IceDragon2439
Stand Up and Scream
- 258
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Age 34
- Ecruteak City, Johto
- Seen Aug 1, 2010
Awesome! It just gets better and better. And this was an excellent cliffhanger. Can't wait for the next chapter to find out what happens to Ameri.
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The Story of Team Yukon
- Thread starter Clark
- Start date
- 777
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Seen Mar 11, 2023
Here it comes... The cliffhanger revealed. Well, not much of a cliffhanger if you've played the game, but oh well...
_______pie___________________
"No," Ninetales said simply. Everyone stared at her, eyes wide.
"No... No what?" asked Soto with uncertainty in his nervous voice.
"Ameri is not the human spoken of in my legend. And, she is in no way to blame for the coming demise of the world."
Nobody moved. Thy couldn't. They were all frozen with mixed feelings. Alakazam and his partners were stunned that they had hurt so many, worked so hard, believed so strongly, and it all came to this conclusion that they had been terribly, horribly wrong. Soto felt a slight twinge of pride that he had been right the whole time while everyone else had been so wrong, and at the same time, the best feelings for Ameri. The Eevee herself stood there, eyes wide, as her heart skipped beats and her breath stopped coming. She was good. She was not evil. She was good. And she had made it through all of the hardships of their great journey to find that she hadn't been doing the wrong thing, running from what seemed like a fate she deserved. Ameri, both human and Pokemon, had escaped death.
Koro stood on the edge of this, onlooking, as if he were watching a story unfold. But he had his own question to ask.
"Then... What is causing the disaster that comes?" the Absol asked. Ninetales turned to him.
"There is a great calamity approaching, and it threatens us all. More is to be revealed in time, but indeed Ameri is related. As well as another human, in a very vague way... Another human turned into a Pokemon."
"Who?"
"I cannot say. But, I can tell this. Ameri, you know this human, and they are closely effecting a great corruption now, in a place you know to be familiar. Go with caution. But for now, do not worry about it. It is not their blame, nor anyone's. It is the fault of the coming calamity that brings the disaster."
Orion was just as surprised as everyone else, looking up at Ninetales and the group of Pokemon. He lifted his head and shot a nasty look at Alakazam.
"You see?! You were wrong! Joku died because of you, fighting for what was right! You're supposed to be a Rescue Team, not a group of wild murderers!!"
"... Yeah!" Soto threw in, "We were forced to go all this way because you couldn't look past what Rexus said!"
"We... had no way of knowing," muttered Alakazam, "And we were given orders... by the people of Wezla. We were merely serving our client."
"That's crap!" shouted Orion, "All this time you could have fought back, like me and Joku did! The only difference is that you didn't, and now someone else died and you caused two innocent Pokemon to risk their lives every day for weeks, all for nothing!! You heard Soto before, Alakazam. You knew it was wrong!"
Charizard and Tyranitar turned to their leader, who had nothing in his defense to say. He merely lowered his head to Ameri and Soto.
"I will not ask for you to forgive me. I will not ask for you to expect anything of me. But you may do as you find acceptable as a punishment for my foolish leadership. Everyone."
Soto stepped forward, a serious look in his eyes. A long moment passed, in which only the breaths of the Pokemon in th cavern could be heard. Finally, Soto spoke. "We're not going to punish you," he said.
"As long as you promise not to be as stupid as to do what you did to anyone again," Ameri finished. Alakazam looked up, surprised but accepting.
"Very well," he said simply.
"Ninetales... Thank you," Ameri whispered. But when she turned around, the white foxlike Pokemon was gone. Ninetales had vanished, and was nowhere to be seen or heard. Koro smiled.
"Legends do not stay in one place for long," he growled softly, "They must continue on, so that their morals can be told to others. That is why legends are such meaningful stories."
Ameri smiled at her friend's words. Charizard turned his head down toward her and Soto.
"Well, does anyone need a lift to get back to Wezla?" he asked, "I'm sure you two have pretty tired paws."
"They have means of getting back," a voice chimed. And from the entrance Ameri, Soto, and Koro had come from, a great sapphire bird appeared. She tilted her beak down to them, and curled it into a strange smile.
"Articuno!" Soto cried excitedly.
"Articuno?!" cried Tyranitar, "That's a Legendary Bird!! How..."
"They found her with my help," Koro answered before he could finish. Ameri turned to him with a sad look. They'd only known the Absol for maybe a day, and he was already a close friend. Not quite as friendly or talkitive as Soto, but strong and truly caring deep inside. That was what really mattered to Ameri about him, and she didn't want to have to say goodbye.
"Koro... We'll miss you, and you have our thanks," she managed to say through more tears forming on her already-wet eyes. Koro turned to her with a smooth look.
"Who says I'm staying here?" he replied. Ameri and Soto's eyes brightened.
"You mean..."
"I'll join Team Yukon."
"Perhaps, temporarily, I will join too," added the Legendary Pokemon behind them. "The disaster will soon destroy my woods if I do not go and try to find a way to stop it. Elsewhere. For there is no cure for it here in Fyriyia's icy lands."
"What?" Charizard yelped, a hint of jealousy in his tone. Soto laughed.
"Okay then! That's two new members for Team Yukon!" he cried joyously, "Koro and Articuno!!"
"Wait!! Don't forget me!" Orion added in, "For mine and Joku's sake, I have to join now that you're going back! I mean, the whole plan for us was that after you guys come home you'd have at least us two added in! I'm not giving that chance up for anything!!"
"Well then," said Alakazam in his leadership-tone, "I suppose we ought to get back to Wezla and teach Rexus a lesson."
From the peak of that one mountain, exiting one little cavern, and all at once, a giant group of Pokemon left. A Charizard, tail lit brightly, with an Alakazam rider. The Legendary Articuno, bearing an Eevee, a Quilava, and a Breloom on its feathered back. An Absol, running below at an incredibly fast pace. A Tyranitar with massive claws pulling dirt behind it as it burrowed a tunnel faster than any Pokemon its size could run. And atop that mountain, so high and shimmering, sat a Ninetales, with a smile over her muzzle.
"And so it goes," she said. And she faded from view in a matter of seconds.
Rexus overlooked the village from atop a stone top over a shopcounter, eyes watching and scanning for anything suspicious in the fray below. There were Pokemon in every area he could see, tearing and clawinging at each other with blood dripping from mouths and wounds both new and old. There was still no clear victor, even after all these days of fights and battles. Too many rebels, all too determined to win. He couldn't let them win. He had to keep his newly-earned authority over these Pokemon if he wanted to ever gain any success at ruling over a larger, more continental group. And more importantly, he had to ensure that everyone believed Ameri was the human in the Ninetales legend. He had to, because if everyone blamed her, he would remain safe from harm or accusation. It was his top priority, above keeping his power in check.
There was Zangoose fighting with a Scyther. She had once been on their side. Most of them had, at first, when rebels were few and the cost for joining them was great and unpreventable. Before they all grouped together. Now, to enslave just one of them there would need to be a small army, because they'd fight hard to keep just one on their side. What will come of all this? he asked himself. Is Alakazam ever going to come back with his report of Ameri and Soto's death?!
And in what seemed like the greatest cooincidence of all, there was a great thud behind him. It was like a huge beast was landing, and it made him leap up in surprise. Rexus whirled around. There stood Charizard, and Alakazam climbing from his back.
"Ah, good you've returned!" Rexus greeted, "As you can see, it's gotten out of control! The rebels are too strong to beat! I'll be needing your help. And I presume you bear the long awaited news?" Somehow, he felt that he was not about to be given a kind responce. Charizard had his fangs bared, and Alakazam's eyes burned with anger. Oh no... he thought.
"Your rule over this town is over, Rexus," spat Alakazam, "You are full of greed for power and completely heartless to do what you did to Ameri and Soto. They are alive, and coming. Coming to stop you and your army."
"Oh really?" asked Rexus, feeling a bit of smug confidence rise in him, "And how do you tell that? My troops will need more convincing and proof to believe she deserves to live, and a little Eevee and a pathetic excuse for a Quilava will make no difference in this battle."
"Then maybe a Charizard, a Tyranitar, an Alakazam, a Breloom, an Absol, and another, much more sacred Pokemon will," replied Alakazam simply, head turned to the sky. Rexus curled his grin into a frown, and looked up to where Alakazam had. What he saw sent him crawling to the ground. All the sounds of fighting had stopped as Pokemon stared at it, amazed and unable to beleive what they were seeing.
"The innocent are not to be taken advantage of, and those who punish them are to be brought to justice!!" cried Articuno, wings outstretched and cold mist flying from her beak. Ameri peered over the great bird's shoulder and looked at Rexus, who lay on the stone roof shivering helplessly, unable to move. The look in his eyes... so helpless and frightened.
Tunavii stared at him, her trainer, and felt inside her what must be done to save his life.
"Ga... Gardevoir?" she heard herself ask aloud. Rexus turned up at her as soon as the name escaped her lips, eyes wide with surprise and fear. Ameri's own eyes widened. No way...
"What is it, Ameri?" Soto asked, "Is it another message?"
Ameri stared in amazement at the Gengar, unable to take her eyes off of his. And he seemed to feel the same way. It is... It just is!
"You..." she breathed, "You are the human in Ninetales's Legend... You are the Pokemon the prophecy spoke of. And it is true. Your arrival has come at the same time as the demise. That is why you blamed me... To save yoruself from suspicion!"
Everyone; all the rebelling Pokemon, all the Pokemon of Rexus's alliances, and all the Pokemon who stood with Ameri now, was silent with shock and speechlessness. It all fit together. Everything that had to do with Ameri's exile. And the hostility that came from the glares against Rexus made Ameri feel nervous. Even for someone so cruel, who had done so much to her, she had to feel a twinge of sympathy.
"Then... He's to blame!! All this time! If Articuno and Gardevoir and Alakazam say so, then it must be true!! He's to blame for the demise!!" someone called.
"Kill him! Snap his limbs in two!!" It was Lombre.
"Do worse than that," yowled Deyarcus, "Stick his body through sharpened stakes and spikes!! Rip off his flesh and make him choke on his own black blood with his eyes ripped from their sockets! Make his death as painful as possible!"
"Yeah!!" chanted in everyone, "Slay him!! Slay the heartless human!"
All heads turned. It was a tiny Eevee on top of a stone building, with a great bird of ice behind her and the Pokemon -human- they all wanted to drive into the earth. Gasps broke out amongst them all, of pure surprise.
"But Ameri, if anyone should feel like he deserves the worst death possible, it would be you!" a Scyther called.
"Yes!" added Lombre, "Don't you see what he's done! Not only did he drive you out with terrible lies for his selfish fears, but he forced his power onto us all! He killed!! It's his fault that Fyra is dead, along with so many others! It's his fault that Joku is gone!! It's his fault that this town was destroyed, and his fault that so many lives will be ruined now! And you say we shouldn't kill him?!"
"Exactly!!" Soto cried, tears dripping from his blue eyes, "Too many have died already!! Don't you understand this whole ordeal?! Me and Ameri learned something important from it all, and that's that violence and killing will never solve anything! They only make things more sorrowful and straining on everyone around you! Do any of you fools understand?!"
Orion stepped forward, before the huge crowd. Everyone in Wezla. Other than the ill and dead, it was everyone he had left with promise, and now he was here, without the Pokemon who had inspired the whole rebellion. And his words reflected that Pokemon's plight.
"Joku was a great leader. In a single night, he managed to form the beginnings of the only Pokemon who would dare to fight for justice, and then left to find the two he wished to save. And in the process, he lost his own life at the command of Rexus and claws of Alakazam's Team. Does this mean we should kill Rexus? Take his life because of one that his commands took? No! When I lost Joku, I lost not only a leader, but a true friend. And no matter how cruel you may be, there is always someone who cares about you like I did for Joku, and like Soto does for Ameri. Someone who would be devestated to hear of your death, or someone who would have wished it was their life that had been lost instead. Ameri and Soto are right. And though he should be punished, he should not be mercilessly slaughtered by all of us in mass."
"His words are true!" added Kunea from the crowd, "I lost my mother at the fault of the Pokemon who is now my leader and greatest role model. You can always find ways to forgive. You can always find some good in everyone!"
The crowd stopped chanting against Rexus. In fact, the atmosphere had changed entirely, for now instead of angry yowls, there were tears of sympathy and gazes that looked up at Pokemon, respecting them as leaders and speakers. Ameri turned back to Rexus.
"You will not be killed. You will be exiled, " she told him, "Tonight you must leave, never to return. Be thankful your life has been spared."
Not waiting for even a glance back at her, she turned back to Soto. He stood there with Orion, Koro, and Articuno. An old friend with three new and wonderful team-mates. Oh how great it would be, working as a Rescue Team again. Working for justice and saving lives rather than struggling to protect their own. She smiled at them all.
"Come, all of you. We need rest, and tomorrow there is much work to be done. Articuno, do you still wish to stay?"
"Indeed, Ameri. Your brave words have inspired me to trust you deeply. And I can sense it within you: You are here to do good. You are here to help us in these grave times. With you, I see a bright future, and I see the end of this dark period. I would fight to the death for you if I had to, and I will stay as long as you need me."
Ameri nodded with pride and pleasure. "Great! Well, we have a small hut, but you're welcome to seek shelter anywhere you'd like. A forest with thick branches and leaves overhead is nearby. Let's get back home, Soto. And our new members of Team Yukon!"
That night Rexus was sent off in a big event. In the same night, a party was held to welcome Ameri and Soto back, as well as the end of the rebellion and small wars. And, also that night, for the frst time in at least a month, Ameri and Soto slept peacefully and calmly in their own little hut.
_______pie___________________
Chapter Nineteen-The Truth
"No," Ninetales said simply. Everyone stared at her, eyes wide.
"No... No what?" asked Soto with uncertainty in his nervous voice.
"Ameri is not the human spoken of in my legend. And, she is in no way to blame for the coming demise of the world."
Nobody moved. Thy couldn't. They were all frozen with mixed feelings. Alakazam and his partners were stunned that they had hurt so many, worked so hard, believed so strongly, and it all came to this conclusion that they had been terribly, horribly wrong. Soto felt a slight twinge of pride that he had been right the whole time while everyone else had been so wrong, and at the same time, the best feelings for Ameri. The Eevee herself stood there, eyes wide, as her heart skipped beats and her breath stopped coming. She was good. She was not evil. She was good. And she had made it through all of the hardships of their great journey to find that she hadn't been doing the wrong thing, running from what seemed like a fate she deserved. Ameri, both human and Pokemon, had escaped death.
Koro stood on the edge of this, onlooking, as if he were watching a story unfold. But he had his own question to ask.
"Then... What is causing the disaster that comes?" the Absol asked. Ninetales turned to him.
"There is a great calamity approaching, and it threatens us all. More is to be revealed in time, but indeed Ameri is related. As well as another human, in a very vague way... Another human turned into a Pokemon."
"Who?"
"I cannot say. But, I can tell this. Ameri, you know this human, and they are closely effecting a great corruption now, in a place you know to be familiar. Go with caution. But for now, do not worry about it. It is not their blame, nor anyone's. It is the fault of the coming calamity that brings the disaster."
Orion was just as surprised as everyone else, looking up at Ninetales and the group of Pokemon. He lifted his head and shot a nasty look at Alakazam.
"You see?! You were wrong! Joku died because of you, fighting for what was right! You're supposed to be a Rescue Team, not a group of wild murderers!!"
"... Yeah!" Soto threw in, "We were forced to go all this way because you couldn't look past what Rexus said!"
"We... had no way of knowing," muttered Alakazam, "And we were given orders... by the people of Wezla. We were merely serving our client."
"That's crap!" shouted Orion, "All this time you could have fought back, like me and Joku did! The only difference is that you didn't, and now someone else died and you caused two innocent Pokemon to risk their lives every day for weeks, all for nothing!! You heard Soto before, Alakazam. You knew it was wrong!"
Charizard and Tyranitar turned to their leader, who had nothing in his defense to say. He merely lowered his head to Ameri and Soto.
"I will not ask for you to forgive me. I will not ask for you to expect anything of me. But you may do as you find acceptable as a punishment for my foolish leadership. Everyone."
Soto stepped forward, a serious look in his eyes. A long moment passed, in which only the breaths of the Pokemon in th cavern could be heard. Finally, Soto spoke. "We're not going to punish you," he said.
"As long as you promise not to be as stupid as to do what you did to anyone again," Ameri finished. Alakazam looked up, surprised but accepting.
"Very well," he said simply.
"Ninetales... Thank you," Ameri whispered. But when she turned around, the white foxlike Pokemon was gone. Ninetales had vanished, and was nowhere to be seen or heard. Koro smiled.
"Legends do not stay in one place for long," he growled softly, "They must continue on, so that their morals can be told to others. That is why legends are such meaningful stories."
Ameri smiled at her friend's words. Charizard turned his head down toward her and Soto.
"Well, does anyone need a lift to get back to Wezla?" he asked, "I'm sure you two have pretty tired paws."
"They have means of getting back," a voice chimed. And from the entrance Ameri, Soto, and Koro had come from, a great sapphire bird appeared. She tilted her beak down to them, and curled it into a strange smile.
"Articuno!" Soto cried excitedly.
"Articuno?!" cried Tyranitar, "That's a Legendary Bird!! How..."
"They found her with my help," Koro answered before he could finish. Ameri turned to him with a sad look. They'd only known the Absol for maybe a day, and he was already a close friend. Not quite as friendly or talkitive as Soto, but strong and truly caring deep inside. That was what really mattered to Ameri about him, and she didn't want to have to say goodbye.
"Koro... We'll miss you, and you have our thanks," she managed to say through more tears forming on her already-wet eyes. Koro turned to her with a smooth look.
"Who says I'm staying here?" he replied. Ameri and Soto's eyes brightened.
"You mean..."
"I'll join Team Yukon."
"Perhaps, temporarily, I will join too," added the Legendary Pokemon behind them. "The disaster will soon destroy my woods if I do not go and try to find a way to stop it. Elsewhere. For there is no cure for it here in Fyriyia's icy lands."
"What?" Charizard yelped, a hint of jealousy in his tone. Soto laughed.
"Okay then! That's two new members for Team Yukon!" he cried joyously, "Koro and Articuno!!"
"Wait!! Don't forget me!" Orion added in, "For mine and Joku's sake, I have to join now that you're going back! I mean, the whole plan for us was that after you guys come home you'd have at least us two added in! I'm not giving that chance up for anything!!"
"Well then," said Alakazam in his leadership-tone, "I suppose we ought to get back to Wezla and teach Rexus a lesson."
From the peak of that one mountain, exiting one little cavern, and all at once, a giant group of Pokemon left. A Charizard, tail lit brightly, with an Alakazam rider. The Legendary Articuno, bearing an Eevee, a Quilava, and a Breloom on its feathered back. An Absol, running below at an incredibly fast pace. A Tyranitar with massive claws pulling dirt behind it as it burrowed a tunnel faster than any Pokemon its size could run. And atop that mountain, so high and shimmering, sat a Ninetales, with a smile over her muzzle.
"And so it goes," she said. And she faded from view in a matter of seconds.
Chapter Twenty-Rexus
"Because he knows that Tigerclaw killed Redtail," Firepaw answered.
-Erin Hunter, Warriors: Into the Wild
"Because he knows that Tigerclaw killed Redtail," Firepaw answered.
-Erin Hunter, Warriors: Into the Wild
Rexus overlooked the village from atop a stone top over a shopcounter, eyes watching and scanning for anything suspicious in the fray below. There were Pokemon in every area he could see, tearing and clawinging at each other with blood dripping from mouths and wounds both new and old. There was still no clear victor, even after all these days of fights and battles. Too many rebels, all too determined to win. He couldn't let them win. He had to keep his newly-earned authority over these Pokemon if he wanted to ever gain any success at ruling over a larger, more continental group. And more importantly, he had to ensure that everyone believed Ameri was the human in the Ninetales legend. He had to, because if everyone blamed her, he would remain safe from harm or accusation. It was his top priority, above keeping his power in check.
There was Zangoose fighting with a Scyther. She had once been on their side. Most of them had, at first, when rebels were few and the cost for joining them was great and unpreventable. Before they all grouped together. Now, to enslave just one of them there would need to be a small army, because they'd fight hard to keep just one on their side. What will come of all this? he asked himself. Is Alakazam ever going to come back with his report of Ameri and Soto's death?!
And in what seemed like the greatest cooincidence of all, there was a great thud behind him. It was like a huge beast was landing, and it made him leap up in surprise. Rexus whirled around. There stood Charizard, and Alakazam climbing from his back.
"Ah, good you've returned!" Rexus greeted, "As you can see, it's gotten out of control! The rebels are too strong to beat! I'll be needing your help. And I presume you bear the long awaited news?" Somehow, he felt that he was not about to be given a kind responce. Charizard had his fangs bared, and Alakazam's eyes burned with anger. Oh no... he thought.
"Your rule over this town is over, Rexus," spat Alakazam, "You are full of greed for power and completely heartless to do what you did to Ameri and Soto. They are alive, and coming. Coming to stop you and your army."
"Oh really?" asked Rexus, feeling a bit of smug confidence rise in him, "And how do you tell that? My troops will need more convincing and proof to believe she deserves to live, and a little Eevee and a pathetic excuse for a Quilava will make no difference in this battle."
"Then maybe a Charizard, a Tyranitar, an Alakazam, a Breloom, an Absol, and another, much more sacred Pokemon will," replied Alakazam simply, head turned to the sky. Rexus curled his grin into a frown, and looked up to where Alakazam had. What he saw sent him crawling to the ground. All the sounds of fighting had stopped as Pokemon stared at it, amazed and unable to beleive what they were seeing.
"The innocent are not to be taken advantage of, and those who punish them are to be brought to justice!!" cried Articuno, wings outstretched and cold mist flying from her beak. Ameri peered over the great bird's shoulder and looked at Rexus, who lay on the stone roof shivering helplessly, unable to move. The look in his eyes... so helpless and frightened.
Tunavii stared at him, her trainer, and felt inside her what must be done to save his life.
"Ga... Gardevoir?" she heard herself ask aloud. Rexus turned up at her as soon as the name escaped her lips, eyes wide with surprise and fear. Ameri's own eyes widened. No way...
"What is it, Ameri?" Soto asked, "Is it another message?"
Ameri stared in amazement at the Gengar, unable to take her eyes off of his. And he seemed to feel the same way. It is... It just is!
"You..." she breathed, "You are the human in Ninetales's Legend... You are the Pokemon the prophecy spoke of. And it is true. Your arrival has come at the same time as the demise. That is why you blamed me... To save yoruself from suspicion!"
Everyone; all the rebelling Pokemon, all the Pokemon of Rexus's alliances, and all the Pokemon who stood with Ameri now, was silent with shock and speechlessness. It all fit together. Everything that had to do with Ameri's exile. And the hostility that came from the glares against Rexus made Ameri feel nervous. Even for someone so cruel, who had done so much to her, she had to feel a twinge of sympathy.
"Then... He's to blame!! All this time! If Articuno and Gardevoir and Alakazam say so, then it must be true!! He's to blame for the demise!!" someone called.
"Kill him! Snap his limbs in two!!" It was Lombre.
"Do worse than that," yowled Deyarcus, "Stick his body through sharpened stakes and spikes!! Rip off his flesh and make him choke on his own black blood with his eyes ripped from their sockets! Make his death as painful as possible!"
"Yeah!!" chanted in everyone, "Slay him!! Slay the heartless human!"
"STOP!!!"
All heads turned. It was a tiny Eevee on top of a stone building, with a great bird of ice behind her and the Pokemon -human- they all wanted to drive into the earth. Gasps broke out amongst them all, of pure surprise.
"But Ameri, if anyone should feel like he deserves the worst death possible, it would be you!" a Scyther called.
"Yes!" added Lombre, "Don't you see what he's done! Not only did he drive you out with terrible lies for his selfish fears, but he forced his power onto us all! He killed!! It's his fault that Fyra is dead, along with so many others! It's his fault that Joku is gone!! It's his fault that this town was destroyed, and his fault that so many lives will be ruined now! And you say we shouldn't kill him?!"
"Exactly!!" Soto cried, tears dripping from his blue eyes, "Too many have died already!! Don't you understand this whole ordeal?! Me and Ameri learned something important from it all, and that's that violence and killing will never solve anything! They only make things more sorrowful and straining on everyone around you! Do any of you fools understand?!"
Orion stepped forward, before the huge crowd. Everyone in Wezla. Other than the ill and dead, it was everyone he had left with promise, and now he was here, without the Pokemon who had inspired the whole rebellion. And his words reflected that Pokemon's plight.
"Joku was a great leader. In a single night, he managed to form the beginnings of the only Pokemon who would dare to fight for justice, and then left to find the two he wished to save. And in the process, he lost his own life at the command of Rexus and claws of Alakazam's Team. Does this mean we should kill Rexus? Take his life because of one that his commands took? No! When I lost Joku, I lost not only a leader, but a true friend. And no matter how cruel you may be, there is always someone who cares about you like I did for Joku, and like Soto does for Ameri. Someone who would be devestated to hear of your death, or someone who would have wished it was their life that had been lost instead. Ameri and Soto are right. And though he should be punished, he should not be mercilessly slaughtered by all of us in mass."
"His words are true!" added Kunea from the crowd, "I lost my mother at the fault of the Pokemon who is now my leader and greatest role model. You can always find ways to forgive. You can always find some good in everyone!"
The crowd stopped chanting against Rexus. In fact, the atmosphere had changed entirely, for now instead of angry yowls, there were tears of sympathy and gazes that looked up at Pokemon, respecting them as leaders and speakers. Ameri turned back to Rexus.
"You will not be killed. You will be exiled, " she told him, "Tonight you must leave, never to return. Be thankful your life has been spared."
Not waiting for even a glance back at her, she turned back to Soto. He stood there with Orion, Koro, and Articuno. An old friend with three new and wonderful team-mates. Oh how great it would be, working as a Rescue Team again. Working for justice and saving lives rather than struggling to protect their own. She smiled at them all.
"Come, all of you. We need rest, and tomorrow there is much work to be done. Articuno, do you still wish to stay?"
"Indeed, Ameri. Your brave words have inspired me to trust you deeply. And I can sense it within you: You are here to do good. You are here to help us in these grave times. With you, I see a bright future, and I see the end of this dark period. I would fight to the death for you if I had to, and I will stay as long as you need me."
Ameri nodded with pride and pleasure. "Great! Well, we have a small hut, but you're welcome to seek shelter anywhere you'd like. A forest with thick branches and leaves overhead is nearby. Let's get back home, Soto. And our new members of Team Yukon!"
That night Rexus was sent off in a big event. In the same night, a party was held to welcome Ameri and Soto back, as well as the end of the rebellion and small wars. And, also that night, for the frst time in at least a month, Ameri and Soto slept peacefully and calmly in their own little hut.
IceDragon2439
Stand Up and Scream
- 258
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Age 34
- Ecruteak City, Johto
- Seen Aug 1, 2010
Awesome, awesome, awesome. These were great chapters. I loved both of them and especially having Articuno in it. I hope there's more. You did awesome!
I only saw one spelling error and it was at the beginning, thy should be they.
Awesome!!!
I only saw one spelling error and it was at the beginning, thy should be they.
Awesome!!!
- 777
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Seen Mar 11, 2023
Thanks, but there's probably a lot more errors than that (i dont gots wurd). Oh well though. Not much more I can do. Glad someone's really reading it and replying a lot though. Here's a pair of chapters!
_____________pie____________________
"Ameri..."
Gardevoir... Tunavii. That... is your name, isn't it?
"Yes. Yes, it is."
Then do you know... Can you tell me?
"Why? You want me to tell you why you became a Pokemon? How you connect to the demise?"
Yes.
"You are here... in this world... for a purpose."
A purpose? Please. Tell me more.
CRA-ACK
BO-O-O-OM
What was that?
"Am-er-i!"
Tunavii?
"C-Coming! Demis-s-se!! I-I-I-Its-s-s-s c-c-c-com-m-ing... Am-eri! Amer...i..."
Tunavi!!
"Tunavii!!" Ameri yelped as she sprung from her bed, fur raised on end. Something was not right at all. Through the roaring and ringing in her ears she heard continuous cracking and breaking sounds, very loud and powerful. The earth shook vigorously, and she toppled over with the sudden tremor. "Soto?!" called Ameri. She looked up. Soto was nowhere to be seen. Nor were Orion and Koro. And the berry basket was left untouched on the stump where they normally ate breakfast. Where are they? What's going on here?!
Folowing a scent trail leading outside and to the town square, Ameri found the end of it with Soto and Orion, and they were looking up anxiously. Orion's eyes showed determination. Soto's eyes showed fear.
"Ameri. The quake..." Lombre muttered as he walked up to her. His battle scars from all those days rebelling and fighting were fresh on his light turquoise and green flesh. It had been only a night. The only thing that changed was that everyone seemed to be working together to prevent whatever was coming. But what was coming?
"I know," the Eevee replied, "There was a quake. But something's coming. We all can tell. What is it?"
"That's why we sent Koro," Soto aswered for Lombre, "He said he could tell where it was coming from. He ran to get a closer feel of it. We just hope he comes back in time."
"You mean... it's coming? From somewhere? Soto... This could be it!"
"It?"
"No..." Orion whispered under his breath, "Not now. It couldn't be."
"The demise? No! Can't be..." But there was obvious uncertainty in Soto's voice. Suddenly, Koro burst from the fog coating the air with Articuno flying over him. Both looked worried and incredibly serious.
"A wave," Koro gasped, catching his breath.
"A what?" asked Lombre.
"A wave. From the sea," Articuno said, "A giant wave. And it is coming."
"You mean... a tsunami?!" Lombre exclaimed, "That's impossible! They don't get that big!! Not enough to hit this far inland! I mean, we have a small stretch of woods and some plains before we reach the sea!"
"But it is that big," Koro replied, "And if we don't get everyone here into shelter, out of its range, we will all die by drowning."
"What?! This is insane!!" Soto cried, "What'll we do?!"
"I'll spread the word," Orion said.
"Me too," Articuno added, spreading her magnificent blue wings and soaring into the sky, which had clouded with fog and threats of rain overnight. Ameri just then looked to see the town. Pokemon raced around in panic among the now even more tattered remains. Along with the bloodstains, ripped shop curtains, and scraped stone of the battles, there were new wounds, fresh and open. Giant cracks in the earth that stretched far, defying the splits between grass, dirt, and pavement were scattered about, each a completely different scar than another. Soto shivered.
"Ameri? You seem... worried. Anything happen last night? We left you to sleep since you were muttering. Like you did when you spoke to Gardevoir. The quake must not have woken you until it reached its peak and stopped."
Ameri tilted her long ears back a little. "She says I have a... purpose... I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I'm not speaking to anyone..."
"Then how would you know about Ninetales?" he questioned defiantly, "Or Rexus? You wouldn't. She is your Guardian, and you have to listen if you're gonna find anything out... Never mind all that for now though. We should make a plan. Where shall we all flee?"
"Remember that ridge? When we first ran away, there was a ridge, leading to the Badlands. We looked over it and saw tornadoes scraping the earth. We would have run there, but we didn't think we'd get far. That would have to be the closest escape," suggested Ameri, "Of course, we'd risk whatever's out there now..." She shuddered at the thought. Natural disasters had only gotten worse. If a wave big enough to blow from the ocean to at least five miles inland was coming, who knows what would be in that dreadful place?
"It's our only hope!" Soto replied.
"No it isn't!"
It was Alakazam's voice that spoke. He had emerged before them through teleportation, and held one of the metal spoons he always carried to his face level. Ameri and Soto looked up, surprised.
"I have senses too. And that's not all of the quakes we're seeing either. They are coming back. The tsunami should take at least until the sun reaches its mid-point. We can't see it in this weather, but we all can tell that noon's not too far off. That's just when I feel this quake will come. And not just any quake. Like this mega-wave from our western sea, it will be unlike any quake we've ever experienced. Ripping fissures large enough to swallow the town as water fills in the giant gap. It will be the end of us all."
"Then... what can we do but flee?! That only reinforces it!" Soto cried. But Alakazam shook his head, eyes slanted down in a respectable manner, as if focusing hard on his words.
"Alas. There are enraged gods, Soto. Like Zapdos and Moltres have been. But more. The god of the earth, Groudon, is a titan of land disasters. Its mighty roar makes the earth quiver. Its rage is forming fissures and landslides and tremors. The god of the sea, Kyogre, is an emperor of the ocean's mighty reign. It's cries make the seas break out in fury. Its anger forms the tsunami heading this way. However, we can distract their rage, and in doing so we will put an end to this oncoming demise."
Ameri's eyes widened. "So... You're saying we need to go to Kyogre and Groudon, and... make them focus their rage on us?"
"Yes," answered Alakazam, "For it is the only other way I see. If we do not, they will only become more distressed by the oncoming demise and disturbances in the balance. Before long, none will live, no matter where they flee, and the two gods will clash in their reawakened states. The War of the Titans, Kyogre and Groudon, which lasted for a century of doom, will come again. Likely, the demise will be upon us by then. There shall be no hope."
Ameri and Soto turned to each other. Koro was still beside them, having only listened intently and absorbed their words rather than spoken for himself. Silence had earned him his knowledge.
"Still, everyone should evacuate," Ameri urged, "That evacuation will be led by Orion. Articuno can get us to our destination. Me and Soto, I mean."
"Right," replied Alakazam, as a fellow Pokemon rather than the higher leader he used to sound like. Ameri was at his level, rather than just the leader of a little new Rescue Team that was just a human trying to pull it off as a Pokemon. At this point, she felt that she really wasn't much of a human at all.
"We will lead our team to Kyogre," Ameri continued. Alakazam nodded.
"Yes, that would be best. My team can handle Groudon's lair. We've been to Hell and back across Mt.Blaze's desolation, only a week or so back, and this is basically the same place. Articuno's air travel will be safer to cross over the sea, and as far as I see it's the only way. You fly straight west from here, until you reach the open ocean. Keep going though. The cavern looks like a gaping mouth, full of pointed fangs, reaching straight from the ocean's depths. Go with courage. I will tell Orion and Articuno your plans."
Soto nodded this time. And Alakazam teleported away, with a glance of hope. Yes, Ameri thought, We will need lots of that. Courage... and hope. A last chance to save Wezla. Already... Could this be my role? No... this doesn't feel like the end. The demise still waits. But for now, there is Kyogre. And Groudon. And a hepless town to save.
NOTE: The next chapter mentions Gracane, a fakemon of mine. Basically it conrtols water-realted natural disasters (particularly hurricanes, as the name implies). It doesn't appear or come into much importance, but it is mentioned.
Despite having her memories lost, Ameri had a general knowledge of what an ocean looked like, and this was not anything close. She knew that the sea was a seemingly endless expansion of open, blue water, with rippling waves over it and a bottom so vastly deep down and that you'd never be able to see it. This was anything but that. Just sand. Not an ocean of water, but an ocean of sand and rock that had been gradually extending further and further below them as Articuno flew. In fact, if they were to fall now, they would more than definately fall for... for who knows how long, before bursting to pieces at the bottom, wherever that may be.
"The tide has pulled the waters back," explained Articuno, "Kyogre used its powers to pull back all the water between here and its cavern, and that will form the tidal wave. The tsunami. And, according to my senses, we aren't far. It should be coming up below any moment, actually."
Soto looked down uneasilly. His two uneasy fears were heights and water, and now he was facing both at the same time. It made Ameri thankful for her calm state of mind. Well, calm considering she didn't worry about things like that.
"What's that?" she asked, noticing a huge line of fizzy white bubbling all along the huge horizon. Soto instantly tipped up his head, eyes following her gaze to the fizz, which was getting taller and taller. The way it rose up into a great blue mass made him yelp and cover his head with his paws, pressing down onto Articuno. Ameri gasped and stared up at it, mouth hanging open in suprise, wonder, and worry. As they came closer to it, the force it exerted made her fur and whiskers blow back. So this was what Articuno meant by the forming tide. This was all the water that should have been below them the whole half hour flight, built up into a teeming tower of sea that must've rose hundreds if not thousands of feet above them. It was too vast and immense to describe without leaving much of it out. Simply uncomprehendable. And Articuno was flying closer.
"Atricuno!! What are you doing?!" Soto cried out. But the blue bird only sped up, wings flapping harder and faster against the power pushing from the wave. He closed his eyes, prepared for the end. Ameri saw the wide, collossal tower of foam and water right above her. Ten to thirty feet away. Then, it all fell.
Everything was falling. The sky and wave and air around her. She felt it fall, and the only thing that wasn't falling was Articuno, and Soto on her back with her. Was it crashing on them? Had they disturbed it? Was it all over?! How...
Then, suddenly, something dark closed around them. It was total darkness. Everything, even Articuno and Soto, disappeared, though she still felt their presence under and near her. Feathers and fur. Tense breaths. The only things Ameri could hear were the movement of the wave water above and the sound of air cutting against them and falling... falling... And then it slowed down. Slower, and slower... All sounds faded into nothingness. Breathing became hard as the air grew thinner. Was this death? Was this how it felt to die? Would her consiousness fail and die out in a couple seconds? Or was time even existing anymore to her?
The weightlessness of flight ended in the sound of a soft talon-scraping against rock. Feathers stopped flapping in the falling air. The furry body of Soto fell away, and Ameri heard his body land. Softly, and it wasn't many feet down. Right near her. Ameri felt the weightlessness return for a split second as Articuno's feathers slipped away. She expected to be lost from it all, and to fall ito the cold abyss below, except that there was no abyss. Only a solid, smooth floor that felt like stone. It was still cold though, just like the thin air around them. Ameri sat up, and saw a few tiny pale blue lights illuminate the darkness, growing brighter and brighter. Crystals. Glowing crystals in the craggy rock walls, which showed up as a beautiful mixture of gray, purple, and blue shades in color. She looked up and saw an even tinier hole far up above, in a circular tunnel of darkness. Sounds of the wave still could be heard very faintly from up there. They had entered the cavern. Articuno lowered her head.
"We must find Kyogre," she inquired. Soto's eyes flicked open, and his nose twitched.
"We're.... alive?!" the Quilava gapsed, "Ameri!! Are you okay?!"
Ameri turned to him, and the sight of his small face and blue eyes made her feel more thankful than she had ever felt of anything. "Yeah," she replied, "I'm fine."
"Good. Then we should get going," Soto said. Ameri nodded. She took a cautious step over the stone, and realized that the area was wider than she had first perceived. There was a hole in the back wall, and a trail carved deeper into the bottom of the tunnel. Water seemed to have flown there, but now it was all built up into the sky. Articuno lowered herself into the dried waterway.
"It's uncomfortable, but I'll go on. You may need me," she told them. Ameri and Soto smiled, and then trio began moving. As with all dark caverns and places they'd been, time was irrelevant. It did not apply, it seemed. Despite this, they knew there was still a great chance that the wave would strike at any moment, and the fates of everyone would be doomed.
They padded on, hearing their own breathing, small footsteps, and Articuno's talons scraping against the stone. The whole place was built so perfectly, as if it couldn't have just been carved. How had it been made, in the first place? Ameri suspected that Kyogre's legendary and mystical powers formed it, so it had a place to rest. More time passed, endlessly and silently crawling behind them. When would the tunnels and caverns end? Just as they were beginning to wonder, a large opening came into view. The dry waterway opened to the full extent of the path, and the raised stone that Ameri and Soto were standing on lowered down to the bottom of it. If there had been water, as there should have been, to fill the waterway, they would not easilly be able to continue; Soto in particular.
Carefully, the group entered the opening. All became dark. Either the crystals went out, or the section they were in was very deep in and had no lights. Nervously, Soto lit his flame, except, only tiny yellow sparks came out, and those died instantly.
"It's too moist," he whispered to Ameri, obviously sounding nervous. Articuno stepped forward and spread her wings, flapping them once. The humidity in the air instantly became cold, and the tiny specs of water Ameri guessed were floating about to form that humidity all sparkled and fell to the ground, leaving the air with a slight chill. Soto tried his flame again, but this time, he didn't need it.
The floor lit up with a huge mark, purple in color, and more crystals blared from the walls. They were in a circular room, except that the back of it seemed to have no end. Maybe it didn't. They weren't anxious to know. Especially when a shadow with two glowing, yellow eyes came hauling itself forward. It was moving with a pair of giant fins, each one bearing the same mark that was on the floor, in red. The beast slithered before them, and opened its wide mouth to reveal at least a hundred tiny, sharp teeth. Ameri wrinkled her nose as she caught a rancid whiff of fish on its breath.
"What do you come for, land-walkers?" it asked in a deep and powerful voice, "This is the domain of my sea, where you do not belong. You are of Groudon's domain, and not the domain of I, Kyogre, lord of the ocean."
Soto looked too frightened to speak, standing there with a paralyzed look. Ameri stepped forward, ignoring him and the smell of fish.
"Kyogre, we come to calm you... and... to put an end to the tsunami. We did not cause the natural disasters that now fill this land, and nor did any of the Pokemon this wave will put to death. Please, call it down and stop this."
"Ah, but I am already calmed, am I not?" asked Kyogre in a wise tone, "This wave was created through my anger indeed, but I am calmed and it is still there. It is not us, the gods of land and sea, that cause disaster. There are other gods for causing that. My tsunami is no longer mine, but under the control of Gracane, one of the Titans of Disaster."
"Then... we have to go find Gracane?!" growled Soto, suddenly getting his wits back, "We don't have time!!"
"Alas, you can stop it yourselves, young Quilava," Kyogre replied, "You have Articuno, the Guardian of Ice with you. And she controls water, in her own way. Farewell..."
Ameri did not see Kyogre leave though, because a loud roaring split the silence. Not the roar of a Pokemon or creature. The roar of the sea, crashing down with incredible power and force.
When they turned around, Kyogre was nowhere to be seen. When they turned back to the exit of the cavern, they saw a giant flow of water flying in at them, clear and powerful. They were going to die. If it didn't smash the life out of them when it hit them, then it would drown them when it filled the cavern. The wave had broken, and now there could be no hope. All in a split second Ameri and Soto realized this, and they winced down, preparing for the end. Articuno looked just as appalled. Soto looked up at her.
"You heard Kyogre! Get us outta here!!"
__________
CLIFFHANGER!! :D
_____________pie____________________
Chapter Twenty One-Calamity Strikes Again
"Ameri..."
Gardevoir... Tunavii. That... is your name, isn't it?
"Yes. Yes, it is."
Then do you know... Can you tell me?
"Why? You want me to tell you why you became a Pokemon? How you connect to the demise?"
Yes.
"You are here... in this world... for a purpose."
A purpose? Please. Tell me more.
CRA-ACK
BO-O-O-OM
What was that?
"Am-er-i!"
Tunavii?
"C-Coming! Demis-s-se!! I-I-I-Its-s-s-s c-c-c-com-m-ing... Am-eri! Amer...i..."
Tunavi!!
"Tunavii!!" Ameri yelped as she sprung from her bed, fur raised on end. Something was not right at all. Through the roaring and ringing in her ears she heard continuous cracking and breaking sounds, very loud and powerful. The earth shook vigorously, and she toppled over with the sudden tremor. "Soto?!" called Ameri. She looked up. Soto was nowhere to be seen. Nor were Orion and Koro. And the berry basket was left untouched on the stump where they normally ate breakfast. Where are they? What's going on here?!
Folowing a scent trail leading outside and to the town square, Ameri found the end of it with Soto and Orion, and they were looking up anxiously. Orion's eyes showed determination. Soto's eyes showed fear.
"Ameri. The quake..." Lombre muttered as he walked up to her. His battle scars from all those days rebelling and fighting were fresh on his light turquoise and green flesh. It had been only a night. The only thing that changed was that everyone seemed to be working together to prevent whatever was coming. But what was coming?
"I know," the Eevee replied, "There was a quake. But something's coming. We all can tell. What is it?"
"That's why we sent Koro," Soto aswered for Lombre, "He said he could tell where it was coming from. He ran to get a closer feel of it. We just hope he comes back in time."
"You mean... it's coming? From somewhere? Soto... This could be it!"
"It?"
"No..." Orion whispered under his breath, "Not now. It couldn't be."
"The demise? No! Can't be..." But there was obvious uncertainty in Soto's voice. Suddenly, Koro burst from the fog coating the air with Articuno flying over him. Both looked worried and incredibly serious.
"A wave," Koro gasped, catching his breath.
"A what?" asked Lombre.
"A wave. From the sea," Articuno said, "A giant wave. And it is coming."
"You mean... a tsunami?!" Lombre exclaimed, "That's impossible! They don't get that big!! Not enough to hit this far inland! I mean, we have a small stretch of woods and some plains before we reach the sea!"
"But it is that big," Koro replied, "And if we don't get everyone here into shelter, out of its range, we will all die by drowning."
"What?! This is insane!!" Soto cried, "What'll we do?!"
"I'll spread the word," Orion said.
"Me too," Articuno added, spreading her magnificent blue wings and soaring into the sky, which had clouded with fog and threats of rain overnight. Ameri just then looked to see the town. Pokemon raced around in panic among the now even more tattered remains. Along with the bloodstains, ripped shop curtains, and scraped stone of the battles, there were new wounds, fresh and open. Giant cracks in the earth that stretched far, defying the splits between grass, dirt, and pavement were scattered about, each a completely different scar than another. Soto shivered.
"Ameri? You seem... worried. Anything happen last night? We left you to sleep since you were muttering. Like you did when you spoke to Gardevoir. The quake must not have woken you until it reached its peak and stopped."
Ameri tilted her long ears back a little. "She says I have a... purpose... I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I'm not speaking to anyone..."
"Then how would you know about Ninetales?" he questioned defiantly, "Or Rexus? You wouldn't. She is your Guardian, and you have to listen if you're gonna find anything out... Never mind all that for now though. We should make a plan. Where shall we all flee?"
"Remember that ridge? When we first ran away, there was a ridge, leading to the Badlands. We looked over it and saw tornadoes scraping the earth. We would have run there, but we didn't think we'd get far. That would have to be the closest escape," suggested Ameri, "Of course, we'd risk whatever's out there now..." She shuddered at the thought. Natural disasters had only gotten worse. If a wave big enough to blow from the ocean to at least five miles inland was coming, who knows what would be in that dreadful place?
"It's our only hope!" Soto replied.
"No it isn't!"
It was Alakazam's voice that spoke. He had emerged before them through teleportation, and held one of the metal spoons he always carried to his face level. Ameri and Soto looked up, surprised.
"I have senses too. And that's not all of the quakes we're seeing either. They are coming back. The tsunami should take at least until the sun reaches its mid-point. We can't see it in this weather, but we all can tell that noon's not too far off. That's just when I feel this quake will come. And not just any quake. Like this mega-wave from our western sea, it will be unlike any quake we've ever experienced. Ripping fissures large enough to swallow the town as water fills in the giant gap. It will be the end of us all."
"Then... what can we do but flee?! That only reinforces it!" Soto cried. But Alakazam shook his head, eyes slanted down in a respectable manner, as if focusing hard on his words.
"Alas. There are enraged gods, Soto. Like Zapdos and Moltres have been. But more. The god of the earth, Groudon, is a titan of land disasters. Its mighty roar makes the earth quiver. Its rage is forming fissures and landslides and tremors. The god of the sea, Kyogre, is an emperor of the ocean's mighty reign. It's cries make the seas break out in fury. Its anger forms the tsunami heading this way. However, we can distract their rage, and in doing so we will put an end to this oncoming demise."
Ameri's eyes widened. "So... You're saying we need to go to Kyogre and Groudon, and... make them focus their rage on us?"
"Yes," answered Alakazam, "For it is the only other way I see. If we do not, they will only become more distressed by the oncoming demise and disturbances in the balance. Before long, none will live, no matter where they flee, and the two gods will clash in their reawakened states. The War of the Titans, Kyogre and Groudon, which lasted for a century of doom, will come again. Likely, the demise will be upon us by then. There shall be no hope."
Ameri and Soto turned to each other. Koro was still beside them, having only listened intently and absorbed their words rather than spoken for himself. Silence had earned him his knowledge.
"Still, everyone should evacuate," Ameri urged, "That evacuation will be led by Orion. Articuno can get us to our destination. Me and Soto, I mean."
"Right," replied Alakazam, as a fellow Pokemon rather than the higher leader he used to sound like. Ameri was at his level, rather than just the leader of a little new Rescue Team that was just a human trying to pull it off as a Pokemon. At this point, she felt that she really wasn't much of a human at all.
"We will lead our team to Kyogre," Ameri continued. Alakazam nodded.
"Yes, that would be best. My team can handle Groudon's lair. We've been to Hell and back across Mt.Blaze's desolation, only a week or so back, and this is basically the same place. Articuno's air travel will be safer to cross over the sea, and as far as I see it's the only way. You fly straight west from here, until you reach the open ocean. Keep going though. The cavern looks like a gaping mouth, full of pointed fangs, reaching straight from the ocean's depths. Go with courage. I will tell Orion and Articuno your plans."
Soto nodded this time. And Alakazam teleported away, with a glance of hope. Yes, Ameri thought, We will need lots of that. Courage... and hope. A last chance to save Wezla. Already... Could this be my role? No... this doesn't feel like the end. The demise still waits. But for now, there is Kyogre. And Groudon. And a hepless town to save.
NOTE: The next chapter mentions Gracane, a fakemon of mine. Basically it conrtols water-realted natural disasters (particularly hurricanes, as the name implies). It doesn't appear or come into much importance, but it is mentioned.
Chapter TwentyTwo-The Ocean Cavern
Now began the most dangerous part of the journey. They each shouldered the heavy pack and the water-skin that was their share, and turned from the light that lay on the lands outside and plunged into the forest.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
Now began the most dangerous part of the journey. They each shouldered the heavy pack and the water-skin that was their share, and turned from the light that lay on the lands outside and plunged into the forest.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
Despite having her memories lost, Ameri had a general knowledge of what an ocean looked like, and this was not anything close. She knew that the sea was a seemingly endless expansion of open, blue water, with rippling waves over it and a bottom so vastly deep down and that you'd never be able to see it. This was anything but that. Just sand. Not an ocean of water, but an ocean of sand and rock that had been gradually extending further and further below them as Articuno flew. In fact, if they were to fall now, they would more than definately fall for... for who knows how long, before bursting to pieces at the bottom, wherever that may be.
"The tide has pulled the waters back," explained Articuno, "Kyogre used its powers to pull back all the water between here and its cavern, and that will form the tidal wave. The tsunami. And, according to my senses, we aren't far. It should be coming up below any moment, actually."
Soto looked down uneasilly. His two uneasy fears were heights and water, and now he was facing both at the same time. It made Ameri thankful for her calm state of mind. Well, calm considering she didn't worry about things like that.
"What's that?" she asked, noticing a huge line of fizzy white bubbling all along the huge horizon. Soto instantly tipped up his head, eyes following her gaze to the fizz, which was getting taller and taller. The way it rose up into a great blue mass made him yelp and cover his head with his paws, pressing down onto Articuno. Ameri gasped and stared up at it, mouth hanging open in suprise, wonder, and worry. As they came closer to it, the force it exerted made her fur and whiskers blow back. So this was what Articuno meant by the forming tide. This was all the water that should have been below them the whole half hour flight, built up into a teeming tower of sea that must've rose hundreds if not thousands of feet above them. It was too vast and immense to describe without leaving much of it out. Simply uncomprehendable. And Articuno was flying closer.
"Atricuno!! What are you doing?!" Soto cried out. But the blue bird only sped up, wings flapping harder and faster against the power pushing from the wave. He closed his eyes, prepared for the end. Ameri saw the wide, collossal tower of foam and water right above her. Ten to thirty feet away. Then, it all fell.
Everything was falling. The sky and wave and air around her. She felt it fall, and the only thing that wasn't falling was Articuno, and Soto on her back with her. Was it crashing on them? Had they disturbed it? Was it all over?! How...
Then, suddenly, something dark closed around them. It was total darkness. Everything, even Articuno and Soto, disappeared, though she still felt their presence under and near her. Feathers and fur. Tense breaths. The only things Ameri could hear were the movement of the wave water above and the sound of air cutting against them and falling... falling... And then it slowed down. Slower, and slower... All sounds faded into nothingness. Breathing became hard as the air grew thinner. Was this death? Was this how it felt to die? Would her consiousness fail and die out in a couple seconds? Or was time even existing anymore to her?
The weightlessness of flight ended in the sound of a soft talon-scraping against rock. Feathers stopped flapping in the falling air. The furry body of Soto fell away, and Ameri heard his body land. Softly, and it wasn't many feet down. Right near her. Ameri felt the weightlessness return for a split second as Articuno's feathers slipped away. She expected to be lost from it all, and to fall ito the cold abyss below, except that there was no abyss. Only a solid, smooth floor that felt like stone. It was still cold though, just like the thin air around them. Ameri sat up, and saw a few tiny pale blue lights illuminate the darkness, growing brighter and brighter. Crystals. Glowing crystals in the craggy rock walls, which showed up as a beautiful mixture of gray, purple, and blue shades in color. She looked up and saw an even tinier hole far up above, in a circular tunnel of darkness. Sounds of the wave still could be heard very faintly from up there. They had entered the cavern. Articuno lowered her head.
"We must find Kyogre," she inquired. Soto's eyes flicked open, and his nose twitched.
"We're.... alive?!" the Quilava gapsed, "Ameri!! Are you okay?!"
Ameri turned to him, and the sight of his small face and blue eyes made her feel more thankful than she had ever felt of anything. "Yeah," she replied, "I'm fine."
"Good. Then we should get going," Soto said. Ameri nodded. She took a cautious step over the stone, and realized that the area was wider than she had first perceived. There was a hole in the back wall, and a trail carved deeper into the bottom of the tunnel. Water seemed to have flown there, but now it was all built up into the sky. Articuno lowered herself into the dried waterway.
"It's uncomfortable, but I'll go on. You may need me," she told them. Ameri and Soto smiled, and then trio began moving. As with all dark caverns and places they'd been, time was irrelevant. It did not apply, it seemed. Despite this, they knew there was still a great chance that the wave would strike at any moment, and the fates of everyone would be doomed.
They padded on, hearing their own breathing, small footsteps, and Articuno's talons scraping against the stone. The whole place was built so perfectly, as if it couldn't have just been carved. How had it been made, in the first place? Ameri suspected that Kyogre's legendary and mystical powers formed it, so it had a place to rest. More time passed, endlessly and silently crawling behind them. When would the tunnels and caverns end? Just as they were beginning to wonder, a large opening came into view. The dry waterway opened to the full extent of the path, and the raised stone that Ameri and Soto were standing on lowered down to the bottom of it. If there had been water, as there should have been, to fill the waterway, they would not easilly be able to continue; Soto in particular.
Carefully, the group entered the opening. All became dark. Either the crystals went out, or the section they were in was very deep in and had no lights. Nervously, Soto lit his flame, except, only tiny yellow sparks came out, and those died instantly.
"It's too moist," he whispered to Ameri, obviously sounding nervous. Articuno stepped forward and spread her wings, flapping them once. The humidity in the air instantly became cold, and the tiny specs of water Ameri guessed were floating about to form that humidity all sparkled and fell to the ground, leaving the air with a slight chill. Soto tried his flame again, but this time, he didn't need it.
The floor lit up with a huge mark, purple in color, and more crystals blared from the walls. They were in a circular room, except that the back of it seemed to have no end. Maybe it didn't. They weren't anxious to know. Especially when a shadow with two glowing, yellow eyes came hauling itself forward. It was moving with a pair of giant fins, each one bearing the same mark that was on the floor, in red. The beast slithered before them, and opened its wide mouth to reveal at least a hundred tiny, sharp teeth. Ameri wrinkled her nose as she caught a rancid whiff of fish on its breath.
"What do you come for, land-walkers?" it asked in a deep and powerful voice, "This is the domain of my sea, where you do not belong. You are of Groudon's domain, and not the domain of I, Kyogre, lord of the ocean."
Soto looked too frightened to speak, standing there with a paralyzed look. Ameri stepped forward, ignoring him and the smell of fish.
"Kyogre, we come to calm you... and... to put an end to the tsunami. We did not cause the natural disasters that now fill this land, and nor did any of the Pokemon this wave will put to death. Please, call it down and stop this."
"Ah, but I am already calmed, am I not?" asked Kyogre in a wise tone, "This wave was created through my anger indeed, but I am calmed and it is still there. It is not us, the gods of land and sea, that cause disaster. There are other gods for causing that. My tsunami is no longer mine, but under the control of Gracane, one of the Titans of Disaster."
"Then... we have to go find Gracane?!" growled Soto, suddenly getting his wits back, "We don't have time!!"
"Alas, you can stop it yourselves, young Quilava," Kyogre replied, "You have Articuno, the Guardian of Ice with you. And she controls water, in her own way. Farewell..."
Ameri did not see Kyogre leave though, because a loud roaring split the silence. Not the roar of a Pokemon or creature. The roar of the sea, crashing down with incredible power and force.
When they turned around, Kyogre was nowhere to be seen. When they turned back to the exit of the cavern, they saw a giant flow of water flying in at them, clear and powerful. They were going to die. If it didn't smash the life out of them when it hit them, then it would drown them when it filled the cavern. The wave had broken, and now there could be no hope. All in a split second Ameri and Soto realized this, and they winced down, preparing for the end. Articuno looked just as appalled. Soto looked up at her.
"You heard Kyogre! Get us outta here!!"
__________
CLIFFHANGER!! :D
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"It's over..." sighed Lombre, "We're all doomed. Ameri's done some amazing stuff with Soto, but stopping a tsunami? By what I've heard I can guess it's no ordinary tsunami either, to hit this far inland! They're probably dead already!!"
"Calm down," Orion replied, trying to sound calm himself. How hard that was proving to be. "I'm sure they've already found Kyogre, and are heading back now with the news that they're done."
"Don't patronize me like I'm a kid," growled Lombre, "I know when something's up, and now there's really something up. Tell me this, Orion. How is it that Alakazam's team isn't back yet, eh? If Team ACT isn't back, then Ameri and Soto'll never make it back! I mean, no one's better than Alakazam and his group, and Groudon and Kyogre seem pretty equal too."
Orion lowered his head. "I'm sorry... I just don't know how to help others feel optimistic, like Soto or Joku could. Maybe it's because I still have doubts myself. I don't know..."
"But indeed, Lombre, you're right," another Pokemon said. It was Koro, walking by with a serious look on his black-as-midnight face. "They are in danger. Both teams. I can feel it. And we may indeed have little hope of their return. Perhaps we should flee?"
"Hell no!" spat Orion, "We're not giving up on them that easilly! This is our town of Wezla, and we've got to stand strong to protect it! I don't care if Ameri and Alakazam aren't coming back. We have to fight our own battles too! I have faith in them, and in us."
"That wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be," Tyranitar snarled as he stomped forward toward a big rock wall. He shoved it aside with his massive hands and cleared the path for Alakazam and Charizard to enter. Magma Cavern was steaming with intense heat, but his hard hide, Charizard's fire type, and Alakazam's strong tolerance made that a minor issue.
There was darkness in the opened hole, other than small streaks of gleaming yellow lava coursing through the walls, pumping the blood of the earth's bowels. And judging by the amount of it, they were probably near the heart. A loud shaking tore through the room, and a voice boomed,
"WHO ENTERS MY CAVERN? YOU HAVE CAUSED MY RAGE, AND I SHALL DESTROY YOU!!"
Alakazam turned to each of his companions. The glint in his eyes told them, Be ready. Here it comes.
BOOM. BOOM.
RAAAAAAHWRRRR!!!
BOOM.
Its shadow became visible on the other side of the room, with a pair of yellow eyes gleaming i the darkness. BOOM. Groudon's gigantic back leg pounded into the ground and shook the earth. BOOM. The saw its red hide and pairs of spikes along the back. BOOM. Giant claws were lifted and it opened its jaws. BOO-OOM.
GRAHA-AAAAAWWRR!!!
The sound of the crashing wave was so loud in Ameri's ears that she couldn't hear anything else over its furious roar. She had prepared herself for the very end. Her long brown ears were tucked down against her face, and her eyes were sealed shut as she clung beside Soto, feeling every muscle in his and her own body tighter than ever before. A few moments passed. Surely they would be slammed to the stone by now? At least being forced back into Kyogre's dark domain by water. What they didn't know was what was really going on, and how could they have with their eyes closed and ears flat as water rushed in at them?
Dark-colored beak wide open, Articuno raised her head as she let out a cry only she could hear beneath the loud wave. The great bird sealed her huge talons around Ameri and Soto, and spread her wings wide. The ground was no longer pulling her down. Gravity did not apply to her magnificent wings. Still calling out her song, she flew straight at the white burst of liquid and foam, coming at her just as fast. With an angled flick of her feathers, she brought a cold gust of sparkling wind upon the ocean water. It stopped, just as it came at her, and began freezing completely to ice. Articuno gave a high-pitched cry, and a large hole, just his enough for her to fly through, formed in the center of the water as it froze competely, trapped in a statue-like image of the sea's rage.
Crying out again and again, Articuno cleared the water to the edges of the cavern with her icy winds, and felt Ameri and Soto moving in her claws. Don't struggle with fear, she thought to herself, If you struggle, you will both fall and meet your doom. Please, stay still and frim.
There it was. The opening in the top of the caven. How had she gotten there so quickly? She'd never know. But it was there, and with all her might, Articuno pushed onward and forced the water back, feeling its power become her own as it froze to ice under her voice.
When she finally made it out of the dark cavern, Articuno saw how much smaller it looked now that it was under a good amount of seawater. Before, when the ocean had gone dry, she saw it stretch all the way up, a truly immense tower of rock, all the way to its mouth, which actually looked like a pair of gaping jaws with sharp and stony fangs. It had defied all she knew about the natural way rocks and caves worked, stretching from that far down, but now it was only an open mouth, looking as if to reach up and escape the ocean that came up to its dark lips.
A bit of a ways away was the wave. It moved fast, crashing toward land with incredible power. She had to stop it. No matter what, Articuno had to stop that tsunami.
When she flew up behind it, it was just as before. Unrealisticly, unimaginably, uncomprehendably massive. So huge that it stretched at least a few miles wide and many more high. From her altitude though, she could see the top, its fizzy tip licking the first black cloud in the sky. Head there been so many black stormclouds before? No. When they'd entered Kyogre's cavern, it had been a bright and cloudless day.
Articuno truly let out her beautiful song, cooing to the water in loud but calm and soothing tones. It was a powerful song, and at the same time soft and delicate. Each note of it was brouhgt from her chest and beak with uppermost care, as to urge the water perfectly into a state of frozen glory.
Of course these words could not be understood by most Pokemon, or humans, or anyone for that matter. They were elemental words of water and ice, cooing to the water in tones it liked to hear best. Kyogre would have understood it. So would the Pokemon 'Gracane' it had mentioned. Legendary Pokemon who knew the ways of the element of water, and those who had been trained in the ways of understanding it for years were the only ones who would know what her notes and cries meant. Them and the water itself. To others, like Ameri and Soto in Articuno's claws, it was just a magnificent song. A song that would save them and their homes from the great wave.
The water began to ripple and shimmer. Articuno was proud to have gotten it this far, but did not stop. She let her song roll deeper and then higher, whispering the words of water on her trilling and cooing voice. And then, something miraculous happened. The tsunami did not freeze over, as she had expected it wouldn't. That would be impossible. But it began to quiver and break down, as if it were crying from the beauty and desperation of Articuno's song. It fell apart and slowly broke its strong course, crashing almost in slow-motion back into the seas from whence it came. And finally, when the wave had fallen fully under water and all of the ripples of its plight had vanished from the ocean, only then did Articuno end her song, in one long note that began high and fell, slowly, slowly, and into a fading depth untl it was no more, a mirror image of the tsunami's plummeting fall. It was over.
"That was... incredible," Ameri breathed, unable to find the right words to describe what had just happened, "Without you, we'd... we'd never have made it back here." Indeed, seeing herself and Soto standing there, in front of their hut again, was incredible. They had escaped certain death again.
Articuno bowed her head, a weary look in her eyes. "There is no need for thanks," she replied, "But I do need to rest. I used all my breath on the song, and now I am exhausted from the flight. Perhaps near your hut?"
Ameri nodded. Articuno walked off on tired legs, scraping the pavement as she did so. A familiarly gruff voice broke in as another Pokemon raced up to them. It was Deyarcus.
"Ameri! Soto! You made it! Did you stop the tsunami?" the Shiftry asked quickly. Ameri nodded. Deyarcus continued, "The earthquake didn't come either, but it's Alakazam's team. They're not back yet."
Ameri's heart skipped a beat.
"What?" asked Soto, sounding as if he couldn't believe it at all. "They... You... It's not true! Team ACT doesn't just disappear! They always come back! Always!!"
Deyarcus sighed and shook his head. "That's what I thought too, but they really aren't back. And judging by how the earthquake didn't come, they might have died to save us all."
Ameri lowered her head and shivered. The image of Alakazam laying on a hard and craggy ground, too weak to move and gasping raspy breaths crossed her mind. She rose and glared defiantly at Deyarcus.
"We're going," she growled.
"Wha-at?!" he yelped, "That's crazy, Ameri!! Alakazam couldn't do it! You and Soto wouldn't stand a chance!"
"And whoever said it would just be Ameri and Soto?" another voice snapped. Deyarcus turned around. There stood Orion, and behind him were Koro, Kunea, and a female Scyther that looked a bit familiar.
"Orion! Kunea! You're going too? But... you're Grass Types! Plant Pokemon! You'll burn up and melt away in the Magma Cavern! You won't stand any more of a chance!"
"That's crap!" hissed Soto, "I went to Kyogre's domain in the sea, and I'm a Fire Type! Surely they can do the same, and you can too."
Deyarcus seemed taken aback by this proposal. His eyes were wide with surprise and his white mane of hair was all fluffed out.
"You want... me?" he asked. Ameri nodded.
"Yes! Come on! They could be needing us all right now! Let's all go. Surely the seven of us can make it, even if we are a bit of a lacking group of Pokemon," the Eevee declared. Soto shook his head as he looked at her.
"No, Ameri. We aren't lacking at all. We've all got the spirit and willpower to save them, and that's more important that anything else we don't have."
And with that, the party set out to save the rescue team that had saved so many others. They would be the rescuers of rescuers, like Joku and Orion before them.
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Chapter TwentyThree-Fading Hope
"It's over..." sighed Lombre, "We're all doomed. Ameri's done some amazing stuff with Soto, but stopping a tsunami? By what I've heard I can guess it's no ordinary tsunami either, to hit this far inland! They're probably dead already!!"
"Calm down," Orion replied, trying to sound calm himself. How hard that was proving to be. "I'm sure they've already found Kyogre, and are heading back now with the news that they're done."
"Don't patronize me like I'm a kid," growled Lombre, "I know when something's up, and now there's really something up. Tell me this, Orion. How is it that Alakazam's team isn't back yet, eh? If Team ACT isn't back, then Ameri and Soto'll never make it back! I mean, no one's better than Alakazam and his group, and Groudon and Kyogre seem pretty equal too."
Orion lowered his head. "I'm sorry... I just don't know how to help others feel optimistic, like Soto or Joku could. Maybe it's because I still have doubts myself. I don't know..."
"But indeed, Lombre, you're right," another Pokemon said. It was Koro, walking by with a serious look on his black-as-midnight face. "They are in danger. Both teams. I can feel it. And we may indeed have little hope of their return. Perhaps we should flee?"
"Hell no!" spat Orion, "We're not giving up on them that easilly! This is our town of Wezla, and we've got to stand strong to protect it! I don't care if Ameri and Alakazam aren't coming back. We have to fight our own battles too! I have faith in them, and in us."
"That wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be," Tyranitar snarled as he stomped forward toward a big rock wall. He shoved it aside with his massive hands and cleared the path for Alakazam and Charizard to enter. Magma Cavern was steaming with intense heat, but his hard hide, Charizard's fire type, and Alakazam's strong tolerance made that a minor issue.
There was darkness in the opened hole, other than small streaks of gleaming yellow lava coursing through the walls, pumping the blood of the earth's bowels. And judging by the amount of it, they were probably near the heart. A loud shaking tore through the room, and a voice boomed,
"WHO ENTERS MY CAVERN? YOU HAVE CAUSED MY RAGE, AND I SHALL DESTROY YOU!!"
Alakazam turned to each of his companions. The glint in his eyes told them, Be ready. Here it comes.
BOOM. BOOM.
RAAAAAAHWRRRR!!!
BOOM.
Its shadow became visible on the other side of the room, with a pair of yellow eyes gleaming i the darkness. BOOM. Groudon's gigantic back leg pounded into the ground and shook the earth. BOOM. The saw its red hide and pairs of spikes along the back. BOOM. Giant claws were lifted and it opened its jaws. BOO-OOM.
GRAHA-AAAAAWWRR!!!
Chapter TwentyFour-Calamity's End and Return
The sound of the crashing wave was so loud in Ameri's ears that she couldn't hear anything else over its furious roar. She had prepared herself for the very end. Her long brown ears were tucked down against her face, and her eyes were sealed shut as she clung beside Soto, feeling every muscle in his and her own body tighter than ever before. A few moments passed. Surely they would be slammed to the stone by now? At least being forced back into Kyogre's dark domain by water. What they didn't know was what was really going on, and how could they have with their eyes closed and ears flat as water rushed in at them?
Dark-colored beak wide open, Articuno raised her head as she let out a cry only she could hear beneath the loud wave. The great bird sealed her huge talons around Ameri and Soto, and spread her wings wide. The ground was no longer pulling her down. Gravity did not apply to her magnificent wings. Still calling out her song, she flew straight at the white burst of liquid and foam, coming at her just as fast. With an angled flick of her feathers, she brought a cold gust of sparkling wind upon the ocean water. It stopped, just as it came at her, and began freezing completely to ice. Articuno gave a high-pitched cry, and a large hole, just his enough for her to fly through, formed in the center of the water as it froze competely, trapped in a statue-like image of the sea's rage.
Crying out again and again, Articuno cleared the water to the edges of the cavern with her icy winds, and felt Ameri and Soto moving in her claws. Don't struggle with fear, she thought to herself, If you struggle, you will both fall and meet your doom. Please, stay still and frim.
There it was. The opening in the top of the caven. How had she gotten there so quickly? She'd never know. But it was there, and with all her might, Articuno pushed onward and forced the water back, feeling its power become her own as it froze to ice under her voice.
When she finally made it out of the dark cavern, Articuno saw how much smaller it looked now that it was under a good amount of seawater. Before, when the ocean had gone dry, she saw it stretch all the way up, a truly immense tower of rock, all the way to its mouth, which actually looked like a pair of gaping jaws with sharp and stony fangs. It had defied all she knew about the natural way rocks and caves worked, stretching from that far down, but now it was only an open mouth, looking as if to reach up and escape the ocean that came up to its dark lips.
A bit of a ways away was the wave. It moved fast, crashing toward land with incredible power. She had to stop it. No matter what, Articuno had to stop that tsunami.
When she flew up behind it, it was just as before. Unrealisticly, unimaginably, uncomprehendably massive. So huge that it stretched at least a few miles wide and many more high. From her altitude though, she could see the top, its fizzy tip licking the first black cloud in the sky. Head there been so many black stormclouds before? No. When they'd entered Kyogre's cavern, it had been a bright and cloudless day.
Articuno truly let out her beautiful song, cooing to the water in loud but calm and soothing tones. It was a powerful song, and at the same time soft and delicate. Each note of it was brouhgt from her chest and beak with uppermost care, as to urge the water perfectly into a state of frozen glory.
Freeze and let your troubles fade... Stop and let your worries cease... Come and harden to the cold... Wake up in a time untold...
Of course these words could not be understood by most Pokemon, or humans, or anyone for that matter. They were elemental words of water and ice, cooing to the water in tones it liked to hear best. Kyogre would have understood it. So would the Pokemon 'Gracane' it had mentioned. Legendary Pokemon who knew the ways of the element of water, and those who had been trained in the ways of understanding it for years were the only ones who would know what her notes and cries meant. Them and the water itself. To others, like Ameri and Soto in Articuno's claws, it was just a magnificent song. A song that would save them and their homes from the great wave.
The water began to ripple and shimmer. Articuno was proud to have gotten it this far, but did not stop. She let her song roll deeper and then higher, whispering the words of water on her trilling and cooing voice. And then, something miraculous happened. The tsunami did not freeze over, as she had expected it wouldn't. That would be impossible. But it began to quiver and break down, as if it were crying from the beauty and desperation of Articuno's song. It fell apart and slowly broke its strong course, crashing almost in slow-motion back into the seas from whence it came. And finally, when the wave had fallen fully under water and all of the ripples of its plight had vanished from the ocean, only then did Articuno end her song, in one long note that began high and fell, slowly, slowly, and into a fading depth untl it was no more, a mirror image of the tsunami's plummeting fall. It was over.
"That was... incredible," Ameri breathed, unable to find the right words to describe what had just happened, "Without you, we'd... we'd never have made it back here." Indeed, seeing herself and Soto standing there, in front of their hut again, was incredible. They had escaped certain death again.
Articuno bowed her head, a weary look in her eyes. "There is no need for thanks," she replied, "But I do need to rest. I used all my breath on the song, and now I am exhausted from the flight. Perhaps near your hut?"
Ameri nodded. Articuno walked off on tired legs, scraping the pavement as she did so. A familiarly gruff voice broke in as another Pokemon raced up to them. It was Deyarcus.
"Ameri! Soto! You made it! Did you stop the tsunami?" the Shiftry asked quickly. Ameri nodded. Deyarcus continued, "The earthquake didn't come either, but it's Alakazam's team. They're not back yet."
Ameri's heart skipped a beat.
"What?" asked Soto, sounding as if he couldn't believe it at all. "They... You... It's not true! Team ACT doesn't just disappear! They always come back! Always!!"
Deyarcus sighed and shook his head. "That's what I thought too, but they really aren't back. And judging by how the earthquake didn't come, they might have died to save us all."
Ameri lowered her head and shivered. The image of Alakazam laying on a hard and craggy ground, too weak to move and gasping raspy breaths crossed her mind. She rose and glared defiantly at Deyarcus.
"We're going," she growled.
"Wha-at?!" he yelped, "That's crazy, Ameri!! Alakazam couldn't do it! You and Soto wouldn't stand a chance!"
"And whoever said it would just be Ameri and Soto?" another voice snapped. Deyarcus turned around. There stood Orion, and behind him were Koro, Kunea, and a female Scyther that looked a bit familiar.
"Orion! Kunea! You're going too? But... you're Grass Types! Plant Pokemon! You'll burn up and melt away in the Magma Cavern! You won't stand any more of a chance!"
"That's crap!" hissed Soto, "I went to Kyogre's domain in the sea, and I'm a Fire Type! Surely they can do the same, and you can too."
Deyarcus seemed taken aback by this proposal. His eyes were wide with surprise and his white mane of hair was all fluffed out.
"You want... me?" he asked. Ameri nodded.
"Yes! Come on! They could be needing us all right now! Let's all go. Surely the seven of us can make it, even if we are a bit of a lacking group of Pokemon," the Eevee declared. Soto shook his head as he looked at her.
"No, Ameri. We aren't lacking at all. We've all got the spirit and willpower to save them, and that's more important that anything else we don't have."
And with that, the party set out to save the rescue team that had saved so many others. They would be the rescuers of rescuers, like Joku and Orion before them.
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Thanks! And, here it is, by the way... Enjoy~
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The first thing any of them noticed was heat. It had been intense from the beginning, and only grew hotter and hotter. They all seemed to have different opinions of it. Deyarcus looked nervous and uncertain, while Orion, Kunea, and Scyther tried to ignore it, though with obvious effort. Koro was clearly irritated with his thick, white fur in combination with the heat, but did not comment. Ameri felt the same, and Soto, beging adapted to it as a Fire Type, was perfectly comfortable. It was hot, deep, and flowing with lava. Lots and lots of lava.
They'd thought Mt.Blaze had quite a bit of lava, but this place was incredible. It pumped through the walls and cracks in the ground like veins, and lay in lakes and puddles all scattered about. Only Soto did not seem worried about it, while the others all were cautious and incredibly careful. One tiny touch, and a paw or pad of a toe could be scorched and melted away. Ameri did not want to think about that.
"The power is near," noted Koro in his informitive way, "Groudon's close."
"I can tell too," Kunea replied, "I just know."
Deyarcus smiled, the first sign he'd shown of any good feeling since they'd decided to come. "I always said you have a sixth sense. 'Course you always replied that there was no such thing. Hah!"
"Oh but there is," Koro said to that, red eyes glaring intelligently back at the Shiftry, "I have it. And so do many of the Legendary Guardians of the World. Alakazam has it too. It is the sense to sense things. Things you'd otherwise never have any beforehand knowledge of."
"All this talk is giving me a headache," growled Orion, "Lets just get in there and save Alakazam's team!"
And the group made on, approaching a wide entryway. It looked as if a ruby-colored stone wall had been shoved into the side of it, judging by the scratches and tiny shards of rock all around. Ameri leapt forward past everyone else, into the open room. Lava blood flowed in the crags and cracks, lighting the way enough (along with Soto's fire) to see a pair of bodies, weak and unmoving, on the rocky ground.
"Who is it?" asked Scyther. Soto bounded forward, followed by the others. One of the Pokemon was Charizard, laying there and breathing very slowly, with his orange scales dirty and bloody in parts. In more than one place they were spread apart and torn by deep, crimson cuts. Blood oozed from these, dripping down the shimmering scales. It also bubbled from his opened mouth, just a little bit, and the orange flame of his tail was flickering only very softly. Tyranitar, beside Charizard, was just as bad if not worse. His gray-green skin was obviously harder to cut into, but he had a greater number of scratches and wounds, and had blood spattered about him. Ameri heard the others gasp as she kneeled down to his face. Tyranitar opened his big, reptillian eyes to look at the Eevee.
"We're here to help," said Ameri, "Where's Alakazam? And where's Groudon?"
"They're... still in the back... Fighting," Tyranitar managed to gurgle, spitting out a strand of red liquid that was probably a mixture of blood and saliva. These two were tough. They'd manage long enough for Groudon to be handled. Of course, handling it would be just the problem. Ameri pleaded that it wouldn't want to fight, but knew that was unlikely. Groudon was in a rage, and that had made every legend they'd met at least want to fight and resist.
RRAH-AAAUUUWWRRRRRRRRR!!!
BOOM. BOOM.
The ground rumbled and shook with the roar and pounding. It had all come from another dark entryway, right where Tyranitar had said it'd be. Soto gulped. That was where Groudon and Alakazam were. Ameri took no hesitation to head for them.
"What if we... What if we don't..." mumbled Deyarcus, unable to finish his words. Scyther, the only other Pokemon still beside him, turned to him and replied.
"So what? We will have saved them in our efforts." And with that she raced forward on her strong green legs. Deyarcus shook himself and followed hastilly on his woodlike feet.
Alakazam was there, standing bruised and bloodied looking up at the biggest monster Ameri had ever seen. Her mouth and the mouths of her companions hung open as they stared at it. Only Koro did not look surprised, other than the glint in his eyes, that is. It was gigantic. No other way to put it. Simply massive. With thick and almost metallic armor, shaded a deep red, and only a gray belly and chest visible as far as skin went, it looked like Groudon had all the defense it could need. But those gaping jaws, full of fangs, and giant, curved claws made it seem to be good fighter too. Upon seeing them, Groudon spat a burst of angry red flames into the air above it. Do we really stand a chance?!
"All of you, go! Leave at once!" huffed Alakazam, clearly inhaling his last and heaviest of breaths. Ameri shook her head defiantly.
"You go! We'll handle Groudon from here! We didn't come all this way for nothing!"
Before a reply or comment could be made, another loud roar shook the cavern, and Groudon took a pounding stomp forward. BOOM.
"That was footsteps?" Soto gasped, "I thought they were quakes! That thing is huge!"
BOOM.
"Well, you know what they say," growled Orion, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
BOOM.
"Yep," Ameri replied. And the Eevee lunged herself into battle.
All was sudden chaos. The earth shook as the team came in at Groudon, seven against one. But not even the whole seven of them would equal to Groudon's size, so was it evenly fair? Flames lashed from the beast's open jaws, only to be nimbly dodged by Orion and Deyarcus. A plan instantly broke in, and they began calling it out to each other as they circled and jumped at Groudon again and again, biding time and exhausting it. They had to find a way to get Scyther in at its belly. Only then would they stand a chance at laying down a good hit. But, in order to do that, someone had to distract its arms and head, as that was all that guarded the creature's front.
A while of circling and dodging passed as some wondered who it would be to perform the plot and others studied Groudon's moves and techniques. It seemed tireless to the constant motion and dizzy lunges of its foes, despite its weight and not so bright appearance. But they were driven by a passion to save Alakazam. Team Yukon could hold out longer. They would. No matter what.
Finally the conclusion came that the Pokemon to distract Groudon's attention from Scyther would have to be Kunea. Clearly Groudon was clever enough to know it could take out a Grass Type in a single shot of fire, and if Kunea were to position himself in a way to make it seem that he was too weak to fight back, he would become an instant target. The only problem was this: How could the Nuzleaf accomplish that without actually ending up hurt in the end? The whole group knew he was skilled in speed and dodging, but still this was a risky move. All the same, it was all they had. Otherwise, they'd just be circling the beast forever and getting nowhere.
Kunea and Scyther got into position, running quickly on pairs of long legs. Shaking off his fears, Kunea bravely jumped into the air, right in front of Groudon. The giant Pokemon's eyes flicked instantly to him as he sailed down toward the ground. Groudon's fangs were bared. Its mouth was open and ready to spit fire. Nervously, Kunea landed flat on his feet and looked up. Groudon lifted itself.
RAHAAA!!!
"Aah!!!"
"Kunea!!" Deyarcus cried.
Kunea was flung across the room, and into a wall. The wind was knocked out of him as he gasped and coughed. He saw blood spatter out of his mouth as he did so. Pain seered through his whole body, especially his back. It was so intense that he couldn't move. Couldn't stand. Could barely try to catch his breath. Groudon had not spat fire as they had expected. Instead, it had flung a clawed fist, blazing with fire, into Kunea, and knocked him down with all the force it possibly could. Weakly, the Nuzeaf twitched an arm to attempt to stand, but as he did, the pain seared back. His eyes widened and filled with tears.
GRRAAAAAHUUU!
Slash, slash, slash! A pair of huge blades slammed back and forth into Groudon's exposed skin. It was hard hide, but not impossible to cut. Not nearly. The blood was dripping out just as it should have been, and Scyther had laid in several thick gashes with her bladelike arms before jumping back and letting Groudon crash to the ground. The great beast did not look keen to rise again, and why would it? Alakazam's team had already given it enough before they came. Ameri, Soto, and the othars stared in amazement at the fallen beast.
"Aaahggh!!!!" Kunea screamed, wincing and falling over, submitting to the hurt. It came over him strong, in his bones and muscles. His back was the worst. It had slammed into the wall incredibly hard. So hard, that his mind instantly flicked to the thought that it was broken. Yes, that would explain it. His spine had crushed, and he was going to die soon from it. The pain, cold and black, was filling his consiousness. Even as the stinging burn from the fire came to his chest, Kunea could barely feel it under the agonizing pain in his back.
"Can we leave Groudon?" asked Orion. Alakazam nodded, eyes wide.
"Yes. It will wake soon, still upset, but calm down before long."
"If it's gonna wake up, we need to get out of here," snapped Deyarcus, "NOW!"
Ameri, Soto, Koro, and Orion grabbed their rescue badges in their paws, and Alakazam held the golden badge on his red sash. He pointed to the exit of this room in the cavern though.
"Tyranitar and Charizard," he urged simply. The others followed, and Deyarcus carried Kunea. The Nuzleaf was breathing weakly, pain in his wet eyes. He looked up at Deyarcus with a helpless and pleading expression.
"Help..." he whispered. Deyarcus lifted his arm and held a leafy fan over his companion in a gesture of silence.
"It's okay," he replied softly, "We're going to get you home. You're going to be okay."
And just as the light consumed them, Kunea's eyes fell shut, slowly and silently, as one final breath escaped his lungs.
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Chapter TwentyFive-The Magma Cavern
The first thing any of them noticed was heat. It had been intense from the beginning, and only grew hotter and hotter. They all seemed to have different opinions of it. Deyarcus looked nervous and uncertain, while Orion, Kunea, and Scyther tried to ignore it, though with obvious effort. Koro was clearly irritated with his thick, white fur in combination with the heat, but did not comment. Ameri felt the same, and Soto, beging adapted to it as a Fire Type, was perfectly comfortable. It was hot, deep, and flowing with lava. Lots and lots of lava.
They'd thought Mt.Blaze had quite a bit of lava, but this place was incredible. It pumped through the walls and cracks in the ground like veins, and lay in lakes and puddles all scattered about. Only Soto did not seem worried about it, while the others all were cautious and incredibly careful. One tiny touch, and a paw or pad of a toe could be scorched and melted away. Ameri did not want to think about that.
"The power is near," noted Koro in his informitive way, "Groudon's close."
"I can tell too," Kunea replied, "I just know."
Deyarcus smiled, the first sign he'd shown of any good feeling since they'd decided to come. "I always said you have a sixth sense. 'Course you always replied that there was no such thing. Hah!"
"Oh but there is," Koro said to that, red eyes glaring intelligently back at the Shiftry, "I have it. And so do many of the Legendary Guardians of the World. Alakazam has it too. It is the sense to sense things. Things you'd otherwise never have any beforehand knowledge of."
"All this talk is giving me a headache," growled Orion, "Lets just get in there and save Alakazam's team!"
And the group made on, approaching a wide entryway. It looked as if a ruby-colored stone wall had been shoved into the side of it, judging by the scratches and tiny shards of rock all around. Ameri leapt forward past everyone else, into the open room. Lava blood flowed in the crags and cracks, lighting the way enough (along with Soto's fire) to see a pair of bodies, weak and unmoving, on the rocky ground.
"Who is it?" asked Scyther. Soto bounded forward, followed by the others. One of the Pokemon was Charizard, laying there and breathing very slowly, with his orange scales dirty and bloody in parts. In more than one place they were spread apart and torn by deep, crimson cuts. Blood oozed from these, dripping down the shimmering scales. It also bubbled from his opened mouth, just a little bit, and the orange flame of his tail was flickering only very softly. Tyranitar, beside Charizard, was just as bad if not worse. His gray-green skin was obviously harder to cut into, but he had a greater number of scratches and wounds, and had blood spattered about him. Ameri heard the others gasp as she kneeled down to his face. Tyranitar opened his big, reptillian eyes to look at the Eevee.
"We're here to help," said Ameri, "Where's Alakazam? And where's Groudon?"
"They're... still in the back... Fighting," Tyranitar managed to gurgle, spitting out a strand of red liquid that was probably a mixture of blood and saliva. These two were tough. They'd manage long enough for Groudon to be handled. Of course, handling it would be just the problem. Ameri pleaded that it wouldn't want to fight, but knew that was unlikely. Groudon was in a rage, and that had made every legend they'd met at least want to fight and resist.
RRAH-AAAUUUWWRRRRRRRRR!!!
BOOM. BOOM.
The ground rumbled and shook with the roar and pounding. It had all come from another dark entryway, right where Tyranitar had said it'd be. Soto gulped. That was where Groudon and Alakazam were. Ameri took no hesitation to head for them.
"What if we... What if we don't..." mumbled Deyarcus, unable to finish his words. Scyther, the only other Pokemon still beside him, turned to him and replied.
"So what? We will have saved them in our efforts." And with that she raced forward on her strong green legs. Deyarcus shook himself and followed hastilly on his woodlike feet.
Alakazam was there, standing bruised and bloodied looking up at the biggest monster Ameri had ever seen. Her mouth and the mouths of her companions hung open as they stared at it. Only Koro did not look surprised, other than the glint in his eyes, that is. It was gigantic. No other way to put it. Simply massive. With thick and almost metallic armor, shaded a deep red, and only a gray belly and chest visible as far as skin went, it looked like Groudon had all the defense it could need. But those gaping jaws, full of fangs, and giant, curved claws made it seem to be good fighter too. Upon seeing them, Groudon spat a burst of angry red flames into the air above it. Do we really stand a chance?!
"All of you, go! Leave at once!" huffed Alakazam, clearly inhaling his last and heaviest of breaths. Ameri shook her head defiantly.
"You go! We'll handle Groudon from here! We didn't come all this way for nothing!"
Before a reply or comment could be made, another loud roar shook the cavern, and Groudon took a pounding stomp forward. BOOM.
"That was footsteps?" Soto gasped, "I thought they were quakes! That thing is huge!"
BOOM.
"Well, you know what they say," growled Orion, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
BOOM.
"Yep," Ameri replied. And the Eevee lunged herself into battle.
All was sudden chaos. The earth shook as the team came in at Groudon, seven against one. But not even the whole seven of them would equal to Groudon's size, so was it evenly fair? Flames lashed from the beast's open jaws, only to be nimbly dodged by Orion and Deyarcus. A plan instantly broke in, and they began calling it out to each other as they circled and jumped at Groudon again and again, biding time and exhausting it. They had to find a way to get Scyther in at its belly. Only then would they stand a chance at laying down a good hit. But, in order to do that, someone had to distract its arms and head, as that was all that guarded the creature's front.
A while of circling and dodging passed as some wondered who it would be to perform the plot and others studied Groudon's moves and techniques. It seemed tireless to the constant motion and dizzy lunges of its foes, despite its weight and not so bright appearance. But they were driven by a passion to save Alakazam. Team Yukon could hold out longer. They would. No matter what.
Finally the conclusion came that the Pokemon to distract Groudon's attention from Scyther would have to be Kunea. Clearly Groudon was clever enough to know it could take out a Grass Type in a single shot of fire, and if Kunea were to position himself in a way to make it seem that he was too weak to fight back, he would become an instant target. The only problem was this: How could the Nuzleaf accomplish that without actually ending up hurt in the end? The whole group knew he was skilled in speed and dodging, but still this was a risky move. All the same, it was all they had. Otherwise, they'd just be circling the beast forever and getting nowhere.
Kunea and Scyther got into position, running quickly on pairs of long legs. Shaking off his fears, Kunea bravely jumped into the air, right in front of Groudon. The giant Pokemon's eyes flicked instantly to him as he sailed down toward the ground. Groudon's fangs were bared. Its mouth was open and ready to spit fire. Nervously, Kunea landed flat on his feet and looked up. Groudon lifted itself.
RAHAAA!!!
"Aah!!!"
"Kunea!!" Deyarcus cried.
Kunea was flung across the room, and into a wall. The wind was knocked out of him as he gasped and coughed. He saw blood spatter out of his mouth as he did so. Pain seered through his whole body, especially his back. It was so intense that he couldn't move. Couldn't stand. Could barely try to catch his breath. Groudon had not spat fire as they had expected. Instead, it had flung a clawed fist, blazing with fire, into Kunea, and knocked him down with all the force it possibly could. Weakly, the Nuzeaf twitched an arm to attempt to stand, but as he did, the pain seared back. His eyes widened and filled with tears.
GRRAAAAAHUUU!
Slash, slash, slash! A pair of huge blades slammed back and forth into Groudon's exposed skin. It was hard hide, but not impossible to cut. Not nearly. The blood was dripping out just as it should have been, and Scyther had laid in several thick gashes with her bladelike arms before jumping back and letting Groudon crash to the ground. The great beast did not look keen to rise again, and why would it? Alakazam's team had already given it enough before they came. Ameri, Soto, and the othars stared in amazement at the fallen beast.
"Aaahggh!!!!" Kunea screamed, wincing and falling over, submitting to the hurt. It came over him strong, in his bones and muscles. His back was the worst. It had slammed into the wall incredibly hard. So hard, that his mind instantly flicked to the thought that it was broken. Yes, that would explain it. His spine had crushed, and he was going to die soon from it. The pain, cold and black, was filling his consiousness. Even as the stinging burn from the fire came to his chest, Kunea could barely feel it under the agonizing pain in his back.
"Can we leave Groudon?" asked Orion. Alakazam nodded, eyes wide.
"Yes. It will wake soon, still upset, but calm down before long."
"If it's gonna wake up, we need to get out of here," snapped Deyarcus, "NOW!"
Ameri, Soto, Koro, and Orion grabbed their rescue badges in their paws, and Alakazam held the golden badge on his red sash. He pointed to the exit of this room in the cavern though.
"Tyranitar and Charizard," he urged simply. The others followed, and Deyarcus carried Kunea. The Nuzleaf was breathing weakly, pain in his wet eyes. He looked up at Deyarcus with a helpless and pleading expression.
"Help..." he whispered. Deyarcus lifted his arm and held a leafy fan over his companion in a gesture of silence.
"It's okay," he replied softly, "We're going to get you home. You're going to be okay."
And just as the light consumed them, Kunea's eyes fell shut, slowly and silently, as one final breath escaped his lungs.
- 777
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Seen Mar 11, 2023
Here's another pair of chapters, while I'm at it. Just seemed like a good enough time to throw 'em in, so... There's also a little info on all the characters, which includes how to pronounce their rediculous names.
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Ameri-(ah-mEEr-EE) A girl who suddenly finds herself as an Eevee in the Pokemon World. Becomes leader of Team Yukon.
Soto-(so-toh) A carefree Cyndaquil who is quick to become friends with Ameri. Becomes deputy of Team Yukon.
Tunavii-(tOO-nah-vEE) A mysterious and spiritual Pokemon that appears in Ameri's dreams.
Fyra-(fI-rah) A kind and motherly Mightyena. The mother of Joku.
Joku-(joh-kOO) A courageous Poochyena with dreams of being on a Rescue Team.
Orion-(or-EE-un) An understanding Shroomish who hopes to eventually join Team Yukon when he is ready.
Koro-(kor-oh) An Absol that ventures the land, guided by his instinct to help stop disaster and disturbances in balance.
Alakazam-The brave and great leader of Team ACT, called more commonly just 'Alakazam's Team'. His companions are Charizard and Tyranitar.
Rexus-(rehk-sus) A cruel Gengar wanting power over others. Leader of Team Domnae (dom-nay). Or is there something else to his identity?
Zangoose-The aggressive and unsympathetic deputy of Team Domnae.
Deyarcus-(dEE-yar-kus) A Shiftry that seems careless and rude. Leader of Team Shifty.
Kunea-(kOOn-yay) A Nuzleaf with tragic memories of his mother. Deputy of Team Shifty.
Lombre-A friend to Team Yukon who helps them when they need it.
Scyther-A Pokemon with a sense of justice. She begins helping Team Yukon later in the story.
Choklo-(choh-kloh) The Pelipper who delivers mail for the Post Office. Also known as simply "Pelipper".
Nepharlil-(neh-far-lil) A Whiscash who lives in a pond north of Town Square and tells stories and legends. Also known as Old Whiscash.
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Kunea woke slowly as his consiousness came back to him. Light penetrated his vision, and he began to see the world around him again. He was in a hut knit together with sticks and stones and leaves. The roof of it was open in some parts, as it was only a few long poles of cane with red cloth draped over it, and he saw a blue and cloudless sky up above, much different from before stopping the quake, when the sky had been dark and stormy.
Uneasilly, Kunea pushed his hands to the straw bed he was on, but instanly pain flashed to his back. Letting out a yelp, he fell back onto the bed and cringed his teeth. It still hurt. He'd just brought the pain back, and now he had to deal with it.
"You're awake!!" cried Deyarcus's voice. Kunea did not need to see him standing nearby to know it was him. He'd recognize the Shifty's voice at any time.
"Deyarcus. What... happened?" he managed to ask in a voice heavy with pain and effort.
"We beat Groudon. Couldn't have done it without you really. You really are the best Pokemon I could have by my side as a deputy, Kunea."
"So... Do you know when I'm going to heal? Ameri and Soto will need us again I'm sure, and maybe soon. We all know the disatser comes closer every dawning day, and at this point we're going to need to find a solution fast."
Deyarcus did not reply for a moment. He sighed deeply and stood there, seeming greatly distressed. Kunea didn't act impatient, as he could tell his leader would have something serious to say in the end. And after a bit longer of a pause, he said it.
"Kunea... You... We don't have any professional doctors or herbalists in Wezla. The nearest ones are, well heck, all the way in Craoka Town far north of here, as you'd know. The best we had was some of Orion's powders and Lombre's experience with the rebels and prisoners from just about a week back. And... that kept you alive, but..."
"Yes?" asked Kunea, worried and frightened. What was Deyarcus saying? What was he getting to?
"... Kunea," Deyarcus sighed, "You're not... going.. to heal fully. Your spine almost snapped apart from the force of hitting that rock, and Alakazam even said that a professional would not be able to mend that. We can help you walk again, and you'll definately live, but the way your back is, it would shatter completely if you ever did anything like fighting, jumping, climbing, or... anything a Rescue Team member would need to do..."
"Wh... What?" Kunea breathed. This meant... This meant he couldn't be part of a Rescue Team. This meant he wouldn't be able to help Ameri or Deyarcus or anyone he'd fight for. This meant his dreams were broken, just like his spine. It tore a hole in his heart to lay there and hear this, no longer a courageous warrior but a tattered cripple. What could he say in reply? Even if he had anything, the lump in his throat and sobs coming to his eyes would prevent it from leaving his mouth. Deyarcus was crying too. How it must have hurt to tell him the news. To realize what he was saying to his best friend and faithful partner.
"I'm... I'm so sorry Kunea," whispered Deyarcus, "We all tried our best. But no matter what, you're always a hero in my eyes..."
And the two of them sat in that hut, crying away the pain.
Ameri led her little group up over the red stone and to the edge of the cliff. The same feeling hung in the air here, as if not a second had passed since the last time they'd came to the Hill of the Ancients. And Xatu still stood there staring into the orange sun, as if they had never left him.
"You bring others with you, I see," stated Xatu, not turning or moving at all. Soto stood a step back, but he looked up at the tall green bird with interest and respect. Quite different from the first day he'd met Xatu, but he'd been through a lot since then all the same.
"Yes," Soto answered, "They're-"
"Orion and Koro; Breloom and Absol. Yes. I am aware," replied Xatu. He still sounded as wise as ever, but with a strong sense of impatient anxiety in his great voice. They had come at the right time apparently; he'd have something to say.
"We need to know," began Ameri, "What to do at this point." Xatu was not slow to reply as he normally was.
"You come in good time. I have found it. At last, the reson this demise comes. What it is. It is a great and terrible force, strong enough to disturb this world's balances and enrage the Guardians of Legend who comtrol it. A star. A massive star, a huge fiery ball of gas and matter that simply dwarfs our world. And it is coming, straight for us. It will not collide with us, my friends. Oh no. It will swallow us in its fury of flames. We will be doomed."
Soto and Orion were speechless at this. Koro never took his eyes off of Xatu's majestic form, and Ameri stared up at him with a serious expression.
"Then what do we do to stop it?" she asked. Soto's surprise turned to her as his blue eyes widened. They seemed to say all he was thinking right to her. Stop it? You don't stop something like that, Ameri! It's impossible! Xatu seemed to notice the Quilava's opinion as well, despite the fact that he had still not moved or turned at all.
"There is but one way," he replied, directing his words more to Soto than Ameri, "And it rests with Rayquaza, Titan of the Sky."
"You mean... We have to go to Rayquaza's domain?" Koro gasped, sounding appaled, "You can't do that! The sky is sacred land that has been held so far away from us dwellers of the land for a reason! We are not supposed to go there. It simply isn't meant to be."
"Then everyone will perish," Xatu said simply, "And there is little time. I see it now, every second of every day. Now not only is it speeding toward us, but it is accelerating. The gravity of our world draws it closer faster, and with each passing moment it falls quicker and quicker at us. You can see it in the night sky, larger than the other stars. Before long, it will be larger than the moon. Larger than the sun. Larger than the whole sky. And at that time, we are all doomed. ... You should depart in at least three days, for the sky. Leave from here, as Rayquaza's domain is in the clouds right far above this peak. I am aware you have Articuno, the guardian of ice with you. She can take you. Or, if that is too much, let all of us suffer the consiquence."
When it was clear that Xatu would speak no more, the group of four teleported back with their rescue badges, the thoughts of what he had said heavy on their minds. The final climax was coming. Either the end of everything or the greatest rescue yet was closer than ever.
"I've made my decision," declared Kunea, sitting up in his bed. Ameri, Soto, Orion, Koro, and Deyarcus were all gathered around him to listen to what the Nuzleaf had to say. Ever since they'd brought him back, they'd come to see him regularly, and now he wanted all his friends to gather and hear these words.
"I'm sorry to say I won't be going with you in two days to the sky. However, even with my back crippled, and my rescuing days over, I will still help you all," he continued, "And so, considering there is no healer to aide the Pokemon of Wezla, I have chosen to take that position, with my knowledge of herbs and powders and all."
Deyarcus looked at first surprised. But, after a moment, his gaze became proud and happy. Orion even seemed a little distressed, as if he wanted to work with Kunea in this, but was bound to Team Yukon, which Ameri already knew he would never leave. The Breloom was loyal, and he had a strong care for her and Soto's success.
"That's good news," Soto replied, "You'll be happy doing that I bet, and we'll really need that. At the time, especially Choklo..."
"What's wrong with him?" asked Kunea. He'd known that the Pelipper was still hurt, but was he in need of serious attention? Soto continued.
"Well, last time I saw him he looked really bad. He tried to say he was fine, but you could just tell in his voice he wasn't. The places where he was burned are black and scabby, and I think his old cuts are infected real bad. And The Daze is set deep in his eyes. I'm thankful that disease isn't contageuos... I think he's barely alive to be honest. And I doubt he'll be delivering mail... maybe even ever again. He's got Delibirds doing it now."
"Then bring him in with some cloth and water," Kunea said. Ameri looked up at him in surprise, but shrugged and led the others out to retrieve Choklo. Only Deyarcus stayed with Kunea. After a few minutes, they returned. Soto was helping Choklo walk.
Indeed the Pelipper was in a bad condition. The way he slumped over and dragged his webbed blue feet with a panful grimace showed that if the scabs and dark wounds didn't. Not to mention his breathing, which came slowly and was stressed through his beak, which hung slightly open. Kunea lifted his hand and urged them to set Choklo in front of him on his bed. Soto manged this with assistance from Deyarcus, who still seemed a bit surprised at the sudden request.
"Come on," rasped Choklo, "We don't have to do this. I'll be fine without."
For a moment Kunea ignored him and examined the cuts and scabs. Mother told me about this inflamation... And the scabs arent' supposed to be like that...
"No," he said seriously, "You do need this, Choklo. These wounds are infected badly, and your burns aren't healing. In fact, it's a wonder you're still alive after how long it's been this way. I'm going to mix some paralyzing powder with water and rub it on the scabs. Don't breathe any of it in, or your body and some of your organs could very possibly lock up. In your given condition, it could be fatal."
Working quickly and surely in the silent room, Kunea let the powders from the leaf on his head soak and mix with the cool water. Once he'd made a watery yellowish and glittery liquid, he put it over his hands and gently rubbed it over the hard and crackly black scabs. Almost all he did was based off of what his mother had told him. Whenever he'd gotten a cut, she used this same method, saying that the spores of the powder only temporarilly stun most Pokemon, but they rapidly kill and eat away at harmful bacteria. And, in the same way as it always worked for him when he was a tiny Seedot, the scabs formed tiny specs of fizzy bubbles, showing that the powder was doing its job.
Choklo closed his eyes, as if in a deeply relaxed state, and lay there with his left wing and side outstretched.
"It's like you're a miracle worker," breathed Choklo, "That already feels a lot better. I think my infected cuts need something like that too!" Even his voice sounded a bit less raspy. Kunea nodded and smiled as he carefully leaned forward and rubbed the powder mixture into the wounds and cuts. As before, Choklo told him it had worked quickly and effectively.
"Well, it looks like we've found the right Pokemon for the job, eh?" said Soto with some enthusiasm.
"And he didn't even need to get up from his bed!" exclaimed Deyarcus proudly, "Before we know it he'll be healing the Daze and who knows what else!!"
At those words, Kunea froze and stared at him. Deyarcus looked confused and shrugged. But Kunea had just been enlightened in the best way he could possibly imagine.
"Exactly," he replied, "That's going to be my goal. To learn to cure a now uncurable disease. And I will do it."
"Well I'm sure you'll manage it!" Ameri encouraged, after a short silence. The way she saw it, with that much determination there could be no way to fail. Soto nodded in agreement.
"It's too bad he won't be able to walk to see ya'll off," sighed Deyarcus.
"That's okay," replied Soto, "We'll come to see him."
"No one's coming anywhere to see me," growled Kunea sharply. Everyone looked at him with surprise. "I am going to come to wish you good luck. How could I not, with all we've been through together? You could practically say that for the past month or so I've been a member of Team Yukon and not Team Shifty! Don't worry that I can't walk right now. I'll worry about getting up to do that. Like Choklo said, I am a miracle worker."
And with that, everyone said their goodbyes and left the room. Choklo said he could walk out himself, dragging his lame wings behind. And Kunea was left, on his bed with only a powder mixture and a dream. Sure, it was a sort of small dream, but in its own way it was incredibly special and important. And he'd manage to make that dream come true in two days time. He promised himself that much.
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Ameri-(ah-mEEr-EE) A girl who suddenly finds herself as an Eevee in the Pokemon World. Becomes leader of Team Yukon.
Soto-(so-toh) A carefree Cyndaquil who is quick to become friends with Ameri. Becomes deputy of Team Yukon.
Tunavii-(tOO-nah-vEE) A mysterious and spiritual Pokemon that appears in Ameri's dreams.
Fyra-(fI-rah) A kind and motherly Mightyena. The mother of Joku.
Joku-(joh-kOO) A courageous Poochyena with dreams of being on a Rescue Team.
Orion-(or-EE-un) An understanding Shroomish who hopes to eventually join Team Yukon when he is ready.
Koro-(kor-oh) An Absol that ventures the land, guided by his instinct to help stop disaster and disturbances in balance.
Alakazam-The brave and great leader of Team ACT, called more commonly just 'Alakazam's Team'. His companions are Charizard and Tyranitar.
Rexus-(rehk-sus) A cruel Gengar wanting power over others. Leader of Team Domnae (dom-nay). Or is there something else to his identity?
Zangoose-The aggressive and unsympathetic deputy of Team Domnae.
Deyarcus-(dEE-yar-kus) A Shiftry that seems careless and rude. Leader of Team Shifty.
Kunea-(kOOn-yay) A Nuzleaf with tragic memories of his mother. Deputy of Team Shifty.
Lombre-A friend to Team Yukon who helps them when they need it.
Scyther-A Pokemon with a sense of justice. She begins helping Team Yukon later in the story.
Choklo-(choh-kloh) The Pelipper who delivers mail for the Post Office. Also known as simply "Pelipper".
Nepharlil-(neh-far-lil) A Whiscash who lives in a pond north of Town Square and tells stories and legends. Also known as Old Whiscash.
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Chapter TwentySix-The Coming of the End
Kunea woke slowly as his consiousness came back to him. Light penetrated his vision, and he began to see the world around him again. He was in a hut knit together with sticks and stones and leaves. The roof of it was open in some parts, as it was only a few long poles of cane with red cloth draped over it, and he saw a blue and cloudless sky up above, much different from before stopping the quake, when the sky had been dark and stormy.
Uneasilly, Kunea pushed his hands to the straw bed he was on, but instanly pain flashed to his back. Letting out a yelp, he fell back onto the bed and cringed his teeth. It still hurt. He'd just brought the pain back, and now he had to deal with it.
"You're awake!!" cried Deyarcus's voice. Kunea did not need to see him standing nearby to know it was him. He'd recognize the Shifty's voice at any time.
"Deyarcus. What... happened?" he managed to ask in a voice heavy with pain and effort.
"We beat Groudon. Couldn't have done it without you really. You really are the best Pokemon I could have by my side as a deputy, Kunea."
"So... Do you know when I'm going to heal? Ameri and Soto will need us again I'm sure, and maybe soon. We all know the disatser comes closer every dawning day, and at this point we're going to need to find a solution fast."
Deyarcus did not reply for a moment. He sighed deeply and stood there, seeming greatly distressed. Kunea didn't act impatient, as he could tell his leader would have something serious to say in the end. And after a bit longer of a pause, he said it.
"Kunea... You... We don't have any professional doctors or herbalists in Wezla. The nearest ones are, well heck, all the way in Craoka Town far north of here, as you'd know. The best we had was some of Orion's powders and Lombre's experience with the rebels and prisoners from just about a week back. And... that kept you alive, but..."
"Yes?" asked Kunea, worried and frightened. What was Deyarcus saying? What was he getting to?
"... Kunea," Deyarcus sighed, "You're not... going.. to heal fully. Your spine almost snapped apart from the force of hitting that rock, and Alakazam even said that a professional would not be able to mend that. We can help you walk again, and you'll definately live, but the way your back is, it would shatter completely if you ever did anything like fighting, jumping, climbing, or... anything a Rescue Team member would need to do..."
"Wh... What?" Kunea breathed. This meant... This meant he couldn't be part of a Rescue Team. This meant he wouldn't be able to help Ameri or Deyarcus or anyone he'd fight for. This meant his dreams were broken, just like his spine. It tore a hole in his heart to lay there and hear this, no longer a courageous warrior but a tattered cripple. What could he say in reply? Even if he had anything, the lump in his throat and sobs coming to his eyes would prevent it from leaving his mouth. Deyarcus was crying too. How it must have hurt to tell him the news. To realize what he was saying to his best friend and faithful partner.
"I'm... I'm so sorry Kunea," whispered Deyarcus, "We all tried our best. But no matter what, you're always a hero in my eyes..."
And the two of them sat in that hut, crying away the pain.
Ameri led her little group up over the red stone and to the edge of the cliff. The same feeling hung in the air here, as if not a second had passed since the last time they'd came to the Hill of the Ancients. And Xatu still stood there staring into the orange sun, as if they had never left him.
"You bring others with you, I see," stated Xatu, not turning or moving at all. Soto stood a step back, but he looked up at the tall green bird with interest and respect. Quite different from the first day he'd met Xatu, but he'd been through a lot since then all the same.
"Yes," Soto answered, "They're-"
"Orion and Koro; Breloom and Absol. Yes. I am aware," replied Xatu. He still sounded as wise as ever, but with a strong sense of impatient anxiety in his great voice. They had come at the right time apparently; he'd have something to say.
"We need to know," began Ameri, "What to do at this point." Xatu was not slow to reply as he normally was.
"You come in good time. I have found it. At last, the reson this demise comes. What it is. It is a great and terrible force, strong enough to disturb this world's balances and enrage the Guardians of Legend who comtrol it. A star. A massive star, a huge fiery ball of gas and matter that simply dwarfs our world. And it is coming, straight for us. It will not collide with us, my friends. Oh no. It will swallow us in its fury of flames. We will be doomed."
Soto and Orion were speechless at this. Koro never took his eyes off of Xatu's majestic form, and Ameri stared up at him with a serious expression.
"Then what do we do to stop it?" she asked. Soto's surprise turned to her as his blue eyes widened. They seemed to say all he was thinking right to her. Stop it? You don't stop something like that, Ameri! It's impossible! Xatu seemed to notice the Quilava's opinion as well, despite the fact that he had still not moved or turned at all.
"There is but one way," he replied, directing his words more to Soto than Ameri, "And it rests with Rayquaza, Titan of the Sky."
"You mean... We have to go to Rayquaza's domain?" Koro gasped, sounding appaled, "You can't do that! The sky is sacred land that has been held so far away from us dwellers of the land for a reason! We are not supposed to go there. It simply isn't meant to be."
"Then everyone will perish," Xatu said simply, "And there is little time. I see it now, every second of every day. Now not only is it speeding toward us, but it is accelerating. The gravity of our world draws it closer faster, and with each passing moment it falls quicker and quicker at us. You can see it in the night sky, larger than the other stars. Before long, it will be larger than the moon. Larger than the sun. Larger than the whole sky. And at that time, we are all doomed. ... You should depart in at least three days, for the sky. Leave from here, as Rayquaza's domain is in the clouds right far above this peak. I am aware you have Articuno, the guardian of ice with you. She can take you. Or, if that is too much, let all of us suffer the consiquence."
When it was clear that Xatu would speak no more, the group of four teleported back with their rescue badges, the thoughts of what he had said heavy on their minds. The final climax was coming. Either the end of everything or the greatest rescue yet was closer than ever.
Chapter TwentySeven-The Healer
"I've made my decision," declared Kunea, sitting up in his bed. Ameri, Soto, Orion, Koro, and Deyarcus were all gathered around him to listen to what the Nuzleaf had to say. Ever since they'd brought him back, they'd come to see him regularly, and now he wanted all his friends to gather and hear these words.
"I'm sorry to say I won't be going with you in two days to the sky. However, even with my back crippled, and my rescuing days over, I will still help you all," he continued, "And so, considering there is no healer to aide the Pokemon of Wezla, I have chosen to take that position, with my knowledge of herbs and powders and all."
Deyarcus looked at first surprised. But, after a moment, his gaze became proud and happy. Orion even seemed a little distressed, as if he wanted to work with Kunea in this, but was bound to Team Yukon, which Ameri already knew he would never leave. The Breloom was loyal, and he had a strong care for her and Soto's success.
"That's good news," Soto replied, "You'll be happy doing that I bet, and we'll really need that. At the time, especially Choklo..."
"What's wrong with him?" asked Kunea. He'd known that the Pelipper was still hurt, but was he in need of serious attention? Soto continued.
"Well, last time I saw him he looked really bad. He tried to say he was fine, but you could just tell in his voice he wasn't. The places where he was burned are black and scabby, and I think his old cuts are infected real bad. And The Daze is set deep in his eyes. I'm thankful that disease isn't contageuos... I think he's barely alive to be honest. And I doubt he'll be delivering mail... maybe even ever again. He's got Delibirds doing it now."
"Then bring him in with some cloth and water," Kunea said. Ameri looked up at him in surprise, but shrugged and led the others out to retrieve Choklo. Only Deyarcus stayed with Kunea. After a few minutes, they returned. Soto was helping Choklo walk.
Indeed the Pelipper was in a bad condition. The way he slumped over and dragged his webbed blue feet with a panful grimace showed that if the scabs and dark wounds didn't. Not to mention his breathing, which came slowly and was stressed through his beak, which hung slightly open. Kunea lifted his hand and urged them to set Choklo in front of him on his bed. Soto manged this with assistance from Deyarcus, who still seemed a bit surprised at the sudden request.
"Come on," rasped Choklo, "We don't have to do this. I'll be fine without."
For a moment Kunea ignored him and examined the cuts and scabs. Mother told me about this inflamation... And the scabs arent' supposed to be like that...
"No," he said seriously, "You do need this, Choklo. These wounds are infected badly, and your burns aren't healing. In fact, it's a wonder you're still alive after how long it's been this way. I'm going to mix some paralyzing powder with water and rub it on the scabs. Don't breathe any of it in, or your body and some of your organs could very possibly lock up. In your given condition, it could be fatal."
Working quickly and surely in the silent room, Kunea let the powders from the leaf on his head soak and mix with the cool water. Once he'd made a watery yellowish and glittery liquid, he put it over his hands and gently rubbed it over the hard and crackly black scabs. Almost all he did was based off of what his mother had told him. Whenever he'd gotten a cut, she used this same method, saying that the spores of the powder only temporarilly stun most Pokemon, but they rapidly kill and eat away at harmful bacteria. And, in the same way as it always worked for him when he was a tiny Seedot, the scabs formed tiny specs of fizzy bubbles, showing that the powder was doing its job.
Choklo closed his eyes, as if in a deeply relaxed state, and lay there with his left wing and side outstretched.
"It's like you're a miracle worker," breathed Choklo, "That already feels a lot better. I think my infected cuts need something like that too!" Even his voice sounded a bit less raspy. Kunea nodded and smiled as he carefully leaned forward and rubbed the powder mixture into the wounds and cuts. As before, Choklo told him it had worked quickly and effectively.
"Well, it looks like we've found the right Pokemon for the job, eh?" said Soto with some enthusiasm.
"And he didn't even need to get up from his bed!" exclaimed Deyarcus proudly, "Before we know it he'll be healing the Daze and who knows what else!!"
At those words, Kunea froze and stared at him. Deyarcus looked confused and shrugged. But Kunea had just been enlightened in the best way he could possibly imagine.
"Exactly," he replied, "That's going to be my goal. To learn to cure a now uncurable disease. And I will do it."
"Well I'm sure you'll manage it!" Ameri encouraged, after a short silence. The way she saw it, with that much determination there could be no way to fail. Soto nodded in agreement.
"It's too bad he won't be able to walk to see ya'll off," sighed Deyarcus.
"That's okay," replied Soto, "We'll come to see him."
"No one's coming anywhere to see me," growled Kunea sharply. Everyone looked at him with surprise. "I am going to come to wish you good luck. How could I not, with all we've been through together? You could practically say that for the past month or so I've been a member of Team Yukon and not Team Shifty! Don't worry that I can't walk right now. I'll worry about getting up to do that. Like Choklo said, I am a miracle worker."
And with that, everyone said their goodbyes and left the room. Choklo said he could walk out himself, dragging his lame wings behind. And Kunea was left, on his bed with only a powder mixture and a dream. Sure, it was a sort of small dream, but in its own way it was incredibly special and important. And he'd manage to make that dream come true in two days time. He promised himself that much.
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- 777
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Seen Mar 11, 2023
Another chapter... This is coming to an end soon. Only a few more. The explosive and unexpectable climax is drawing near... (And no, I'll tell you this much, it isn't the same end as the game. You'll just have to kep reading and find out...)
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"Ameri..."
Gardevoir. Tunavii.
"Yes."
It's been a while. At least, that's how it feels.
"Indeed it has felt like a long time. The time measures in a few days, however."
Are you going to tell me... My role? My purpose for being here?
"Very well. You have been through so much, and this will be my last opportunity to tell you here..."
What? What do you mean by that?
"I mean that your role is about to end. This quest, to save the world from the falling star, that is your goal and job here."
But then... Why did you choose me, of all people, or Pokemon for that matter?
"Because we saw you to have great courage, loyalty, and true leadership skills. We, the spirits, saw that there was a need to destroy and defeat the disaster coming, and so I came to you."
And what did you say?
"I told you that in order to save our world, you would need to be changed into a Pokemon, with memories erased, and come to the Pokemon World to fight alongside new friends and allies, clear of mind and memory of your life as a human."
And I said?
"Why, of course Ameri, you said yes. You told me that you didn't mind having to come here as a Pokemon if it meant our world wouldn't have to suffer unnecissarily, and so we took you to our realm and made the transformation. And then, you woke up in the Pokemon World."
I did that? I left my own world willingly to save this one, without even knowing it?
"Yes. You have shown that you truly have care and bravery, and now it is time to use it for the last time here."
But why is it the last time?
"Because after the star has been destroyed, your role is done. And you return to your own world."
Wh... What?
"Yes."
But... Soto. Not just Soto! Koro, Orion, Kunea, Deyarcus, Alakazam, Lombre, everyone!! I can't...
"But that is the way it is to be. Even I cannot change that. We all have times when we must say goodbye to close friends."
But I...
"I am sorry, Ameri. This is your last day before you depart, yes? You'll need all the preparation you can get."
Tunavii...
"Au Revoir..."
"No... No... I don't... No..."
"Ameri? Wake up, Ameri!"
There was Soto, standing over her with Koro. He seemed worried for her and looked at her with concern. It reminded her of the first day they'd met, when she was just a confused little Eevee drenched in water, and he was just a playful little Cyndaquil who'd found her and given her a place to stay. They'd matured so much since then...
"Orion's helping Kunea somehow today, but Koro wanted to take us somewhere. Articuno can fly us, right?"
Ameri, still drowsy, look up at him for a moment. "Yeah... I'm pretty sure."
They found the great blue bird in the woods by the river. She stepped over to them slowly, looking very relaxed and calm. Her glossy feathers still shimmered with the same light they had the day she prevented the tsunami.
"Good that you came," she greeted, "I was beginning to think you really wouldn't need me again."
"Not need you?" asked Ameri, "We'll need you more than ever tomorrow."
"Indeed you will, I suppose," Articuno replied. "But where do you need flying to today? If that is why you came to see me, of course."
"Yes," Ameri answered, "Where are we headed, Koro?"
The Absol looked up at her with his red eyes gleaming. "The mountains. The far Eastern Mountains. There's a peak there, known by few, called Darkness Ridge. That is where."
"Ah, Darkness Ridge? I see," Articuno aknowledged, clearly knowing of this place, "Very well. Come, Ameri and Soto. And perhaps Koro, you would like to fly? I feel confident I could manage to lift you as well."
But Koro shook his head. "I will run. I enjoy seeing the land sweep by me, all as if it's caught in a wind..."
And they took off with that, to Soto's disapproval, and began the long journey.
She saw it all, from so far up. Everywhere she had been with Soto. There was the clearing, so plainly visible through the parted trees, and the river she had fallen into. And that was part of the Tiny Woods, which was connected to the darker trees of the Black Woods, where they had rescued Joku. Ameri looked down at the town of Wezla, which now seemed to small compared to everything else. She noticed Soto's little hut, which had been Team Yukon's base ever since the start of it all. And she also noticed the little red-cloth-roofed hut where Kunea was now, with Orion, probably mixing powders or discussing something. There was, to the far south, the remains of Mt.Raggidre. The mountain was crumbled apart, merely a gigantic pile of black rock in the middle of a dark ground. It distressed her to see that. The Badland's Darkwood was there too. And then she saw a small red peak, and a complex system of dried canyons around it. There was the Great Canyon, and the Hill of the Ancients. Tomorrow they would leave from that peak. After a while, Ameri saw all the lands they crossed when they were fugitives. Gray caves, steep valleyes, vast stretches of black, hardened stone. And then they flew over Mt.Blaze, and passed Magma Cavern's gaping mouth. The Eastern Sea was coming into view. Ameri had heard of several islands that existed in both seas. Now though, she'd never get to see them. She'd always hoped to travel there, see what there was and have another great quest with Soto, and bring anyone else who wanted to come.
The mountains stood out there, on the edge of the frozen land of Fyriyia, where they'd found Mt.Freeze and Articuno's forest. Articuno flapped her wings sharply, and looked down in search of the peak. Within thirty minutes they had landed on the ground, and Ameri leapt off wearilly. It was then she realized that her eyes were wet with tears. Did she want to leave this place?
Ameri quickly rubbed the tears off with her paw and looked around. They stood on a small peak with black, snagged and gnarled old trees all scattered about. A pair of great stone pillars rose up to the sky here, and they almost seemed to be shining with a malevolent and eerie blue light. Glowing, shimmering specs were hovering and floating all about, rising and falling, rising and falling... But the place didn't seem evil. It was just dark, almost sad and misunderstood. Koro was already sitting on the edge of the ridgelike peak, looking up at the sky, which was somehow dark over this place evn though it was clearly still daylight. It looked like a bright night sky, full of stars that glowed with little blue, purple, and silvery lights.
Atricuno flew off, not without telling them she would come back whenever she heard her summon. Ameri and Soto walked up and sat beside Koro, inhaling the thin and crisp air.
"This place... It's not just any place," breathed Koro, "It has a strange power within it. It calms the mind and makes one wonder about the world... I've spent hours of my time here, at Darkness Ridge, sitting and asking myself questions and pondering things that don't have answers. But it doesn't matter whether they do or not, because this place is perfect to simply wonder."
Ameri closed her eyes and let her head fall a bit. The tears were coming back. Koro had taken them here to relax and feel some calm before they had to go and risk their lives to save the world. And she was here crying because his kindness would be lost to her after tomorrow. Soto also looked calm and in deep thought. She had a friendly love for the Quilava, and Koro too. Everyone else here even. They'd all been through so much... And now she had to leave. Forever. Forever...
The three Pokemon were there for an unmeasured time before Koro began the summon. But it wasn't just him that called to Articuno. For Ameri joined in, and Soto added his voice. They left the peaceful and msyerious place to find that night actually had fallen overhead. How late was it? Had it really been dark when they went and morning hadn't yet come? No one knew. No one cared. And while Soto and Koro left the ridge feeling calm and ready, Ameri left it feeling heartbrken and torn.
__________________________pie______________________
Chapter TwentyEight-The Last Day
When he paused at the top for a last glance back at the camp, he did not know if he would ever see his beloved home again.
-Erin Hunter, Warriors: The Darkest Hour
When he paused at the top for a last glance back at the camp, he did not know if he would ever see his beloved home again.
-Erin Hunter, Warriors: The Darkest Hour
"Ameri..."
Gardevoir. Tunavii.
"Yes."
It's been a while. At least, that's how it feels.
"Indeed it has felt like a long time. The time measures in a few days, however."
Are you going to tell me... My role? My purpose for being here?
"Very well. You have been through so much, and this will be my last opportunity to tell you here..."
What? What do you mean by that?
"I mean that your role is about to end. This quest, to save the world from the falling star, that is your goal and job here."
But then... Why did you choose me, of all people, or Pokemon for that matter?
"Because we saw you to have great courage, loyalty, and true leadership skills. We, the spirits, saw that there was a need to destroy and defeat the disaster coming, and so I came to you."
And what did you say?
"I told you that in order to save our world, you would need to be changed into a Pokemon, with memories erased, and come to the Pokemon World to fight alongside new friends and allies, clear of mind and memory of your life as a human."
And I said?
"Why, of course Ameri, you said yes. You told me that you didn't mind having to come here as a Pokemon if it meant our world wouldn't have to suffer unnecissarily, and so we took you to our realm and made the transformation. And then, you woke up in the Pokemon World."
I did that? I left my own world willingly to save this one, without even knowing it?
"Yes. You have shown that you truly have care and bravery, and now it is time to use it for the last time here."
But why is it the last time?
"Because after the star has been destroyed, your role is done. And you return to your own world."
Wh... What?
"Yes."
But... Soto. Not just Soto! Koro, Orion, Kunea, Deyarcus, Alakazam, Lombre, everyone!! I can't...
"But that is the way it is to be. Even I cannot change that. We all have times when we must say goodbye to close friends."
But I...
"I am sorry, Ameri. This is your last day before you depart, yes? You'll need all the preparation you can get."
Tunavii...
"Au Revoir..."
"No... No... I don't... No..."
"Ameri? Wake up, Ameri!"
There was Soto, standing over her with Koro. He seemed worried for her and looked at her with concern. It reminded her of the first day they'd met, when she was just a confused little Eevee drenched in water, and he was just a playful little Cyndaquil who'd found her and given her a place to stay. They'd matured so much since then...
"Orion's helping Kunea somehow today, but Koro wanted to take us somewhere. Articuno can fly us, right?"
Ameri, still drowsy, look up at him for a moment. "Yeah... I'm pretty sure."
They found the great blue bird in the woods by the river. She stepped over to them slowly, looking very relaxed and calm. Her glossy feathers still shimmered with the same light they had the day she prevented the tsunami.
"Good that you came," she greeted, "I was beginning to think you really wouldn't need me again."
"Not need you?" asked Ameri, "We'll need you more than ever tomorrow."
"Indeed you will, I suppose," Articuno replied. "But where do you need flying to today? If that is why you came to see me, of course."
"Yes," Ameri answered, "Where are we headed, Koro?"
The Absol looked up at her with his red eyes gleaming. "The mountains. The far Eastern Mountains. There's a peak there, known by few, called Darkness Ridge. That is where."
"Ah, Darkness Ridge? I see," Articuno aknowledged, clearly knowing of this place, "Very well. Come, Ameri and Soto. And perhaps Koro, you would like to fly? I feel confident I could manage to lift you as well."
But Koro shook his head. "I will run. I enjoy seeing the land sweep by me, all as if it's caught in a wind..."
And they took off with that, to Soto's disapproval, and began the long journey.
She saw it all, from so far up. Everywhere she had been with Soto. There was the clearing, so plainly visible through the parted trees, and the river she had fallen into. And that was part of the Tiny Woods, which was connected to the darker trees of the Black Woods, where they had rescued Joku. Ameri looked down at the town of Wezla, which now seemed to small compared to everything else. She noticed Soto's little hut, which had been Team Yukon's base ever since the start of it all. And she also noticed the little red-cloth-roofed hut where Kunea was now, with Orion, probably mixing powders or discussing something. There was, to the far south, the remains of Mt.Raggidre. The mountain was crumbled apart, merely a gigantic pile of black rock in the middle of a dark ground. It distressed her to see that. The Badland's Darkwood was there too. And then she saw a small red peak, and a complex system of dried canyons around it. There was the Great Canyon, and the Hill of the Ancients. Tomorrow they would leave from that peak. After a while, Ameri saw all the lands they crossed when they were fugitives. Gray caves, steep valleyes, vast stretches of black, hardened stone. And then they flew over Mt.Blaze, and passed Magma Cavern's gaping mouth. The Eastern Sea was coming into view. Ameri had heard of several islands that existed in both seas. Now though, she'd never get to see them. She'd always hoped to travel there, see what there was and have another great quest with Soto, and bring anyone else who wanted to come.
The mountains stood out there, on the edge of the frozen land of Fyriyia, where they'd found Mt.Freeze and Articuno's forest. Articuno flapped her wings sharply, and looked down in search of the peak. Within thirty minutes they had landed on the ground, and Ameri leapt off wearilly. It was then she realized that her eyes were wet with tears. Did she want to leave this place?
Ameri quickly rubbed the tears off with her paw and looked around. They stood on a small peak with black, snagged and gnarled old trees all scattered about. A pair of great stone pillars rose up to the sky here, and they almost seemed to be shining with a malevolent and eerie blue light. Glowing, shimmering specs were hovering and floating all about, rising and falling, rising and falling... But the place didn't seem evil. It was just dark, almost sad and misunderstood. Koro was already sitting on the edge of the ridgelike peak, looking up at the sky, which was somehow dark over this place evn though it was clearly still daylight. It looked like a bright night sky, full of stars that glowed with little blue, purple, and silvery lights.
Atricuno flew off, not without telling them she would come back whenever she heard her summon. Ameri and Soto walked up and sat beside Koro, inhaling the thin and crisp air.
"This place... It's not just any place," breathed Koro, "It has a strange power within it. It calms the mind and makes one wonder about the world... I've spent hours of my time here, at Darkness Ridge, sitting and asking myself questions and pondering things that don't have answers. But it doesn't matter whether they do or not, because this place is perfect to simply wonder."
Ameri closed her eyes and let her head fall a bit. The tears were coming back. Koro had taken them here to relax and feel some calm before they had to go and risk their lives to save the world. And she was here crying because his kindness would be lost to her after tomorrow. Soto also looked calm and in deep thought. She had a friendly love for the Quilava, and Koro too. Everyone else here even. They'd all been through so much... And now she had to leave. Forever. Forever...
The three Pokemon were there for an unmeasured time before Koro began the summon. But it wasn't just him that called to Articuno. For Ameri joined in, and Soto added his voice. They left the peaceful and msyerious place to find that night actually had fallen overhead. How late was it? Had it really been dark when they went and morning hadn't yet come? No one knew. No one cared. And while Soto and Koro left the ridge feeling calm and ready, Ameri left it feeling heartbrken and torn.
- 777
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Seen Mar 11, 2023
Here comes a chapter! Just because, I guess. And it's not getting enough replies to wait in hope for another one. So, here's the twenty-ninth one. Two chapters left after this...
______________________p-p-p-pie________________________
Everyone. Everyone was there at the Hill of the Ancients, wishing them good fortune on their journey. Though they hadn't told anyone other than Kunea and Deyarcus that they were leaving for Rayquaza's domain, it didn't surprise Ameri that everyone knew. The way Orion had given her a wink also helped out with that conclusion. Here they all were. Ameri bit back tears as she looked at all the Pokemon who had come to see her off. Even Zangoose and Medicham were among the rest of the crowd. Xatu lifted his white and black wings, and turned to them all.
"Kwah! Today we face the ultimate demise! The star is close, and so the five brave members of Team Yukon, Ameri, Soto, Koro, Orion, and the Legendary Articuno, will make their journey to the Tower of the Sky, and meet Rayquaza at its peak. What they will find, even I cannot guess. This is our last and final effort to save our world. May you go with courage and the strength to succeed!"
"But wait," Soto cut in, "Why us? Wouldn't Alakazam's Team do better? I know it's a bit late to be asking, but... we're just a little team without enough experience to make much of a difference!"
"Oh, but you are wrong," replied Alakazam, who was standing nearby. "Soto, who was it that stopped the tsunami and the megaquake, as well as saved my team, not quite so long ago? Who was it that journeyed across the land for a month on their own, being chased vigillantly down and hunted like prey? Hm?"
"We stopped the tsunami only because of Articuno! With the quake, your Team already weakened Groudon, and Kunea still almost got killed! How are you so certain it must be us?"
"Because Tunavii says so," Ameri answered quietly. Everyone turned to her. Tunavii. She'd mentioned the name before to all of them, before Rexus was exiled, but she doubted they all knew exactly who that was, or remembered her name. "Tunavii. Gardevoir. She told me in a dream. We are the ones destined to do this."
"That's right!" called a familiar voice. Deyarcus stepped up, but it had not been him who'd called those words. It was Kunea, who stood beside him hunched over onto a long stick like an elderly person. But the light in his eyes was as young and pure as ever.
"If anyone's learned how to just rely on yourself and accomplish something great, it's me now! Go show 'em who's boss!" the Nuzleaf added. Everyone cheered and roared their approval.
"Well, Articuno?" Orion said, "You ready?"
"More than ever," replied the great blue bird. And all four Pokemon climbed onto her large back. Though four Pokemon was a lot of weight to carry, Articuno had assured Ameri that she would be able to manage at a time such as this.
Everyone chanted and cried out to them as Articuno took off, wings flapping strong and wide. To the sky they flew, and to the stars. To Rayquaza's domain. Ameri looked back, long ears flapping against her face. There was the red canyon, and the huge group of Pokemon waving.
There was Lombre, who had been kind and helped them at Mt.Raggidre. How long ago was that? Now it felt like only a few days ago. It seems like I've only just gotten here... Deyarcus... Kunea... Alakazam, Charizard, and Tyranitar... Where would the group that now flew on Articuno's wings be now without them? Maybe still in Soto's hut, waiting to be destroyed by the star. Maybe with Joku... Ameri remembered him and Fyra too. Choklo... Snubbull... Scyther... Even Nepharlil, the Old Whiscash, was here, rather than in his pond. Articuno was under her feet, and behind her sat Orion and Koro, her faithful companions, and Soto, the best friend she could ask for.
Then, she turned back to the sky. No going back now. I have to do this. For all of them.
Nobody hasn't wondered what it would be like to walk on a cloud. To be able to take step after step over its fluffy surface, and defy the laws that bind beings to the earth. But, despite how great it sounds, it really was a bit uncomfortable. Ameri and her group found themselves clawing over dappled and moist white masses, inhaling incredibly humid air, and almost falling through thin gaps to the infinate sky below. The Sky Tower was tall and mighty, and on the outside was a coat of swirling clouds that spun all around its bulk, making it seem like a moving tornado. But on the inside, it was calm and moved very slowly. The only problem was how cramped and hevay the air was. Clouds surrounded them from all sides, and every breath seemed to carry thick particles of water. Choking on the air didn't seem too hard. The way they walked on the clouds was odd as well. Some were thick enough to step over, while the thinner, more separated gaps would slip you through in a second, as Orion learned when his foot slipped in one terrible instant.
Because of the conditions inside the tower, Articuno had decided to circle the outer limits and watch for them to aide them when it was necissary. Every once in a while they would see her flying through a gap in the clouds as they walked somehow higher and higher. The higher they got though, the thinner the clouds became. Before long they wouldn't hold, and standing would bcome impossible. That was when Articuno came to use.
"Articuno, goddess of snow... Fly to us, for we are high, not low," called Koro. Soto chuckled a bit.
"It's always gotta rhyme, huh?" he asked. Koro glared at him and tilted his blade.
"That's just the way summons work! I didn't make them, I just say them!"
"Calm down," came Articuno's voice through the opening of a cloud from outside, "What do you need?"
"The cloud cover is getting too thin to climb here," Ameri called, "We can't walk, but you could fly. Try to get in at us and carry us farther."
Articuno did not reply, but she flew around and suddenly appeared through the white mist in front of them. They all climbed over and onto her, and they went up slowly and cautiously.
"Couldn't you just fly us around outside of the tower?" asked Orion. Articuno shook her head.
"Nay. It is incredibly windy and icy mixtures of hail and water pelt at all angles. It is hard enough to fly alone, but with four Pokemon on my back I'd surely drop someone if not myself."
And finally, they reached a point where the clouds became thick, and a little more dark tinted. Articuno made her way back through the foggy mist and disappeared from view. The air here was still humid, but it was now particularly cold. The higher they went, the colder it became, until chips of ice and frozen drops stuck to their faces. Paws became chilled and numb as they slipped onto the puffy surface, one step after the other. When would it end... When would it end...
This was the part about rescues though that built bonds. Ameri knew that accomplishing this together would bring her that much closer with here friends here. The tears were coming back. Why couldn't the star just wait until later? Why couldn't she bring herself to tell Soto, or Koro or Orion or Articuno for that matter? Would it help if she could? She would never know.
And finally, as they broke upward through a final mist of white, a giant vibration shook the clouds. The four of them were flung backwards, flying through the air. We're dead! We're dead!
But something slammed into their backs. It was a soft cloud wall, and they couldn't be more thankful for it. Ameri cautiously led the group to the top, which was an incredible sight to see.
The clouds that formed the ground were pure, thick, and white, while as they spead out in diameter they grew tinner and spiralled around the center. From this peak, you did not see a sky filled with clouds. You saw a sky lit by all the stars and lights you could possibly see, and they were all closer than anyone could imagina. The feeling of this was breathtaking, and at the same time frightening. For one star in particular was indeed moving closer. It only appeared to be moving very, very slowly from here, but each and every one of them knew that the red golliath was moving too fast to measure.
"DWELLERS OF THE LAND, DO YOU KNOW NOT WHAT DOMAIN THIS IS?"
Here it comes... The final battle... Ameri opened her mouth to reply, but found that no words came out. Only a choking sound that went unherd due to the loud rocking and shaking of the tower. Soto answered for her, sensing her faltering words.
"Rayquaza! We're here only to seek help! If we have to fight, we will, but we really want to avoid that at all costs! We were told by a Stargazer the only way to stop the calamity! The falling star! Please, just listen to us or we're all gonna die!!"
A long figure emerged from the atmosphere and began slithering through the ocean of white clouds in the sky toward them. It opened its mouth and bellowed,
"AND HOW DO I TRUST YOU ARE NOT TRYING TO FOOL ME?"
"Because I am here," growled Koro in return, "I am the Primary Guardian of Balance, and I have sided with these Pokemon to aide the demise of the disasters and the final calamity, which is visible plummeting in the sky above. Soon it will crash, without your help. All shall perish for good."
"And I am here!" Articuno cried, at the top of her voice from behind them, "I am the Ice Phoenix, and I have sided with these Pokemon to aide my forest in danger. Listen to them, and me, and us!"
"I AM FILLED WITH ANGER AND RAGE BECAUSE OF THE DISASTERS. IF I DIRECT THIS TO THE STAR, IT WILL BE DESTROYED, BUT YOU ARE ALL LIKELY TO BE HURT SEVERELY, OR KILLED BY THE SHOCK WAVES AND PLUMMETING MATTER PRODUCED. WILL YOU STILL RISK IT?"
"If we don't, we'll still die anyways! If we do, we might have a chance to save our whole world!"
This was Ameri. The Eevee had her head lifted to the sky and tears forming in her eyes. Rayquaza appeared, right before all of them, and bowed his great head in approval. What a magnificent beast, with perfect jade-colored scales and eyes that were as yellow as the markings in its flesh. The long snakelike body had no wings, yet it flew and hovered in the sky as it had for millenia.
"WELL SAID, YOUNG HUMAN. YOU REALLY ARE THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN SENT. YOU WILL HAVE MADE THIS WORLD A BETTER PLACE IN YOUR DEPARTURE."
And with that, Rayquaza, the great Sky Dragon, lifted his own great head to the sky, and opened his jaws wide at the star, which was now at least the size of the moon in the black void.
"TAKE CHARGE... OF YOUR DESTINY!!!"
And as his incredible Hyper Beam split the air, and slammed into the star, everything broke into a white light, and the world around them faded.
It was like a clouded, foggy realm, but Ameri could see her friends clearly. Was this death? Had the star's explosion killed them, or had it hit the planet anyways? Soto opened his eyes. So did Orion, and Koro. Articuno was nowhere to be seen.
"Soto... Everyone," Ameri choked out, closing her eyes off and on and breathing heavilly. She knew what happened now. She felt it tugging at the back of her mind. No. They were not dead. But she was still never going to see them again.
"Ameri?" the Quilava asked, his confused voice echoing through the endless silvery void. "Why are you... Your body is fading with light... Are you okay?"
"Soto, Orion, Koro... You three were the best friends... I could ask for... And I'm so sorry that I..." the tears were pouring now, and she was sobbing as she spoke, "... That have to leave you... But you'll still have my memory... right? You won't forget... And you'll still have... Team Yukon... Soto... I'm sorry... But I have to leave..."
"Ameri! What are you saying?" Koro shouted, "You're the best leader we could have! Please don't leave us alone!! You have to stay!"
"I can't..."
"What will we do? Ameri, you're our leader! You're more than a friend to me! You're like a role model and a coach and a partner! Don't do this to us! You can't leave!" cried Orion. The Breloom was crying too now, head bent low. His red claws looked for once so unprepared for battle.
"I can't stay..."
"Well, can you stay for me, Ameri?" asked Soto, already sobbing with her. How broken and frail his voice sounded now. It was almost as if she was not staring into the eyes of the brave Quilava that was her companion, but the form of a tiny Cyndaquil, hurt, lost, and helpless... "Can you stay by my side? I can't go on... without you. Team Yukon- no. We all need you. Here. Please... Can you stay for me?"
"I'm so sorry, Soto... But I can't... I really can't..."
And Ameri's body faded into the darkness, and as it did, the clouds became blacker and darker, until nothing more was visible. As they faded away, to another place, Soto cried out, and his voice went unheard.
______________________p-p-p-pie________________________
Chapter TwentyNine-Rayquaza
And then for the first time Lyra truly realized what she was doing. This was the real consiquence. She stood aghast, trembling, and clutched her dear daemon so tightly that he whimpered in pain... Her Pan, alone here: how could he live without her? ... Impossible! Never!
Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass
And then for the first time Lyra truly realized what she was doing. This was the real consiquence. She stood aghast, trembling, and clutched her dear daemon so tightly that he whimpered in pain... Her Pan, alone here: how could he live without her? ... Impossible! Never!
Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass
Everyone. Everyone was there at the Hill of the Ancients, wishing them good fortune on their journey. Though they hadn't told anyone other than Kunea and Deyarcus that they were leaving for Rayquaza's domain, it didn't surprise Ameri that everyone knew. The way Orion had given her a wink also helped out with that conclusion. Here they all were. Ameri bit back tears as she looked at all the Pokemon who had come to see her off. Even Zangoose and Medicham were among the rest of the crowd. Xatu lifted his white and black wings, and turned to them all.
"Kwah! Today we face the ultimate demise! The star is close, and so the five brave members of Team Yukon, Ameri, Soto, Koro, Orion, and the Legendary Articuno, will make their journey to the Tower of the Sky, and meet Rayquaza at its peak. What they will find, even I cannot guess. This is our last and final effort to save our world. May you go with courage and the strength to succeed!"
"But wait," Soto cut in, "Why us? Wouldn't Alakazam's Team do better? I know it's a bit late to be asking, but... we're just a little team without enough experience to make much of a difference!"
"Oh, but you are wrong," replied Alakazam, who was standing nearby. "Soto, who was it that stopped the tsunami and the megaquake, as well as saved my team, not quite so long ago? Who was it that journeyed across the land for a month on their own, being chased vigillantly down and hunted like prey? Hm?"
"We stopped the tsunami only because of Articuno! With the quake, your Team already weakened Groudon, and Kunea still almost got killed! How are you so certain it must be us?"
"Because Tunavii says so," Ameri answered quietly. Everyone turned to her. Tunavii. She'd mentioned the name before to all of them, before Rexus was exiled, but she doubted they all knew exactly who that was, or remembered her name. "Tunavii. Gardevoir. She told me in a dream. We are the ones destined to do this."
"That's right!" called a familiar voice. Deyarcus stepped up, but it had not been him who'd called those words. It was Kunea, who stood beside him hunched over onto a long stick like an elderly person. But the light in his eyes was as young and pure as ever.
"If anyone's learned how to just rely on yourself and accomplish something great, it's me now! Go show 'em who's boss!" the Nuzleaf added. Everyone cheered and roared their approval.
"Well, Articuno?" Orion said, "You ready?"
"More than ever," replied the great blue bird. And all four Pokemon climbed onto her large back. Though four Pokemon was a lot of weight to carry, Articuno had assured Ameri that she would be able to manage at a time such as this.
Everyone chanted and cried out to them as Articuno took off, wings flapping strong and wide. To the sky they flew, and to the stars. To Rayquaza's domain. Ameri looked back, long ears flapping against her face. There was the red canyon, and the huge group of Pokemon waving.
There was Lombre, who had been kind and helped them at Mt.Raggidre. How long ago was that? Now it felt like only a few days ago. It seems like I've only just gotten here... Deyarcus... Kunea... Alakazam, Charizard, and Tyranitar... Where would the group that now flew on Articuno's wings be now without them? Maybe still in Soto's hut, waiting to be destroyed by the star. Maybe with Joku... Ameri remembered him and Fyra too. Choklo... Snubbull... Scyther... Even Nepharlil, the Old Whiscash, was here, rather than in his pond. Articuno was under her feet, and behind her sat Orion and Koro, her faithful companions, and Soto, the best friend she could ask for.
Then, she turned back to the sky. No going back now. I have to do this. For all of them.
Nobody hasn't wondered what it would be like to walk on a cloud. To be able to take step after step over its fluffy surface, and defy the laws that bind beings to the earth. But, despite how great it sounds, it really was a bit uncomfortable. Ameri and her group found themselves clawing over dappled and moist white masses, inhaling incredibly humid air, and almost falling through thin gaps to the infinate sky below. The Sky Tower was tall and mighty, and on the outside was a coat of swirling clouds that spun all around its bulk, making it seem like a moving tornado. But on the inside, it was calm and moved very slowly. The only problem was how cramped and hevay the air was. Clouds surrounded them from all sides, and every breath seemed to carry thick particles of water. Choking on the air didn't seem too hard. The way they walked on the clouds was odd as well. Some were thick enough to step over, while the thinner, more separated gaps would slip you through in a second, as Orion learned when his foot slipped in one terrible instant.
Because of the conditions inside the tower, Articuno had decided to circle the outer limits and watch for them to aide them when it was necissary. Every once in a while they would see her flying through a gap in the clouds as they walked somehow higher and higher. The higher they got though, the thinner the clouds became. Before long they wouldn't hold, and standing would bcome impossible. That was when Articuno came to use.
"Articuno, goddess of snow... Fly to us, for we are high, not low," called Koro. Soto chuckled a bit.
"It's always gotta rhyme, huh?" he asked. Koro glared at him and tilted his blade.
"That's just the way summons work! I didn't make them, I just say them!"
"Calm down," came Articuno's voice through the opening of a cloud from outside, "What do you need?"
"The cloud cover is getting too thin to climb here," Ameri called, "We can't walk, but you could fly. Try to get in at us and carry us farther."
Articuno did not reply, but she flew around and suddenly appeared through the white mist in front of them. They all climbed over and onto her, and they went up slowly and cautiously.
"Couldn't you just fly us around outside of the tower?" asked Orion. Articuno shook her head.
"Nay. It is incredibly windy and icy mixtures of hail and water pelt at all angles. It is hard enough to fly alone, but with four Pokemon on my back I'd surely drop someone if not myself."
And finally, they reached a point where the clouds became thick, and a little more dark tinted. Articuno made her way back through the foggy mist and disappeared from view. The air here was still humid, but it was now particularly cold. The higher they went, the colder it became, until chips of ice and frozen drops stuck to their faces. Paws became chilled and numb as they slipped onto the puffy surface, one step after the other. When would it end... When would it end...
This was the part about rescues though that built bonds. Ameri knew that accomplishing this together would bring her that much closer with here friends here. The tears were coming back. Why couldn't the star just wait until later? Why couldn't she bring herself to tell Soto, or Koro or Orion or Articuno for that matter? Would it help if she could? She would never know.
And finally, as they broke upward through a final mist of white, a giant vibration shook the clouds. The four of them were flung backwards, flying through the air. We're dead! We're dead!
But something slammed into their backs. It was a soft cloud wall, and they couldn't be more thankful for it. Ameri cautiously led the group to the top, which was an incredible sight to see.
The clouds that formed the ground were pure, thick, and white, while as they spead out in diameter they grew tinner and spiralled around the center. From this peak, you did not see a sky filled with clouds. You saw a sky lit by all the stars and lights you could possibly see, and they were all closer than anyone could imagina. The feeling of this was breathtaking, and at the same time frightening. For one star in particular was indeed moving closer. It only appeared to be moving very, very slowly from here, but each and every one of them knew that the red golliath was moving too fast to measure.
"DWELLERS OF THE LAND, DO YOU KNOW NOT WHAT DOMAIN THIS IS?"
Here it comes... The final battle... Ameri opened her mouth to reply, but found that no words came out. Only a choking sound that went unherd due to the loud rocking and shaking of the tower. Soto answered for her, sensing her faltering words.
"Rayquaza! We're here only to seek help! If we have to fight, we will, but we really want to avoid that at all costs! We were told by a Stargazer the only way to stop the calamity! The falling star! Please, just listen to us or we're all gonna die!!"
A long figure emerged from the atmosphere and began slithering through the ocean of white clouds in the sky toward them. It opened its mouth and bellowed,
"AND HOW DO I TRUST YOU ARE NOT TRYING TO FOOL ME?"
"Because I am here," growled Koro in return, "I am the Primary Guardian of Balance, and I have sided with these Pokemon to aide the demise of the disasters and the final calamity, which is visible plummeting in the sky above. Soon it will crash, without your help. All shall perish for good."
"And I am here!" Articuno cried, at the top of her voice from behind them, "I am the Ice Phoenix, and I have sided with these Pokemon to aide my forest in danger. Listen to them, and me, and us!"
"I AM FILLED WITH ANGER AND RAGE BECAUSE OF THE DISASTERS. IF I DIRECT THIS TO THE STAR, IT WILL BE DESTROYED, BUT YOU ARE ALL LIKELY TO BE HURT SEVERELY, OR KILLED BY THE SHOCK WAVES AND PLUMMETING MATTER PRODUCED. WILL YOU STILL RISK IT?"
"If we don't, we'll still die anyways! If we do, we might have a chance to save our whole world!"
This was Ameri. The Eevee had her head lifted to the sky and tears forming in her eyes. Rayquaza appeared, right before all of them, and bowed his great head in approval. What a magnificent beast, with perfect jade-colored scales and eyes that were as yellow as the markings in its flesh. The long snakelike body had no wings, yet it flew and hovered in the sky as it had for millenia.
"WELL SAID, YOUNG HUMAN. YOU REALLY ARE THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN SENT. YOU WILL HAVE MADE THIS WORLD A BETTER PLACE IN YOUR DEPARTURE."
And with that, Rayquaza, the great Sky Dragon, lifted his own great head to the sky, and opened his jaws wide at the star, which was now at least the size of the moon in the black void.
"TAKE CHARGE... OF YOUR DESTINY!!!"
And as his incredible Hyper Beam split the air, and slammed into the star, everything broke into a white light, and the world around them faded.
It was like a clouded, foggy realm, but Ameri could see her friends clearly. Was this death? Had the star's explosion killed them, or had it hit the planet anyways? Soto opened his eyes. So did Orion, and Koro. Articuno was nowhere to be seen.
"Soto... Everyone," Ameri choked out, closing her eyes off and on and breathing heavilly. She knew what happened now. She felt it tugging at the back of her mind. No. They were not dead. But she was still never going to see them again.
"Ameri?" the Quilava asked, his confused voice echoing through the endless silvery void. "Why are you... Your body is fading with light... Are you okay?"
"Soto, Orion, Koro... You three were the best friends... I could ask for... And I'm so sorry that I..." the tears were pouring now, and she was sobbing as she spoke, "... That have to leave you... But you'll still have my memory... right? You won't forget... And you'll still have... Team Yukon... Soto... I'm sorry... But I have to leave..."
"Ameri! What are you saying?" Koro shouted, "You're the best leader we could have! Please don't leave us alone!! You have to stay!"
"I can't..."
"What will we do? Ameri, you're our leader! You're more than a friend to me! You're like a role model and a coach and a partner! Don't do this to us! You can't leave!" cried Orion. The Breloom was crying too now, head bent low. His red claws looked for once so unprepared for battle.
"I can't stay..."
"Well, can you stay for me, Ameri?" asked Soto, already sobbing with her. How broken and frail his voice sounded now. It was almost as if she was not staring into the eyes of the brave Quilava that was her companion, but the form of a tiny Cyndaquil, hurt, lost, and helpless... "Can you stay by my side? I can't go on... without you. Team Yukon- no. We all need you. Here. Please... Can you stay for me?"
"I'm so sorry, Soto... But I can't... I really can't..."
And Ameri's body faded into the darkness, and as it did, the clouds became blacker and darker, until nothing more was visible. As they faded away, to another place, Soto cried out, and his voice went unheard.
"AMERI!!!"
IceDragon2439
Stand Up and Scream
- 258
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Age 34
- Ecruteak City, Johto
- Seen Aug 1, 2010
So much emotion, i felt all of it at the end. This was such a great chapter and I'm sorry I haven't replied recently, but all of these chapters have been great. I can't wait to see what happens next.
- 777
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Seen Mar 11, 2023
Thanks! I really tried for the emotional feeling right there, and for the rest of the story. Speaking of which...
____________________piesemifinalchapterpie______________________
WARNING! If you haven't read/watched Bridge to Terabithia and think you might, are currently reading/watching it, or HAVE NOT HAD THE ENDING ALREADY SPOILED, then DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER'S QUOTE. It reveals a huge spoiler, and I know how much it sucks to have huge spoilers revealed about stuff like that.
"Soto! Wake up! You guys, come on! Wake up!!"
Soto's eyes slipped open slowly and wearilly. There they were, back on the Hill of the Ancients again. Soto's fur was pressed into the red, sandy stone as he lay weakly upon it. The Quilava looked around him. He saw all the Pokemon that were here before, and beside him were Orion and Koro on the ground. Lombre stood over him with Kunea looking ready to help them come around. But Ameri was nowhere to be seen. Soto bit back the fierce and uncontrolable tears.
"Articuno brought you all down, and left," explained Lombre, "She told us to say thanks for her, but she didn't bring Ameri... What happened to her? Is she okay? Did she... Is she... dead?" He breathed the last word with a hint of incredible worry.
"She's gone," Soto answered, unable to speak louder than a whisper, "And she's never coming back. She just left... saying she had to go!! She said... she was sorry... that she couldn't stay... And she left..."
Everyone backed away. The festive, happy atmosphere of their return and the rescue of their world was shattered. A cold and depressed silence hung in its place. Koro stood up slowly. Soto saw through the corner of his eye that tears were dripping down his black muzzle. All the Pokemon on the Hill of the Ancients turned to the Absol. All except Soto.
"Ameri was a Pokemon to us," he began, "A brave and true leader, who knew justice and inspired us all to do better. But in reality, through what we saw, and perhaps she herself saw, Ameri was a human. And despite all that she felt here, Ameri could not escape that truth. This world is not her own. And it must have hurt her as much as it hurts us now to know she had to return to her world in the end of all this."
Xatu was next to speak, not leaving a usual hesitaion. "Indeed, that is what happened. Ameri left for her own world. It was her duty here to save our world. And now the deed is done. What reason would she have to stay any longer?"
"She had us!!" Soto snarled, feeling enraged flames of anger rising on his back and head. "She had all of us! And Team Yukon! That's more than enough reason to stay! More than enough!"
"Soto... That's not what he meant... She probably could not prevent this from happening," explained Alakazam. Soto shook his head, and as he did drops of tears flew from his face.
"She could have told us! And now she's gone, just like that! Why does she have to be torn away, just as things were going to get better?! Now it's all ruined! Damn it all, no one can undestand how I'm feeling right now! No one!! I'm lost. Lost, without her by my side!"
~*~
"Ameri... Are you ready?"
I don't... I don't know... Tunavii, why?
"This is the way it must be... I am sorry for this, but..."
"It's okay, dear. Because we all know you did all you could."
I know that voice. It's you... Fyra!
"And we, the spirits, are even in your debt. You showed us all what a true leader is. We'll never forget you, even when your memory is erased."
Joku. I'm so thankful for that. Truly.
"Then... Let's begin, Ameri. It is time."
"Thank you, Ameri, for saving not only us all, but my son."
"Thank you, Ameri, for showing me how to stand up for myself and what is right."
"Thank you, Ameri, for being truly courageous coming to the aide of this world."
Farewell... Everyone...
________________________
One chapter left! Soon the conclusion is to be revealed...
____________________piesemifinalchapterpie______________________
WARNING! If you haven't read/watched Bridge to Terabithia and think you might, are currently reading/watching it, or HAVE NOT HAD THE ENDING ALREADY SPOILED, then DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER'S QUOTE. It reveals a huge spoiler, and I know how much it sucks to have huge spoilers revealed about stuff like that.
Chapter Thirty-Lost
"No", he said straight at May Belle. "It's a lie. Leslie isn't dead." He turned and ran out the door, letting the screen bang sharply against the house.
-Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia
"No", he said straight at May Belle. "It's a lie. Leslie isn't dead." He turned and ran out the door, letting the screen bang sharply against the house.
-Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia
"Soto! Wake up! You guys, come on! Wake up!!"
Soto's eyes slipped open slowly and wearilly. There they were, back on the Hill of the Ancients again. Soto's fur was pressed into the red, sandy stone as he lay weakly upon it. The Quilava looked around him. He saw all the Pokemon that were here before, and beside him were Orion and Koro on the ground. Lombre stood over him with Kunea looking ready to help them come around. But Ameri was nowhere to be seen. Soto bit back the fierce and uncontrolable tears.
"Articuno brought you all down, and left," explained Lombre, "She told us to say thanks for her, but she didn't bring Ameri... What happened to her? Is she okay? Did she... Is she... dead?" He breathed the last word with a hint of incredible worry.
"She's gone," Soto answered, unable to speak louder than a whisper, "And she's never coming back. She just left... saying she had to go!! She said... she was sorry... that she couldn't stay... And she left..."
Everyone backed away. The festive, happy atmosphere of their return and the rescue of their world was shattered. A cold and depressed silence hung in its place. Koro stood up slowly. Soto saw through the corner of his eye that tears were dripping down his black muzzle. All the Pokemon on the Hill of the Ancients turned to the Absol. All except Soto.
"Ameri was a Pokemon to us," he began, "A brave and true leader, who knew justice and inspired us all to do better. But in reality, through what we saw, and perhaps she herself saw, Ameri was a human. And despite all that she felt here, Ameri could not escape that truth. This world is not her own. And it must have hurt her as much as it hurts us now to know she had to return to her world in the end of all this."
Xatu was next to speak, not leaving a usual hesitaion. "Indeed, that is what happened. Ameri left for her own world. It was her duty here to save our world. And now the deed is done. What reason would she have to stay any longer?"
"She had us!!" Soto snarled, feeling enraged flames of anger rising on his back and head. "She had all of us! And Team Yukon! That's more than enough reason to stay! More than enough!"
"Soto... That's not what he meant... She probably could not prevent this from happening," explained Alakazam. Soto shook his head, and as he did drops of tears flew from his face.
"She could have told us! And now she's gone, just like that! Why does she have to be torn away, just as things were going to get better?! Now it's all ruined! Damn it all, no one can undestand how I'm feeling right now! No one!! I'm lost. Lost, without her by my side!"
~*~
"Ameri... Are you ready?"
I don't... I don't know... Tunavii, why?
"This is the way it must be... I am sorry for this, but..."
"It's okay, dear. Because we all know you did all you could."
I know that voice. It's you... Fyra!
"And we, the spirits, are even in your debt. You showed us all what a true leader is. We'll never forget you, even when your memory is erased."
Joku. I'm so thankful for that. Truly.
"Then... Let's begin, Ameri. It is time."
"Thank you, Ameri, for saving not only us all, but my son."
"Thank you, Ameri, for showing me how to stand up for myself and what is right."
"Thank you, Ameri, for being truly courageous coming to the aide of this world."
Farewell... Everyone...
________________________
One chapter left! Soon the conclusion is to be revealed...
IceDragon2439
Stand Up and Scream
- 258
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Age 34
- Ecruteak City, Johto
- Seen Aug 1, 2010
I wish it wasn't about to come to an end. It's been such a wonderful story, I;ve loved it from the beginning. This chapter just wants me to hold to who I love and spend as much time as I can, you never know when they're going to be gone. Can't wait for the final chapter.
- 777
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Seen Mar 11, 2023
Final Chapter!
Here it is. The conclusion I worked so hard for when I wrote this. The end of Team Yukon's Story. I hope everyone enjoys it. So, without further ado...
__________________pie________________________
"How is Soto?" Orion asked Kunea urgently. A month. A month had gone by and all that time Soto hadn't had food or water unless it was forced down his throat. Hadn't slept unless Kunea made him inhale the sleeping powders from his leaf. Hadn't acted as if he had the will to live. Orion had many times wondered if it was right to keep doing this to him. If he didn't want to live, then was it right to keep him alive? Would he ever be the same carefree and happy Quilava they all knew and loved?
When Kunea did not reply for a long while, Koro shifted uneasilly beside Orion, as he did whenever he sensed something amiss. His intelligent gaze was turned down at the ground solemnly. No... thought Orion, Please don't be-
"He's..." Kunea managed to mumur, "... Soto's gone."
The tears forming in the Nuzleaf's eyes seemed to be choking his words, making him unable to speak. Orion just stared, unable to comprehend it. Through the knot in his throat, he asked, "Gone? You mean..."
Kunea nodded slowly and broke into a sob. Koro stood beside Orion with tears falling from his eyes as well. But Orion couldn't bring himself to cry properly. He felt the tears there, waiting to break free, but they were stunned somehow. They wouldn't fall. And he felt as if he couldn't speak. His throat had so much pressure on it that it hurt.
"Can we... see him?" the Breloom croaked. Kunea nodded again weakly, and led them into the hut. They had called it "Healer's Hut".
There he lay, unmoving, on the same bed Kunea had sprung from alive and walking. The same bed Choklo had crawled from with his wings and scabs already feeling revieved. But this was different than the past patients to this bed. It had been a miracle bed for those who were healed and rested up on it moe than once, but now perhaps that miracle wasn't strong enough. Soto's once bright blue eyes had previously dulled to a cloudy cobalt, and now lay eternally closed to the world. Never again would his brilliant orange flames burn and light the way. Never again would his smile bring happiness to his companions. Never again would his hopeful words inspire another chance at victory. Soto the Quilava was gone, just like Ameri the Eevee before him.
When Orion realized once again where he was standing, and remembered his own life, he also realized that now like magic the tears were trailing down his face eagerly, and endlessly being formed and released in his eyes. Why can't Ameri be here? She would know what to do!
"But she isn't coming back," Koro replied. Orion froze and noticed his open mouth. He had said his thoughts aloud. When he looked at Koro, the Absol appeared immensly hurt by this all. His red eyes were dull with tears and sadness.
"I can't live on like this, Orion," he continued, "Ameri is gone, Soto is gone... I joined Team Yukon to put an end to disaster and distress. Now though, the calamity is gone, and there is nothing much left of Team Yukon anymore. It's time for me to move on and follow my destiny, rather than stay here wallowing in pain. All my life, I've had to put the past behind me and keep going. So that is what I think I must do."
"Don't go, Koro..." Orion pleaded, and though it was as loud as he could speak his words only came out as a weak whisper. "We need you. Team Yukon needs you. I need you to know that Team Yukon was more than just a dream of my past. I need to know that it was all real and that I won't wake up at any moment and find myself alone, a Shroomish in a leafy forest bed, in a world without Ameri or Soto or you."
Koro bowed his head. "You have Kunea to tell you otherwise. And Choklo. And Deyarcus. Orion, you were a good friend to me. I shall never forget that. But now it is time for me to go."
And he left, just like that. Orion couldn't recall how or when exactly. All he remembered is that when his tears cleared away he was sitting beside Soto's still body with Kunea by his side. Orion became Kunea's partner in healing, and they lived on for a long time. But never, as Orion had thought, did he wake up from this dream. Maybe it really wasn't a dream, despite the way it felt like one. They buried Soto out in front of the Healer's Hut. One spring, a tiny green bud had sprouted up from his body. The next, a beautiful Oran Berry tree was in full bloom. And that served as Orion's proof. That great and beautiful tree reminded Orion, every time he saw it, that the great adventures and plight of Team Yukon were real, and he had been a part of it all, even if the other three members were gone. Indeed, no one in Wezla ever saw Koro again.
~*~
"Nnnuh...?"
"Come on, sleepyhead! A Pokemon up at the Breeding Center's had kits! Don't you wanna go see?"
Her eyes came open immediately. Where was she... Oh yes. Home. This was the house she lived in, the little green-painted and cozy-looking house on Falltrail Lane. Images were still fresh in her mind from the deep and complex dreams she'd experienced the night before. Ameri... Ameri... Farewell... everyone... Disaster... Calamity... Saved... by you... Thank you... Ameri...
"Hurry up already! You don't even have to get dressed! Granma never cares if you go in your pajamas, so come on!"
Amelia. Of course. She remembered were mother had gotten the idea for her little sister's name. "Ameri and Amelia. Won't it be so cute?" Everything came back to her as she stood up and slipped her feet through her slippers, as she normally would after a deep sleep full of dreaming. When she walked lazilly out of her room, she looked down at Amelia, who obviously hadn't brushed her brownish-colored hair that morning. Ameri blinked when she stopped in front of her. The dream was slipping away from her mind now, and at this point she could hardly recall anything about it. Amelia stared up at her, suddenly seeming more hopeful than commanding of her.
"Come on, Ameri," she urged, "Breakfast can wait. A little walk up the lane and back won't take too long. Or we can eat with Granma when we get there."
The chilly air came to Ameri's face as soon as she and her sister stepped out of the door. She looked around at the red and golden leaves of trees and the crumpled brown ones on the dewy, grassy ground. Autumn was definately in the air by now. It was probably Ameri's favorite season, because of the calm mood and the perfect temperatures. Unlike Amelia, who often talked about how she loved the summer, being out of school, and getting to go swimming. Ameri thought about all this as they walked, Amelia skipping along behind her, passing little square house after little square house. That was the way of this neighborhood. All the homes were small and comfy, and they all had at least one tree in the front. It was a humble little road, and quite relaxing to walk through.
They came to the Breeding Center before long at all. Ameri knew they were there as soon as she saw the long picket fence, unpained but cheerful. Acres of grassy land and forested shelters lay behind that fence. Then came the wooden walls of the building, and at the front were the words "Yukon Family Solaceon Breeding Center" over the door. Part of the same plaque of wood was a well-pained logo showing a happy-looking Eevee with one paw held up. At the sight of the logo, Ameri got a weird feeling of familiarness and understanding. Must have something to do with that dream, she told herself.
"Why hello, girls! It's nice to see my two assistants at a time like this!" greeted Granma when they walked in. The inside of the building was warm, thanks to the lit fireplace on the wall to the right. Granma'd always disapproved of electrical heating devices, saying that a fireplace would always be the only real way to heat a house. The Breeding Center building was more like a one-room cottage than a house though. Amelia raced over to Granma and gave her an excited look.
"Where are the kittens? Huh Granma? Huh?"
"Oh, they're cubs, honey, not kittens this time," Granma laughed, giving Ameri a smile and a wink. "But yes, they're outside. A Quilava we rescued named Sasha had them just a few weeks ago. Seven of them! What a litter... Well, now they're ready to be given away to owners, but I thought you two would like to see them and maybe help out a bit before we start that whole business."
"Sure, Granma! I'll help with anything you need me to, as always," Ameri answered. Sasha... Sasha the Quilava... That sounds familiar...
As soon as Amelia saw the Cyndaquil cubs, she began making 'Aww' sounds and pointing eagerly at them. Ameri was overwhelmed by their cuteness as well. They were only just bigger than baseballs, and almost just as round. But they were definately fuzzier than baseballs, with their puffed out turquoise fur and little red spots. Granma opened the gate to the pen they were in, and Amelia and Ameri hurried inside, careful not to step on any of them. Though excited, both of them knew to be careful around baby Pokemon.
Sasha, who was sitting in a corner with a calm look about her, did not seem to mind them petting and picking up the Cyndaquil cubs. Amelia had to touch all of them, and Sasha as well, who accepted the attention in a very friendly manner. Ameri kneeled down and put her hands carefully and gently around the Cyndaquil in front of her to pick him up. As soon as she did, he looked up at her and gave a long yawn, revealing his tiny but sharp little teeth. Ameri stroked his sides with her thumbs, and he leant his head over and nuzzled it against her hand. Then he looked up over her shoulder at the rising sun. Right then, something hit Ameri.
"Where do you think it goes, Ameri?"
"Where does what go?"
"The sun. You can chase after it and never get to it, like it's really, really far away. I've tried to get at it when its sets, but it always disappears before I can, and leaves me tired out."
"That's because you can't catch it," Ameri replied.
... Had it realy been a dream? Really, had it?
"They're so soft, Granma!" Amelia squealed. Granma smiled and laughed. Ameri looked up at her grandmother, still holding the Cyndaquil in her hands.
"I want to keep this one," she said suddenly. Granma and Amelia turned to her, surprised.
"Ameri, I thought you wanted a pet Eevee whenever we could find a stray. You can't have both, you know," Granma replied.
"I know. But I want this Cyndaquil more than an Eevee." Eevee...
"Well, mom said it's okay for you to have a Pokemon whenever you want," Amelia said. She was right. Their mother had told Ameri that since she knew how to care for Pokemon doing volunteer work at the Breeding Center, she could have one Pokemon whenever she wanted to. And she had found the right one now. Ameri nodded to Granma.
"Okay then. He's all yours, Ameri," Granma agreed.
"What're you gonna call him, Ameri?" asked Amelia. Ameri stroked a finger over the tiny Cyndaquil's head.
"Soto," she replied, "His name is Soto."
And Soto opened his squinty eyelids just a little bit more than usual, allowing Ameri to see a pair of brilliantly blue eyes, full of hope and joy.
Here it is. The conclusion I worked so hard for when I wrote this. The end of Team Yukon's Story. I hope everyone enjoys it. So, without further ado...
__________________pie________________________
Chapter ThirtyOne-Soto
The story went on to say that only an angel could plant the seeds of a red fern, and that they never died; where one grew, that spot was sacred.
"Mama! Mama!" I shouted. "Come here! And hurry! You won't believe it!"
-Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows
The story went on to say that only an angel could plant the seeds of a red fern, and that they never died; where one grew, that spot was sacred.
"Mama! Mama!" I shouted. "Come here! And hurry! You won't believe it!"
-Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows
"How is Soto?" Orion asked Kunea urgently. A month. A month had gone by and all that time Soto hadn't had food or water unless it was forced down his throat. Hadn't slept unless Kunea made him inhale the sleeping powders from his leaf. Hadn't acted as if he had the will to live. Orion had many times wondered if it was right to keep doing this to him. If he didn't want to live, then was it right to keep him alive? Would he ever be the same carefree and happy Quilava they all knew and loved?
When Kunea did not reply for a long while, Koro shifted uneasilly beside Orion, as he did whenever he sensed something amiss. His intelligent gaze was turned down at the ground solemnly. No... thought Orion, Please don't be-
"He's..." Kunea managed to mumur, "... Soto's gone."
The tears forming in the Nuzleaf's eyes seemed to be choking his words, making him unable to speak. Orion just stared, unable to comprehend it. Through the knot in his throat, he asked, "Gone? You mean..."
Kunea nodded slowly and broke into a sob. Koro stood beside Orion with tears falling from his eyes as well. But Orion couldn't bring himself to cry properly. He felt the tears there, waiting to break free, but they were stunned somehow. They wouldn't fall. And he felt as if he couldn't speak. His throat had so much pressure on it that it hurt.
"Can we... see him?" the Breloom croaked. Kunea nodded again weakly, and led them into the hut. They had called it "Healer's Hut".
There he lay, unmoving, on the same bed Kunea had sprung from alive and walking. The same bed Choklo had crawled from with his wings and scabs already feeling revieved. But this was different than the past patients to this bed. It had been a miracle bed for those who were healed and rested up on it moe than once, but now perhaps that miracle wasn't strong enough. Soto's once bright blue eyes had previously dulled to a cloudy cobalt, and now lay eternally closed to the world. Never again would his brilliant orange flames burn and light the way. Never again would his smile bring happiness to his companions. Never again would his hopeful words inspire another chance at victory. Soto the Quilava was gone, just like Ameri the Eevee before him.
When Orion realized once again where he was standing, and remembered his own life, he also realized that now like magic the tears were trailing down his face eagerly, and endlessly being formed and released in his eyes. Why can't Ameri be here? She would know what to do!
"But she isn't coming back," Koro replied. Orion froze and noticed his open mouth. He had said his thoughts aloud. When he looked at Koro, the Absol appeared immensly hurt by this all. His red eyes were dull with tears and sadness.
"I can't live on like this, Orion," he continued, "Ameri is gone, Soto is gone... I joined Team Yukon to put an end to disaster and distress. Now though, the calamity is gone, and there is nothing much left of Team Yukon anymore. It's time for me to move on and follow my destiny, rather than stay here wallowing in pain. All my life, I've had to put the past behind me and keep going. So that is what I think I must do."
"Don't go, Koro..." Orion pleaded, and though it was as loud as he could speak his words only came out as a weak whisper. "We need you. Team Yukon needs you. I need you to know that Team Yukon was more than just a dream of my past. I need to know that it was all real and that I won't wake up at any moment and find myself alone, a Shroomish in a leafy forest bed, in a world without Ameri or Soto or you."
Koro bowed his head. "You have Kunea to tell you otherwise. And Choklo. And Deyarcus. Orion, you were a good friend to me. I shall never forget that. But now it is time for me to go."
And he left, just like that. Orion couldn't recall how or when exactly. All he remembered is that when his tears cleared away he was sitting beside Soto's still body with Kunea by his side. Orion became Kunea's partner in healing, and they lived on for a long time. But never, as Orion had thought, did he wake up from this dream. Maybe it really wasn't a dream, despite the way it felt like one. They buried Soto out in front of the Healer's Hut. One spring, a tiny green bud had sprouted up from his body. The next, a beautiful Oran Berry tree was in full bloom. And that served as Orion's proof. That great and beautiful tree reminded Orion, every time he saw it, that the great adventures and plight of Team Yukon were real, and he had been a part of it all, even if the other three members were gone. Indeed, no one in Wezla ever saw Koro again.
~*~
"Ameri! Ameri, wake up!"
"Nnnuh...?"
"Come on, sleepyhead! A Pokemon up at the Breeding Center's had kits! Don't you wanna go see?"
Her eyes came open immediately. Where was she... Oh yes. Home. This was the house she lived in, the little green-painted and cozy-looking house on Falltrail Lane. Images were still fresh in her mind from the deep and complex dreams she'd experienced the night before. Ameri... Ameri... Farewell... everyone... Disaster... Calamity... Saved... by you... Thank you... Ameri...
"Hurry up already! You don't even have to get dressed! Granma never cares if you go in your pajamas, so come on!"
Amelia. Of course. She remembered were mother had gotten the idea for her little sister's name. "Ameri and Amelia. Won't it be so cute?" Everything came back to her as she stood up and slipped her feet through her slippers, as she normally would after a deep sleep full of dreaming. When she walked lazilly out of her room, she looked down at Amelia, who obviously hadn't brushed her brownish-colored hair that morning. Ameri blinked when she stopped in front of her. The dream was slipping away from her mind now, and at this point she could hardly recall anything about it. Amelia stared up at her, suddenly seeming more hopeful than commanding of her.
"Come on, Ameri," she urged, "Breakfast can wait. A little walk up the lane and back won't take too long. Or we can eat with Granma when we get there."
The chilly air came to Ameri's face as soon as she and her sister stepped out of the door. She looked around at the red and golden leaves of trees and the crumpled brown ones on the dewy, grassy ground. Autumn was definately in the air by now. It was probably Ameri's favorite season, because of the calm mood and the perfect temperatures. Unlike Amelia, who often talked about how she loved the summer, being out of school, and getting to go swimming. Ameri thought about all this as they walked, Amelia skipping along behind her, passing little square house after little square house. That was the way of this neighborhood. All the homes were small and comfy, and they all had at least one tree in the front. It was a humble little road, and quite relaxing to walk through.
They came to the Breeding Center before long at all. Ameri knew they were there as soon as she saw the long picket fence, unpained but cheerful. Acres of grassy land and forested shelters lay behind that fence. Then came the wooden walls of the building, and at the front were the words "Yukon Family Solaceon Breeding Center" over the door. Part of the same plaque of wood was a well-pained logo showing a happy-looking Eevee with one paw held up. At the sight of the logo, Ameri got a weird feeling of familiarness and understanding. Must have something to do with that dream, she told herself.
"Why hello, girls! It's nice to see my two assistants at a time like this!" greeted Granma when they walked in. The inside of the building was warm, thanks to the lit fireplace on the wall to the right. Granma'd always disapproved of electrical heating devices, saying that a fireplace would always be the only real way to heat a house. The Breeding Center building was more like a one-room cottage than a house though. Amelia raced over to Granma and gave her an excited look.
"Where are the kittens? Huh Granma? Huh?"
"Oh, they're cubs, honey, not kittens this time," Granma laughed, giving Ameri a smile and a wink. "But yes, they're outside. A Quilava we rescued named Sasha had them just a few weeks ago. Seven of them! What a litter... Well, now they're ready to be given away to owners, but I thought you two would like to see them and maybe help out a bit before we start that whole business."
"Sure, Granma! I'll help with anything you need me to, as always," Ameri answered. Sasha... Sasha the Quilava... That sounds familiar...
As soon as Amelia saw the Cyndaquil cubs, she began making 'Aww' sounds and pointing eagerly at them. Ameri was overwhelmed by their cuteness as well. They were only just bigger than baseballs, and almost just as round. But they were definately fuzzier than baseballs, with their puffed out turquoise fur and little red spots. Granma opened the gate to the pen they were in, and Amelia and Ameri hurried inside, careful not to step on any of them. Though excited, both of them knew to be careful around baby Pokemon.
Sasha, who was sitting in a corner with a calm look about her, did not seem to mind them petting and picking up the Cyndaquil cubs. Amelia had to touch all of them, and Sasha as well, who accepted the attention in a very friendly manner. Ameri kneeled down and put her hands carefully and gently around the Cyndaquil in front of her to pick him up. As soon as she did, he looked up at her and gave a long yawn, revealing his tiny but sharp little teeth. Ameri stroked his sides with her thumbs, and he leant his head over and nuzzled it against her hand. Then he looked up over her shoulder at the rising sun. Right then, something hit Ameri.
"Where do you think it goes, Ameri?"
"Where does what go?"
"The sun. You can chase after it and never get to it, like it's really, really far away. I've tried to get at it when its sets, but it always disappears before I can, and leaves me tired out."
"That's because you can't catch it," Ameri replied.
... Had it realy been a dream? Really, had it?
"They're so soft, Granma!" Amelia squealed. Granma smiled and laughed. Ameri looked up at her grandmother, still holding the Cyndaquil in her hands.
"I want to keep this one," she said suddenly. Granma and Amelia turned to her, surprised.
"Ameri, I thought you wanted a pet Eevee whenever we could find a stray. You can't have both, you know," Granma replied.
"I know. But I want this Cyndaquil more than an Eevee." Eevee...
"Well, mom said it's okay for you to have a Pokemon whenever you want," Amelia said. She was right. Their mother had told Ameri that since she knew how to care for Pokemon doing volunteer work at the Breeding Center, she could have one Pokemon whenever she wanted to. And she had found the right one now. Ameri nodded to Granma.
"Okay then. He's all yours, Ameri," Granma agreed.
"What're you gonna call him, Ameri?" asked Amelia. Ameri stroked a finger over the tiny Cyndaquil's head.
"Soto," she replied, "His name is Soto."
And Soto opened his squinty eyelids just a little bit more than usual, allowing Ameri to see a pair of brilliantly blue eyes, full of hope and joy.
A true friend...
A friend for life...
You finally realize it now...
If you wish,
And wish very strongly...
You may just meet again.
.:THE END:.
A friend for life...
You finally realize it now...
If you wish,
And wish very strongly...
You may just meet again.
.:THE END:.