PW! - Stone of Ages
William Rendfeld
Night had settled quietly down upon Agate Village, the sounds of
rushing water helping to lull many of its inhabitants to a deep and
restful sleep. A half-moon rose in the sky, the stars just beginning
to become visible in the evening sky. It was a nice, peaceful, quiet
evening.
And that was exactly what Orrin was counting on.
It did little good for him or his team to infiltrate anywhere and
be noticed. Stealth was one of the best weapons anyone had, and he was
good as using it effectively. Thus their entering town in the dead of
night, late enough in the evening that everyone was sound asleep and
early enough that no one would be waking up just yet – they
practically had the small community all to themselves. His support and
their Pokémon were rested, having gotten plenty of sleep and a fair
dose of coffee just before taking on this mission.
As they silently moved through the streets, making their way
towards their objective, Orrin reminded himself of just what could go
wrong. Yes, they’d had a victory the previous day – the destruction of
the purification chamber – but they’d run into interference on the way
out. Master Kosda himself was convinced that they’d run into
interference again, and given his age and experience, he was no doubt
correct.
As they approached the pathway leading down towards the Relic Cave,
one of his charges spoke up. “So, what do you think are the odds of us
running into those two trainers again?”
The second one looked to her partner. “Eager to cross paths with
that Amazon again, Taki?”
Tall and slender, Taki gave a smirk to his partner. “Only because
I’m eager to lay eyes on a real woman again. I bet she doesn’t get
mistaken for a guy all the time like you do, Kagi.”
A small grunt and Kagi answered her fellow peon with a backhand
slap. She’d had more than enough cracks about her androgynous figure,
she didn’t need more. “Laugh it up. No way can a girl look like that
without plastic surgery. I’m more real that she’d ever be.”
Before the male Peon could respond, their commander held up a hand
to silence them. “We’re almost in. This is a simple mission – go in,
smash the stone, and leave before anyone sees us. Quick and easy –
expect trouble.”
His two subordinates now quiet, Orrin led them into the cave. Even
in the dead of night the cavern remained lit, small lanterns along its
roof providing light to any who would pass through it. Despite the
tranquility of their passage, the Cipher Admin’s every instinct told
him to expect trouble.
“Kagi, was it?” The three stopped dead in their tracks. The very
girl they’d spoken of stepped into their path, a long grey poncho
draped over her form and a Murkrow perched upon her right shoulder.
She smirked. “For the record, I’m all natural.”
A small laugh escaped the male peon’s mouth. “Where’s your
boyfriend, kid?”
The smirk faded immediately. “He’s not the one you need to worry
about. I am. Now, you have two options – leave, or get your butts
handed to you.”
“Tough talk, you over-inflated bimbo!” The female peon pulled a
Poké Ball from her belt. “We’re Cipher, and we don’t take kindly to
being threatened by little girls! Now get out of our way, or we’ll
grind your sorry ass into the ground!”
“Yeah. You got lucky last time – we’re ready for you now.” Taki
followed his partner’s lead. “Boss, you go ahead. We’ll keep this
little idiot busy.”
As discouraged as he was to let his subordinates remain behind with
the second trainer unaccounted for, Orrin suspected that this girl was
indeed the greater threat. “Very well. Battle hard and we’ll see how
things go for you.”
The Admin rushed past his opposition as Taki and Kagi released
their Steelix and Magnezone. The large steel snake found the cave
slightly cramped for its liking, but the Magnezone was more than able
to move around. Their opponent responded by ignoring Orrin, drawing
two Poké Balls of her own and holding them high.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you…we’re all fired up! Surtur, Rush,
let’s get extreme!” The familiar Blaziken and Arcanine took form as
attacks were called out. “Blaze Kick! Shadow Wave!”
“Magnezone, Lock-On!”
“Steelix, Rock Throw!”
As the living electromagnet focused its three eyes upon the
Blaziken, Surtur charged towards it, jumping into the air with his
legs already aflame. He made contact just after the Shadow Wave, a
shower of stones bombarding Rush shortly afterwards.
“Zap Cannon!”
“Crunch!”
“Another Blaze Kick! Shadow Wave again!”
Once more, Rush’s attack was first to connect, Surtur’s following
shortly thereafter. After the two strikes, both enemy Pokémon were
battered and bruised…but neither were out. Surges of electricity raced
among the magnets on the electric Pokémon’s surface, then lanced out
hard, blasting through the Blaziken and hitting him hard. The Fire-
type convulsed as the Steelix reached out and Crunched down hard upon
him, leaving him unconscious.
“Ha! What else you got, little girl?”
Surtur was calmly recalled, and another Poké Ball pulled out.
“Famous last words.”
-
Hidden away from view, the Relic Forest was a beautiful sight
whether one visited under the light of the sun or the moon. Orrin
couldn’t help but think it was beautiful, and take in the sight for a
few short seconds before laying eyes upon his objective – the Relic
Stone.
It looked like a series of stone quarter-circles of varying sizes
stacked upon one another, resting atop a stone platform with its many
grooves lightly pulsing with bright green light. Between that and the
moonlight, it gave the entire forest an air of ethereal beauty. It was
almost a shame that he’d have to blow it up.
As he pulled a small C4 charge from the pouch on his belt, a voice
interrupted him. “Sorry, can’t let you do that.” He turned to find the
second trainer standing at the edge of the forest, his Lucario
standing beside him.
The Admin gave a small smile and put away his explosives. “The
master assured me that I would run into both of you.” He turned,
pulling a Poké Ball from his belt. “I’d rather not go through this.”
“Then go ahead and leave – no one’s forcing you to blow up that
stone.”
“I meant battling you. I do as I’m told, boy – I don’t want to
waste my Pokémon battling some silly kid with a stupid costume and
delusions of heroism.”
“And I’d rather not waste my time battling. Unfortunately, I can’t
let you blow up the stone, and you can’t get me to do otherwise.”
Growing thoughtful for a moment, the young man looked at him
curiously. “And why do you have to follow those orders? No one’s
forcing you to blow this up are they?”
A small laugh. “How little you understand.”
If he was intimidated, Nicholas showed no sign. “Then illuminate
me.”
-
“MEGA!”
A massive Earthquake shook through the cave, finishing off both
Steel-types with one hit. Nadyra gave a satisfied nod, ShadowWarrior
fluttering beside her.
“So you took down Magnezone and Steelix, big deal – those aren’t
our only Pokémon!” Kagi recalled her Magnezone, her partner doing
likewise with his Pokémon, and two more took their places – a
Probopass and a Mamoswine respectively. “Probopass, Rock Slide!”
“Mamoswine, Blizzard!”
“Nadyra, Earthquake again! ShadowWarrior, Shadow Ball!”
Once more, the placid Grass-type’s legs sent tremors through the
earth, hurting both her opponents while a Shadow Ball flew hard and
fast, hitting the living Moai statue hard and fast. Their opposition
retaliated swiftly – the Rock Slide missed ShadowWarrior, while the
Blizzard battered the bird, bypassing the small dinosaur.
“Probopass, Magnet Bomb!”
“Mamoswine, another Blizzard!”
“Nadyra, Magical Leaf! ShadowWarrior, Fly!”
As the small crow gained as much altitude as he could, small leaves
shot from beneath Nadyra’s petals, streaming towards Probopass. They
made contact, hurting the Pokémon but not knocking him out. Its attack
missed, but the Mamoswine’s didn’t, buffeting Nadyra with icy winds
and bits of snow.
“And now we finish this off! Another Magnet Bomb!”
“Ice Fang!”
“Earthquake!”
Once more, Nadyra managed to shake the ground, seriously weakening
her opponents. At last, ShadowWarrior struck, slamming hard into the
large Twin Tusk Pokémon. As Mamoswine fell, Probopass struck…and
Nadyra fell beside it.
“Is that all you got, little girl? My Probopass is just getting
stronger while your little weaklings are going down! And soon, I’m
gonna have fresh support! What have you got?”
As his opponent’s Meganium was withdrawn, Taki brought out his
third and penultimate Pokémon. Soon ShadowWarrior shared the skies
with a Gliscor, the large bat-scorpion Pokémon hanging menacingly over
the field.
“Two words – surf’s up!”
The two Cipher peons looked at their opponent in surprise,
wondering exactly what she was talking about…then stared with shock as
a Blastoise appeared and sent a torrent of water against their
Pokémon.
-
“No one can deny it – we humans are the dominant species on this
planet. We control the Pokémon, not the other way around.”
The Lucario at his side growled at that comment, but restrained
himself as his trainer replied. “That doesn’t give you the right to
destroy this stone, or to manipulate Pokémon for your own ends. They
have hearts, minds, intelligence all their own. And there’s very
little stopping humanity from being wiped out by a sufficiently-
irritated Pokémon.”
“Which is why we need to remind them of who’s in charge, and make
sure they can’t be turned against us.”
“By destroying an ageless stone of great and infinite power? Your
logic is extremely lacking.” He tilted his head. “Which leads me back
to my first question – why? No way are you doing this just to be evil
– no one is simply evil for the sake of it. And I bet you don’t
believe all that tripe you’re spouting. What’s driving you here?
Greed? Fear?”
Orrin’s face grew stern. “I have my orders. Orders are meant to be
followed, boy.”
“Not immoral or unethical ones. Destroying this stone is both of
those things, and you should be ashamed to not see it.”
-
Gliscor was hit and hit hard. Probopass was out cold, Kagi
recalling it and sending a Bastiodon in its place. Not the best thing
she could do, but she had little choice – Taki was the one who’d been
issued a Shadow Pokémon, not her.
“Ancientpower!”
“Ice Fang!”
“Another Surf! Shadow Ball!”
Once more, a torrent of water washed over the two enemy Pokémon,
Gliscor falling in the attack. ShadowWarrior’s Shadow Ball made
contact with Bastiodon, but between the two attacks, little damage
appeared to have accumulated. A shower of rocks, meanwhile, made
contact with the small Dark-type, finally taking him out of the
fight.
“Well, you’re obviously just as good a battler as you are a looker.
But you’ve got nothing to help you against my last Pokémon, and no way
can you finish off Kagi’s Bastiodon!” He pulled the last ball from his
belt, the sphere flying through the air and opening to reveal a
Sneasel.
Neither noticed the reflective glint from one of the girl’s eyes as
the Dark type appeared, but both noticed the Poké Ball appearing in
the girl’s free hand. “We’ll see about that. Here we go, Strika!”
The small Gible appeared on the field, dwarfed by her ally and one
of her opponents. She looked up at the Bastiodon and almost boggled,
backing up a couple inches before noticing her partner. The large
turtle’s expression was firm, determined, and confident – he wasn’t
afraid. That gave her a little hope.
“Daraxis, Ice Beam! Strika, Dig!”
“Iron Head!”
“Shadow Blitz!”
One of the turtle’s cannons took aim and sent an icy beam against
the Bastiodon, doing little damage between the armored Pokémon’s high
defense and strength against Ice-type attacks. The Gible, meanwhile,
did what came naturally – she dug down and deep, hiding herself within
the shifted earth at her feet. The Bastiodon’s attack missed, but the
Sneasel’s attack didn’t, hitting Daraxis hard and hurting itself in
turn.
“Another Iron Head!”
“Another Shadow Blitz!”
“Protect!”
Both attacks hit, and did no damage. Strika, however, finally hit,
dealing a blow to the Shield Pokémon. After many attacks and many
strikes, it finally fell.
“Gible!” Strika cried out with pride, mere milliseconds before an
unfamiliar tingle went through her body.
Suddenly, the little Land Shark Pokémon took on a brilliant white
glow, further brightening the cave. Her form grew, four stubby legs
stretching into two wing-like clawed forearms and a pair of strong,
muscular hind legs, a neck forming and creating a clear difference
between her head and torso. The once shark-like Pokémon that had
frightened her trainer due to a strong resemblance to a Sharpedo now
looked less like the aquatic Dark type, and more like the legendary
raptors of the Cretaceous. As the glow faded, she looked at herself in
surprise and cried out, “Gabite!”
“So it evolved! Big deal! Sneasel, Shadow Hold!”
“Daraxis, Protect! Strika, Dragon Rage!”
Once more, the large turtle attempted to protect himself. It failed
this time, but that mattered little as the Sneasel hit his partner
instead. Strika felt an odd tingle pass through her but felt no pain,
answering the attack with a stream of blue flame from her mouth,
weakening the Shadow Pokémon further.
“And now, it ends.”
“Pretty and a good battler, but really unobservant! Sneasel,
another Shadow Blitz!”
“Daraxis, Protect! Strika, hold back!” The two Cipher peons looked
at one another in amazement before their opponent threw back her
poncho, then in shock as they recognized just what she had on her left
hand. “Snag Ball, go!”
The charged Ultra Ball flew, bouncing off the Sneasel’s head and
pulling him in. It wobbled once, twice, thrice…then chimed.
Taki looked at the ball in shock. “You bitch! You just…!”
“That bimbo can’t…!”
“Silence! Both of you!” Her Pokémon recalled and the newly-snagged
Sneasel zipping away, the young woman advanced upon the pair. “It’s
bad enough you two idiots are in league with a group that warps and
alters Pokémon for their own perverse ends, but it’s obvious that the
both of you are ignorant little snots to boot! You’ve seen almost my
entire main team, seen me twice, and you don’t recognize me? I’m not
sure whether to be insulted or amazed.”
Her disgust clear, Kagi dismissively asked, “Oh, like you’re little
miss famous! Who the hell do you think you are?”
The young woman threw off her poncho. “My name is Alexandria
Masters, and no one calls me a ‘bimbo’ and gets away with it.”
As Alex advanced, Taki asked, “And what are…you…going…to…”
Realization dawned on him. “We’re wearing body armor!”
The Amazonian young woman gave a cruel smile as she reared back her
right fist. “I know.”
POW!
-
“You obviously don’t know a thing about following orders,
Pendrake.” At the young man’s surprise, Orrin continued. “We know who
you are. We know you aren’t a battler. That’s why you’ve been trying
to talk me into giving up – you know you can’t win a straight Pokémon
battle against me. You don’t have any other options, so you try the
coward’s solution.”
“You and he clearly have two different definitions of cowardice.”
Two clear groans and a large thump later, and Alex stepped forward.
“Your two goons are defeated, Orrin. Even if you plant those
explosives, you’ll have to actually stay here in order to make sure we
don’t remove them. You may be dutiful, but I doubt you’re suicidal.”
“I don’t fear death, Masters. Do you?”
“There’s a difference between fearing it and running headlong into
it.”
“Not to mention inflicting it. And you don’t want to do that again,
now do you?”
The young woman kept silent, but cracked a small smile. “No. But
this time, I don’t have to.”
Before Orrin could even begin to wonder what she meant, a Gardevoir
Teleported in behind him. One of her hands found themselves upon his
shoulder, and the two popped back out of the forest.
-
A split-second later, the two reappeared, the Gardevoir
disappearing again after letting go of her passenger. Orrin only had a
couple moments to wonder where he’d been sent before a stun gun made
contact with him.
-
#The intruder is now in police custody.# Igraine looked between the
two trainers. #Our task is completed.#
“And not a moment too soon.” His footsteps echoing on the stone
path, the same officer that had spoken with the duo earlier stepped
forward. “And here I thought this wouldn’t work.”
“If they’d decided to send someone else, it might not have. These
guys, however, we’d met before, so we were ready for them. I’m just
glad that you were willing to go along with our plan.”
The officer looked at her. “As many an Officer Jenny will tell you,
cooperating with a young trainer is hardly an unwise idea.” Hearing
groans at his feet, the cop knelt down, producing handcuffs as he did
so. “I doubt these three will give us much information, but this still
counts as a victory to me. Miss Masters, Mister Pendrake, my thanks.”
As Taki and Kagi were slowly revived and led away, Alex dropped to
the ground and started going into her pockets for items. “Well, that’s
one way to ruin a good night’s sleep.”
“Sleep’s overrated anyway.” A sidelong glance from the young woman
and his two Pokémon, and Nicholas corrected himself. “Kidding,
kidding!” He sat down beside Alex. “So, the Relic Stone is safe. Are
we going to stay here and make sure it stays that way?”
“Eagun’s going to be back in town soon enough – once he’s here, we
can head out and worry about other things.” As she started applying a
Revive to ShadowWarrior, she continued, “Speaking of, if you had to,
would you have battled Orrin back there?”
The young man gave an uneasy shrug. “Well…”
#There is no shame in defending yourself when all options fail,
Nicholas. You know that as well as anyone.#
A nod. “I know. But you know that the four of us aren’t all that
good with battling.”
A smile formed on the young woman’s lips. “I might be able to help
with that.” At the amazed look from the young man, Alex applied a
Super Potion and elaborated, “Hey, we’re traveling together anyway, we
can at least make sure we have one another’s backs.”
A pleased expression formed on Nicholas’ face. “Alright, but two
conditions – one, you help me out with my performances. It can’t hurt
me to have a lovely assistant, right?”
“Well, Penn and Teller seem to make do without them, but you’re
right. And the second?”
“You elaborate on what he said back there, about you not inflicting
death again. Google only says so much.”
Alex turned away from him, thinking for a moment. He was going to
be traveling with her, but he didn’t need to know the whole story. At
least, not yet. “Well, it’s sort of a long story. He was right, about
me killing before. His name was Jackson Canmore…”
TBC!
[NS - Whew! Finally, I have something up! Here's hoping this spurs
some activity around here, and that I can get back to regular
postings.]