mismagius, go!" she yelled as her second pokéball was sent spinning into the improvised arena.

Another flash and Tawny's Mismagius had appeared.

"He's still smiling," Tawny thought to herself, noticing her opponent's widening smile. "What's he planning?"

"Primeape, U-turn!" Babe commanded.

"Shadow Ball, Mismagius!" Tawny shouted to her Pokémon, but to her surprise the Primeape was too quick for Mismagius as it somersaulted upwards landing a fierce drop kick square onto its intended target before it could even make a move. The Primeape immediately sprang backward from its manoeuvre, high up into the air, as Babe held out his pokéball and stylishly recalled it, plucking the Pokémon out of sight, mid jump. Then with a swift flick of his wrist he sent the replacement pokéball shooting into the battlefield and with a sudden flare of light a Snorlax had taken the Primeape's place.

Meanwhile Tawny's Mismagius had recovered from its previous blow and set itself about firing Shadow ball. However almost as soon as the glowing dark orb was launched it had entirely dissipated against the tough skin of Babe's newly sent out Snorlax.

"That's…" began Tawny, "but…the speed!" she eventually stammered, unable to fathom how the Primeape was able to out speed Mismagius.

"Salac berry," Babe shot back. "Raises, speed when your Pokémon's health gets low."

"I didn't even notice!" Tawny thought to herself, exasperated. "Well either way this will still work."

"Confuse ray!" Tawny shouted out and the Mismagius shot the ghostly ray of light toward the Snorlax, discombobulating it thoroughly.

Babe gave his command: "Curse, Snorlax!" And it managed to overcome it's confusion to obey, tucking it's head down and focusing tightly.

"Now, Nasty Plot!" Tawny yelled out.

The Ghost Pokémon narrowed it's eyes and focused on boosting it's Special Attack, as Babe gave his Snorlax its next order:

"Fire Punch, Snorlax!"

The Snorlax ambled clumsily towards Mismagius in its confusion, but managed to plough a fiery fist directly into its body as it lurched forward.

"That's got to hurt!" remarked Babe, noticing that the poor Mismagius was barely hanging on after the Snorlax's harsh attack.

"Now for the clincher!" said Tawny under her breath, ignoring babe's taunts, "Pain Split!" she cried.

The Mismagius shot another stream of light toward the Snorlax, but this beam was much thinner and shone in a dense silvery hue. As the attack connected pulses of white energy throbbed up the silvery ray toward Mismagius, as a copious amount of Snorlax's energy was transferred.

"Whoa!" remarked Babe, beginning to look concerned by the state of his Pokémon. "Snorlax, use Rest!" he hastily comanded, but this time the Snorlax couldn't move and only damaged itself from the strain of the confusion that still lingered.

"Finish it, Mismagius!" cheered Tawny, "Thunderbolt!"

"The Mismagius set loose an intense Jet of yellow lightning than shot all around the Snorlax's body rendering it completely unconscious.

"That's the stuff!" cheered Grey as Tawny gave a broad, self satisfied smile.

"Nice work." commented Babe as he recalled his Pokémon. "Now let's see.." he said reaching to his waist for his next battler and with a sweep of his gigantic arm, Babe flung his third pokéball onto the ground. Within a split second his next Pokémon stood towering in front of him: Steelix.

Tawny didn't waste any time in issuing her command, and ordered another confuse ray from Mismagius.

The beam hit its target once more but the Steelix looked un-phased as it seemed to shrug the confusion off.

"Swagger, Steelix!" the trainer instructed.

The enormous steel Pokémon began its move, winding its head from side to side in a provoking manner. Tawny's Mismagius instantly fell for the technique and was becoming visibly infuriated by the threatening display, causing its attack stat to rise.

"Come on, Mismagius, you have to focus!" Tawny called to it "Use Nasty Plot once more!", but it was of no use. The Pokémon's anger had been warped into confusion by the effects of the Swagger.

"Now Psych-Up!" commanded Babe as the Steelix managed to overcome the remaining effects of confusion and stared hard at Tawny's Pokémon to replicate its boost in attack power.

"Oh no…" groaned Tawny as she realised Babe's strategy. "Shadow Ball, Mismagius! Please!"

This time Mismagius was able to come round from its confusion and sent the Shadow Ball rocketing towards the Steelix. The attack hit it clean on the nose, and the Steelix reared back slightly stunned, but it took the hit well and immediately began it's counterattack.

"Crunch!" shouted Babe, as the Steelix sunk its metal Jaws hard into the Ghost type Pokémon, taking it out in one hit.

"Come on, Tawny!" shouted Grey in increasing desperation.

"I've got this!" she snapped back, keeping him in check with an angry stare.

Babe's Steelix opened its jaws once more and the Ghost Pokémon drifted to the ground without a sound.

"Return, Mismagius" Tawny sighed, scooping the Pokémon up with a beam of red light from her pokéball. "Last one." she murmured as she reached to her belt for her final Pokémon.

The ball hit the ground and after another burst of light, there stood Tawny's last chance: Typhlosion.

"Get it!" she growled, "Fire Blast!"

Babe threw his arms up to cover his face from the heat as the five intensely burning spokes of fire were sent racing toward the Steelix wrapping it in flames.

As the fire dissipated the Steelix's metal hide was glowing brightly from the heat as its mighty head fell, crashing to the ground.

"Uh-oh," said Babe, looking seriously down at his last pokéball in his right hand as he recalled his Steelix with the pokéball in his left.

"Uh-oh is right," Tawny declared with content nod. "Only Primeape left now."

"Well, here's hopin' for a miracle," sighed Babe as he cast out his Primeape once more.

At last the final Pokémon stood wearily before Tawny's Typhlosion and the end of the battle was in sight.

"One more time!" Tawny yelled. "Fire Blast"
"Do your best, Primeape!" shouted Babe. "Reversal!"

As Tawny's Typhlosion opened it's mouth and began to breath forth the blazing Fire Blast, Babe's Primeape began it's charge. The five pronged blast was sent hurtling toward the Primeape.

As it sprinted toward the Typhlosion, the Primeape leapt clear off the ground and headlong into the flaming attack twisting its body as it flew through the air. Astonishingly it jumped straight through the flames slipping straight between the fiery tendrils of the blast without so much as a singe.

Clear of the danger of Typhlosion's attack, the Primeape vaulted upward over the Typhlosion's head and onto its back, where it delivered a swift but incredible strike to the fire Pokémon's head, knocking abruptly to the ground with a single punch.

The battle was over.

"No…" Tawny whispered, unable to believe the impossible turn of events. She grimaced as she called her Typhlosion back into it's ball.

"Yes!" bellowed Babe "Ha ha ha! I did it! Primape, come here! High five!" he laughed as he rushed over to congratulate his Pokémon.

Grey stood speechless, staring at Tawny but she didn't meet his gaze, only staring at the ground, fixed like a stone.

"Hey!" Babe yelled over to her. "Don't look so glum! Aren't you gonna' congratulate me!"

Tawny swiftly checked herself and forced herself to smile as she looked up to the victor, plastering a wide grin onto her face.

"Hey nice moves big guy!" She giggled. "Shame, because that book-"

"Save it Tawny," Babe chortled as he cut her off, "Rules are rules short stack and I can't go letting you off easy just cause' you're a girl n'all!"

"That's fair I suppose," Tawny chimed back through her ever widening faux smile.

"Hey, fella!" Yelled Grey as he rushed over to the pair. "How about me next?"

"Me?" Babe enquired with a vacant look across his face.

"Yeah." Came Grey's reply, "Winner gets the boo-oof!"

Grey had been cut off by a swift elbow to the ribs from Tawny, who had shot him another angry look from under the rim of her baseball cap.

"I think Babe's had enough for one day, right Baby?" she chirped merrily.

"Oww, Tawny what- oof!

Another elbow to the ribs silenced Grey once more.

"Is he okay?" asked Babe with a slightly suspicious look toward the pair.

"He's fine he's just a little excited! Why not head to the Pokémon centre in town and we'll gather up our stuff and meet you there in a bit?"

"What stu-" Grey began, but a third elbow to the ribs was enough of a deterrent to keep him from speaking up again.

"Hmm, okay." Babe Nodded, slightly puzzled. "See you down there then!" And with that the bulky trainer turned with a wave and made for the heart of Floroma town.

Once Grey was sure Babe was out of earshot, he rounded on Tawny with a glare.

"Explain," he demanded flatly.

"If you try and get the book he'll definitely get suspicious and we never know who he'll be running his mouth off to!"

"Fair enough," pressed Grey, "but 'A' what do we do about the book, and 'B'…oww!" he said gesturing to his ribs.

"I'm sorry," pleaded Tawny, "but I didn't know what else to do."

"So now what?" asked Grey throwing his hands up.

"I guess we can't steal it…" Tawny began to muse to herself.

"Go fig," stabbed Grey sarcastically.

"Ah, but…" Tawny began, "there's no reason we can't take a peek at the contents of it while Babe's still around."

"How do we go about that?" Grey asked, furrowing his brow.

"It won't take much to convince him to stay at the Pokémon centre tonight, especially if I get him reminiscing about old times to keep him and it is almost half past five. We just get him to stay the night, wait till he falls asleep and then-"

"And then we get snap happy with the book," Grey cut in.

"Exactly!" Tawny confirmed with a grin.

A cloud passed over the sun and the two friends fell silent for a moment as Tawny's smile faded.

"Tawny," said Grey without meeting her eye.
"Yeah?" she asked.

"It was really bad luck, you losing like that."

"Yeah." She acknowledged quietly.

"Just don't let it get to you, y'know," Grey said trying to reassure her. He tried to look up to see her but she was only staring at the ground again.

"Grey." She began, trembling a little. "What if there's trouble later… and I'm not good enough? What then?"

"Tawny!" Grey said firmly, putting both hands on her shoulders forcing her to look into his eyes. Then he saw them. Two softly shining amber eyes behind two sheets of dust covered glass, like sparkling jewels in a showcase.

"Grey…" she whispered choking on her words, unsure of what he was going to say.

"I'm with you, and I promise I'll be strong enough. We'll stick together till this is over okay? I promise." He released his hands from her shoulders and turned to pick up her bag with the box inside and handed it to her. "Oh and Tawny?" he said.

She felt so lost for words, she couldn't respond; she just looked at him sadly.

"Your glasses are filthy," he said with a cheeky smile, and Tawny laughed again.

"Thanks," she said softly, and the two began to make their way, smiling, along the path of flowers in the late afternoon sun.

* * * *​

From the high up in the mountains, they view of the summer sunset was nothing short of exquisite. An unusually dressed man in heavy boots and a desert scarf stepped out of the quaint little wooden shack, which served as the town's shop. Flipping the shades on his forehead down over his eyes with his right hand, he clumsily licked on the lemon popsicle in his left.

He had barely made it five steps from the shop door when his phone let out a muffled dull beeping from inside of his jacket pocket. He reached inside with one hand and fumbled the cover open as he lifted the handset to his ear.

"Hello Mallen," he said as he began. "What's the problem?"

"I swear Toby, if you're eating ice cream instead of making your way to Snowpoint I will be not be very amused!"

"Calm down. It's not like a can get ice cream back home anyway so-"

"I knew it!" came the sharp reply from the other end, causing Toby to suddenly jerk the phone away from his ear. "What's your progress?" the voice asked impatiently.

"I'll be making snow point by nightfall don't you worry."

"And the package?"

"I'm not sure. It could have been intercepted," sighed Toby, rubbing his forehead and getting Popsicle juice on his sunglasses.

"What makes you say that?" asked the voice.

"The signal's been acting weird. Going round in circles, really erratic, you know. I'd say it's been found and displaced to throw us off. It's likely have been a pro job."

"Well the plan doesn't change either way. It just means we're at a disadvantage. Shouldn't be a problem if you take care of your business."

"Right," replied Toby, "But that's not the worst part."

"Oh?" enquired the voice.

"There's been no sign of Knight for a while now."

"She wouldn't be seen anyway. Besides what's so bad about that?"

"I'll put it this way. When you know where something is you don't need to go searching," Toby explained

"And?" the voice enquired.

"Well, she's not searching."

"You think she's our interceptor."

Toby didn't answer.

"Damn it!" cursed the voice on the other end. "If only we'd gotten this off the ground sooner while we had the chance."

"Well there's no use wishing about it now. We'll just have to have a bit of faith." replied Toby. "Any luck with Rowan?"

"He's gone ghost," answered the voice.

"So do we still stick to the plan?"

"We don't know anything for sure yet other than that Knight hasn't made her move. She must be waiting for something."

"Either that or she doesn't know as much as we do and she's just covering her bases."

"Whatever happens, your role is still essential. Don't deviate from the plan."

"Do we at least have eyes?" Toby groaned.

"We have eyes, but they don't know what they're looking for."

"So is there a plan B?"

"Pray," Replied the voice flatly.

"Well then," Toby said in a heavy voice "That seems to be all for now."

"Okay," came the voice "Good Luck."

"Thanks," murmured Toby. "And anything you want to tell me about project Omicron?"

At that the phone went dead.

"That bastard," whispered Toby to himself as he tucked the phone back into his jacket.

He took a lick of the yellow Popsicle, now melting with a trickle down his fingers, and picked out a near by bench overlooking the steep mountainside, dense with forest. He got himself comfy and stretched out his legs, taking in the incredible vista that stretched out for miles below.

"Don't get sunsets like these back home," he said with a quiet sigh.

 

[Porygon-Z]

Well I don't like to double post, but I did promise that I'd update today.
I hope people are still reading, lol.
(Who am I kidding, I'd keep writing it anyway. I want to know how it all pans out too! *Kids* I already know!!)

Anyway here's chapter nine:

___________________________________

Chapter 9: Misdirection​

The orange glow of the sunset over the water in the distance, painted the room with a terracotta hue. The light that poured in through the south and western facing glass walls of the third story lobby seemed to catch the shiny transparent table tops, reflecting it onto the magnolia painted ceiling above. Sparsely occupied, with a couple of modern brown leather sofas and glass tables, the entire room radiated a sense of calm and well being in the dusk light. It was a feeling that was lost on Sally as she stared attentively at Lucian's furrowed brow.
Sally couldn't believe it had been two days since the night she had lost Uri to Knight. Two days had passed, and she felt no closer to him than the night he had been taken from her. If anything she felt an increasingly haunting sense of detachment and powerlessness within herself at the lack of action that had been taken toward his rescue. The anticipation was suffocating. She had barely said a word since the morning after the incident.

The past two days had been spent travelling with Lucian and Rowan. Their destination was Seabreak Isalnd: The Headquarters of the Pokémon league in Sinnoh. Lucian had been called there to discuss with the League the situation in Veilstone.

For a while sally had been puzzled as to why she and Rowan were to accompany him, rather than begin making plans for rescuing Uri, but she had dismissed her concerns and replaced them with trust in Lucian. He had promised to help her get Uri back, and she had faith in his word.

They'd travelled by train to Sunnyshore the day after the attack and Sally had slept almost all of the way. Although she had slept the previous night, the shock was taking its inevitable toll, and she temporarily took leave of her charged and heavy mind for rest well due.

By the time she awoke the train had almost reached its destination, but upon opening her eyes she had found only Lucian sitting across from her. Lucian had explained that Rowan had to leave the train at Pastoria to attend to some urgent information, but beyond that Sally was unable to get any further information from Lucian. Though she knew that was largely because she didn't have the energy to question him.

Rowan had however left a note for her, which was even vaguer still. It simply read:

"I have to leave you now. Please stay with Lucian. He'll help you save Uri. Trust in him.

Everything will be all right. Keep your ear to the ground, keep your mind open and stay alert.

I'm sorry for putting you through all this. I hope you can forgive me for allowing this to happen.

I'll try to be in touch whenever I can

Never give up.

Rowan"

Sally had tiredly accepted Rowan's departure with little conjecture as to what it could mean. Her mind was already loaded and fraught so the news added little to her already phased state of mind.

The next day she and Lucian boarded the ferry from Sunnyshore heading to Seabreak Island. They barely spoke at all during their voyage. Sally had expected to be discussing recue plans with him or talking about something, anything to aid the situation, but no words were spoken between them.

What was most unnerving about Lucian's silence was its stark difference to Sally's. Sally's ghost like placidity had stemmed from being at a loss for words, and the drowning overpowering despair that she was struggling to stay on top of. Lucian's calm however, was that of a confidence and togetherness. He didn't seem to be worried at all. Even so Sally trusted him, and she decided to take Lucian's confidence to be a sign of hope rather than being shaken by it.

The look of confidence she had seen in his eyes earlier that day however, was now slowly fading as she gazed at him over the glass table, sitting cross legged on the sleek leather couch in the evening light.

"Sally," he said earnestly, "before Rowan left, he and I discussed what would happen in this meeting."

Sally nodded silently.

"He told me," continued Lucian "that information regarding current developments were to be kept strictly confidential."

He waited for a reply from Sally, but was met with only further silence. He let out a sigh and pressed on.

"We don't know how much the League knows about what is going on. It could be that all they know is that there's been an appearance of a legendary Pokémon and a riot ensued. It's most likely that they know nothing about the reason it appeared for or the events that followed."

Lucian looked to sally to see that she was registering this information. Her intent expression was enough for him to know she was thinking hard about his words. He let her think and eventually she began to speak.

"Why can't we tell them," she said in a soft whisper. "Aren't they the good guys?"

"As Rowan already mentioned, this information is dangerous, and the less people who know, the better. He's also trying to keep this information from any large organisations in which word be could spread," he replied. "In other words, no one is above suspicion."

"Not even the Pokémon league," Sally asked sending Lucian a worried look.

"Not even the Pokémon league." He confirmed, "Which is where we reach our dilemma."

Sally took a deep breath and nodded for him to continue, brushing her silky fair hair behind her ears.

"It had been my intention to enlist the help of the League in rescuing your friend."

Sally's eyes widened upon hearing this and she sat up straighter listening further as Lucian continued.

"We can't do this without letting them know about Knight, which in turn we can't talk about without talking about the egg. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Sally said abruptly.

"I'm sure you respect Rowan's wishes as I do, but we both know a life is hanging in the balance." Lucian said gravely as Sally recoiled slightly at hearing his words. "So I'm going to ask you," he stressed "do you want me to ask the league for help, or should we keep this information between you and I?"

Sally fell back into her chair and turned her gaze to the window, as the last beams of sunlight from the horizon petered away into dull brown shadows that began to creep down the walls of the room from the ceiling above.

Lucian waited patiently for her decision as he watched her mind reeling, almost visibly. Eventually she sat up and looked at him to give her answer.

"I didn't ask for any of this," she said softly her voice cracking, choking back the tears that were fighting to resurface. "Neither did Uri. This isn't our fault, and it's not our fight."

"I understand," gave Lucian reassuringly.

"I think," she continued forcing back a heavy sob, "we need all the help we can get. Rowan said to trust in you and to me that means trusting in the League as well." She paused momentarily and thought about what she had said. "Only, Lucian," she whispered, "I can't only think of myself and Uri. Please don't mention anything about Tawny and Grey. Rowan has to trust in us too."

"Very well," said Lucian, "I promise I'll tell them only what they need to know in order to save Uri. Everything else will remain a secret." He stood up gracefully pushing his glasses up as he did so and looked toward the door to his right. "I have to go inside now. Do you think you'll be okay here for a while?"

Sally gave another silent nod and Lucian began to make his way over to the large wooden door on the other side of the room to enter the meeting that was already in session.

"Lucian," she said quietly as he placed his hand on the elegant brass handle, stopping him momentarily. "Thank you" she spoke with a smile.

Lucian returned her smile warmly, and entered the adjacent room without a word, leaving Sally alone with her thoughts once more.

With the league on her side Uri was sure to be rescued safely and quickly. Although not much had been done in the two days that had passed, Sally was already feeling her heart lift from just that one conversation. The rescue was finally being put into action, and her feelings of doubt and unsettlement were beginning to look like silly memories.

Rowan was right to tell her to trust in Lucian. As she got up to stand by the glass wall, facing out, to observe the dying rays of the sunset, she smiled for the first time since the night Uri was taken.

Sally hadn't even noticed when the automatic lights flickered on as night set in and in what seemed like no time at all the doors opened once more as various members of the Champions and Elite Four from each region filed out of the meeting room talking sombrely amongst themselves.

Sally, who was momentarily taken aback by seeing so many of her childhood heroes walking so casually past her, had failed to notice the awkward look of worry on Lucian's face as he entered the lobby.

"Sally," he said, disheartened , "It's not good."

"What?" she said bemused, her attention snapping back from the passing celebrities to Lucian.

"They knew about the egg," he explained with a stone face.

"No… What did you tell them? Are they going to help Uri? What are they doing about Knight?"

"Please," stressed Lucian rubbing his brow in his anxiety "just let me think."

"Sorry," Sally said faintly, as her attention was drawn away once more, but this time something struck her as quite unusual.

As the last of the League members from the meeting trickled out of the meeting room, Sally noticed the last person to leave was someone who looked very out of place amongst the Elites and Champions; A man dressed in a flamboyant blue and white shirt and violet trousers, with long light blue hair tucked behind a white chapeau; A gym leader.

"Wallace," she mumbled to herself, "but he's just a Hoenn gym Leader, what's he doing here." She looked up at Lucian to question this anomaly.

"Lucian, what's Wallace doing here, isn't he a gym leader."

"No," he said giving her a quick frustrated glance, "he was promoted to acting Hoenn league champion because of some…" He paused and gave an audibly short tempered sigh, "circumstances."

"Oh," said Sally, slightly surprised, "What happened to Champion, Steven Stone?"

"He was deposed," Lucian grumbled still rubbing boisterously at his forehead.

"Deposed?" inquired Sally, "That's strange. But why was he deposed?"

"Will you please stop asking me these menial questions and allow me to think?!" Lucian barked loudly at her, causing Sally to lean back from the shock of his outburst.

"I- I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean-", she stammered in apology, her eyes tearing up.

"No, no… I'm sorry..." Lucian replied softly, falling swiftly back into his usual demeanour of soothing calm. "I didn't mean to snap, it's just things are more serious than you might think."

"I got distracted; I should have been concentrating on Uri," she said averting her eyes to the floor in shame.

"Don't worry," said Lucian gently, and placed his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "Let's go somewhere private and we can talk about it."

"Okay." Sally nodded as he led her out of the Lobby and into hallway from which they entered the lobby.

They walked in silence for a while until reaching the elevator which carried them upward to another identical hallway, from which Lucian continued to bring them to a elegantly decorated office, which was his own.

The office was strikingly similar to the room she had found herself in, in Lucian's cottage. The walls were wood panelled, and the furniture consisted of a red leather, studded desk chair, on casters, with a wooden frame and identical chair on the other side of the large polished mahogany desk, a firm red leather sofa in the near left corner of the room, and several wall lamps with opaque, green, glass shades. The wall to her right was lined with leather bound books, in reds, blacks, greens, and browns, stacked high on an impressive row of sturdy wooden shelves.

Lucian paced slowly over to the window behind the desk and reached for a small polished side table from which he took a rather decorative tea set, placed it on the desk and turned back around in order to boil some water in a small kettle that was also on the table by the window.

He gestured for Sally to take a seat as the kettle was brought to the boil, and Lucian filled the tea pot, brimming with curls of steam.

"So…" he said calmly, taking a seat at the desk, opposite Sally.

"What did you tell them? She said sadly.

"Well, I'll begin by setting your mind at ease. They don't know anything about your friends Tawny and Grey." He began. "I didn't tell them than much."

"Okay," Sally said with a brief nod, urging him to continue.

"However the League had already surmised that the reason that Zapdos had appeared at Veilstone was in order to roost to lay its egg."

Sally looked on in silence awaiting the conclusion of Lucian's tale.

"As you know I had to tell them about Knight in order for them to rescue Uri."

"What are they going to do?" pleaded Sally anxiously.

"Gym Leaders across all regions are being instructed to keep an eye out for Knight and are under orders to apprehend her on sight."

"Is that i-?" began Sally but was cut off by Lucian.

"Not quite," he said, knowing what she was about to ask, "I will be heading a special investigation and pursuit of Knight, starting tomorrow. You are of course welcome to join me."

"Thank you," Sally said turning her gaze downward once more, embarrassed for speaking out of turn.

"The problem of the matter is this," Lucian said, his expression stiffening. "In telling the League what happened to Uri, I had to tell them about Knight's attack. More poignantly I had to provide a reason for this."

"What did you tell them?" said Sally as her mind began racing with worries once more.

"Long story short, I told them she was attacking because Rowan had the egg."

"Yes?" Sally pressed him

"And that he still has it now."

"But-?" Sally began, but was once more interrupted by Lucian.

"I told them I only rescued you alone and that Rowan fled the scene with the egg before Knight took Uri," Lucian said, pressing his finger tips tightly together

"What does this mean," Sally choked out, as she leant forward in exasperation.

"It means, the League believe Rowan is still in possession of the egg and that he has run away with it. All league members have also been ordered to apprehend him on sight as well as Knight."

"So he's…" muttered Sally in disbelief.

"Yes." Confirmed Lucian soberly. "Rowan is a fugitive now."

 

[Spirit Albarn♫]

Woah!, Dude Awesome Story, Im Hooked :]