RE: Mewtwo's Revenge (Chapter VIII up!)
Wordcount for this chapter is...
Wow... I can't believe I'm about to say this, but: 11,674!
This thing is the Wailord of Chapters! It's INSANE!
Chapter IX
Darkness surrounded him in a cool, unnatural mist. It was like it was alive and tangible, with whispers shrieking past his ears and clouds of shadow obscuring his vision. In the center of this seeming room, Red stood motionless without a single shadow cast, however he stood perfectly lit. It was a familiar feeling, yet completely different in its own right. It was like when he first met Mew -- from the information told to him by Fuji, that is -- except that this felt... Odd. Like he was being choked; that the air was smoke. He felt something approaching him; he made a quick guess on where it was coming from, ad he turned behind him to face it. In it's shifting masses of shadow grew a shape, watching him, yet completely obscured.
"You can come on out, Mew, I know it's you." Red stated, confident.
There was no response.
"Listen, I know everything. Mewtwo, genetic engineering, who Fuji is... You can tell me all of the details! I know everything!" he continued, but he felt a chill down his spine when he spoke Fuji's name. The room suddenly grew cold.
Still no response. Red was beginning to get angry now; he hated to be ignored.
"Well fine, then! I guess if you already know I knew. I also guess you knew all along that Dr. Fuji was instead of being in Celedon City, he was in Saffron, eh? And you sent us on a wild-Pidgey chase why?" Red said through a crooked jaw; being ignored just got under his skin, and there was no denying that it was one of his pet-peeves.
Suddenly, in the darkness, two narrow purple eyes opened. The ground pulsed beneath his feet like a small tremor was happening. Suddenly, the silent whispers in the darkness grew to yells, and with a gust of wind, they surrounded his ears and he was nearly deafened by their sound. From their combined voices came a male sounding, deep, growling voice.
"You think you know everything, mortal? Your ignorance is laughable. You have guts, though, talking to me like that, and that is commendable." the voice boomed through Red's head, even through his hands that he clamped to his ears with every ounce of strength he had.
"Who are you!?" Red howled, the sheer power around him forcing him to a crouched position.
"Unimportant. Now, I must thank you for the information, and reward you with some in exchange." the voice boomed.
"Why!?" Red asked through the unrelenting pulse of howling air around him.
"I have a strong sense of honor." it replied frankly.
Suddenly, Red was lifted from his crouched, pained position and into the air. It was like two hands had taken him by his waist and lifted him, like a father would a child he was going to place on his shoulders, but much less gentle. Before him, there was white. In the whiteness there were shifting masses of blackness that suddenly formed into something -- or some
one, rather -- familiar: A silhouette of Emma, arms out and legs spread like an anatomical drawing.
"Has she told you the truth?" the voice said, booming.
Behind Emma's shape snaked something black and shadowy. Her eyes glowed a faint blue as it snaked behind her head, and curled away from her at the tip. Suddenly, the entire shape, shadow included, twisted and coiled into a twin spiral, connected by a series of bars. In that same instant, it was gone and replaced by the silhouette of Red himself, Emma's shadow behind him, back to back.
"How can you trust your back to someone who won't even told you the whole truth?" the voice continued as the silhouette of Emma began to turn to face Red's shadow, dagger in-hand.
She raised it and as the silhouette turned to face her, it was too late, she brought the knife down upon the forehead of the shadow, and as soon as it was stricken, the shadow of Red disappeared. She stood there, eyes glowing and brandishing her dagger. Red couldn't believe what he was actually seeing. Was Emma really going to stab him in the back? He had always figured she hadn't told him the entire truth, but he didn't want to set her off again like he did earlier when he confronted Emma about her past. But suddenly, all of the thoughts rushed out of his mind when the shadow
looked at him. The shadowy form of Emma reached out, grabbed his shoulder and thrust her knife forward as the low voice shrieked out: "Vengeance!!"
Reaching out his arms to defend himself, he grabbed the shadowy Emma by the shoulder with his right hand and snatched the knife-wielding hand by the wrist and clenched tightly as the voice continued to shriek out it's cry for revenge. Red's strength fought with the shadow's, when suddenly-
*****
He awoke, shriek of vengeance coursing through his brain and to the startled snarls of Charmeleon. What he saw before him was the calm, deep blue eyes of Emma, calming his mind as well. Red's gaze moved down to see himself squeezing the shoulder and wrist of Emma as hard as he could. Realizing his actions, Red let go, panicked. She relaxed her tense shoulders with a smirk, "Bad dreams?"
"I-I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?!" Red exclaimed, trying to find some sort of emotion to go along with his shocked state.
"I'm fine; don't worry. Trust me, with your strength, you couldn't hurt me even if you tried!" she laughed hoarsely with Charmeleon at Red's expense.
It was truly incredible how she just deflected his sudden behavior with a witty comment and a laugh. Such people are few and far between, unfortunately. Red couldn't help but to feel a smirk come over his face; not over the joke, of course -- that actually made him feel a bit dejected -- but for just some reason he couldn't put his finger on. With his heart pulsing a bit slower, the crimson trainer relaxed against the wall and let out a small, calm sigh. It was a stark contrast to where he was before, with that... Thing.
Looking forward, Red noticed that Fuji was watching him intently through the rear-view mirror. He hadn't reacted as though he was startled to the trainer's sudden outburst, and it seemed as though he hadn't taken his eyes off Red ever since. Fuji's eyes turned into scrutinizing, black slits who's gaze seemed to not only read the trainer's surface, but burn into Red's very being. It was uncomfortable, like being the subject of the prodding and examination of a scientist. Not even a single word was spoken.
Red tried to busy himself by scratching Charmeleon on the neck and picking a few grains of dirt from his scales. He felt the burning gaze of Fuji, causing a chill to go down his spine. The balding man reached into his right pocket and pulled out two small, blue pills. Fuji coiled his arm and moved it to Red. Charmeleon, who was sitting in the crimson-clad trainer's lap, sniffed at the pills and put on a bitter look. Even ever since Red and Charmander first met, the Pokemon had turned up his nose against anything that wasn't to his taste; like a small child would broccoli.
"They're vitamins. Take one." Fuji said frankly, eyes still scrutinizing him through the mirror.
Red looked down to Charmeleon, who was still glaring at the pills distrustfully, then to the pills themselves, and after that, up to Fuji. Given what he had just experienced, he wasn't exactly in the trusting mood. The balding old man pulled his hand back and dropped one of the pills into his mouth, swallowing it whole. Dispensing another pill from his pocket, he moved his hand back to Red, watching him intently through the mirror. This time, Red took one and swallowed it whole, then promptly pinched the back of Charmeleon's neck, who barked out of shock. Red then swiftly jammed the other pill into the mouth of his Pokemon with his two fingers. Having no choice, Charmeleon instinctively swallowed, bitter scowl over his face.
Fuji then moved his hand to his chin, where he scratched it thoughtfully, as if evaluating data he had gathered. A slight twinkle was in the old man's dark brown eyes, as if recalling something familiar. Looking ahead of him, the old man squinted at the twinkling buildings of Saffron City. The setting sun was reflecting off the buildings; especially the extremely tall building at the center, Silph Company. The sky was a pale blue, contrasted by the dark shadow of Mount Moon, which was still in the distance, looming seemingly over everything.
The trainer looked out of the window to his left, and through it he saw the mountain in the distance. Seeing the mountain made Red remember how much he had really hated that place. Not only was it infested with Zubat, but it was dark, treacherous and a maze, as they had to rely on none other than Team Rocket's own footprints to get out of the cave. Who knows what would have happened if they had no directions to go by? Then again... What if Emma had found a way out anyway? Not by any means of skill, but what if she had help...?
Red corrected himself instantly. If who he met in his dream was not Mew, and was instead someone else, who was it? Therefore, without any proper identity, the information given to him could not be trusted. But then again, the thing
did call in its honor, which meant that, if whoever -- or whatever -- Red had met did have a strong sense of honor, it would mean that the thing told the truth, and with it, a betrayal would happen in the future... Red made a note to add it to the cache of odd things about Emma, which included everything from her knowledge of the guard to the rather convenient "reinforced" walls in the building they took shelter from the Onix attack in Pewter.
"Listen, I'm really sorry. I don't know what got into me... I guess it was just-" Red began in a low voice, leaning in closer to Emma.
"Hey," she nudged him in the shoulder, "It's fine. You had a bad dream; it's natural."
For some reason, this response didn't really put his thoughts to rest. Perhaps if she had been mad at him or at least a bit irritated, he would have gained some more resolution, it seemed. It's funny, really, how guilt makes us feel; some of us can feel miserable, and yet some of us can somehow feel better with guilt. Red was not one of the latter people.
They drove on for a while. Emma dispensed a pseudo-dinner from her backpack in the form of energy bars and a bottle of warm water they shared. Red didn't like the energy bars; they weren't filling and they certainly weren't a delicacy when it came to flavor. They tasted old, like stale bread. But, they
were covered in chocolate (or what seemed to be chocolate, that is; with energy bars that are supposed to be healthy, you never can tell) and that was a redeeming quality, albeit outweighed by the rest of the bar.
Red took a bite out of his and swallowed the piece with as little chewing as possible, as chewing it made the taste of its staleness spread around one's mouth. He looked to Emma, who did the same; she obviously didn't like the things, either. After devouring her bar, she checked the wrapper for an expiration date, and upon sighting it, she snatched the wrapper from Red's hands, who was trying to see the same thing, and shoved both of the wrappers into her right pocket with an exhale.
Charmeleon turned down his bar, and Red wasn't about to shove another thing down his throat, deciding that if he wanted to keep his hand -- and partnership -- intact, that he should probably keep his hands out of the Pokemon's mouth for a while. Charmeleon had curled up into a tight ball between Red and Emma, not wanting to stay in the lap of Red after being nearly strangled when Emma shoved Red down earlier. He had just begun to shut his eyes again after Red's outburst when suddenly the car lurched forward and everyone was thrown forward. Thankfully, Red and Emma were strapped in with their seat-belts, but Charmeleon was not; with a startled yelp he was thrown from his curled position and into the back of the compartment in between the driver's and passenger's seats, and then fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Fuji had just slammed on the brakes.
Irritated, Charmeleon stood up and looked outside. It was the city of Saffron, nothing more. Not even something blocking the road, which was odd considering the fact that cities were supposed to be bustling at that time of day. Not even a single car was on the road.
"You will get out here. I can help you no further." said Fuji, suddenly more serious than before.
"Y... You're serious?" Red asked, shocked.
"Quite; now get out." Fuji was frighteningly frank; he didn't even look through the rear view mirror as he spoke.
Something was off. The old man hadn't been like this before, and it was jarring on how fast he had changed from jovial and unassuming, to cold and blunt. It was almost like something spooked the old man like an Abra, quite literally one of the most skittish Pokemon on the planet.
Frustration boiled inside Red so much that he clenched his fists. It was so abrupt that it was downright angering. They were just a few blocks away, couldn't Fuji just drive a few seconds longer and drop them off then? Emma scowled and unbuckled her seatbelt, obviously irritated as well. She tightened the strap on her messenger bag and let out a silent "tch!" as she exited the car and slammed the door, nearly knocking Charmeleon on the nose with the door. She passed the car and walked forward, sparing a quick glance at Fuji before walking onward, toward Silph Company.
"What was
that all about?" Red mumbled as he unstrapped his seat-belt, nudging Charmeleon on the side as to gain his attention.
"Heh. Her feelings are justified toward me. I'm certain she will tell you when the time comes, my boy. But until then, when there is no secrets between you," Fuji turned and faced him with the most dire look, leaning against the chair he sat in with his arm, "Take my advice,
do not trust her. That is all I can say."
"What do you mean 'don't trust her'?"
"What did I just say?"
Red didn't reply. It was obvious that there wasn't any more information that he could get out of Fuji by any means short of torture. Red sighed and opened his door, unbuckling himself from his seat and exiting the car. Charmeleon, loathing getting out of the warm comfort of the shabby car and back into restless nights and lack of bedding, Charmeleon's tail drooped and he reluctantly followed Red with a crooked jaw. They then began to walk off after Emma, but were stopped yet again by Fuji.
"Hey, wait! Take this," Fuji leaned out from the opposite window with a small blue candy in hand, leaning over exposed parts of the stick drive and nearly getting his clothes caught in the gears, "And use it when everything seems lost."
Fuji dropped the blue-wrapped candy in Red's palm. It was tiny, wrapped all in blue and twisted on each end as if ears to someone's head. Not sure what to make of it, Red put on a farce understanding face and pocketed the candy, thinking that Fuji was either messing with him or the old man had finally lost it.
"... Thanks." Red said with a questioning look to Charmeleon, who merely looked at him and snarled -- he was still mad about having to get out of the car.
Offering no reply, Fuji slammed on the gas pedal, tires squealing and did a complete 180 degree spin, then sped down the road, leaving them in his dust. Red couldn't really put his finger on why the sudden oddness about the old man. He seemed to be nice enough, but just outright leaving them in the streets? Sheesh. Instantly deciding that the quirky old man wasn't going to come back, Red made off after Emma, followed quickly by a loathing Charmeleon.
Surprisingly -- or not, if Red had remembered her fast walking from earlier -- Emma had made some good ground between herself and Red. The crimson-clad trainer jogged up behind her, feet feeling rather sore from running in non-specialized shoes. Charmeleon jogged up behind them, panting.
"So, aren't you gonna tell me why you and Fuji have such bad-blood?" Red inquired, walking up next to his companion.
"No." she replied frankly, not even skipping a beat with her pace.
Red paused, not expecting such a brisk answer, even though by then he should have gotten used to it.
"Bu... Wha...? Why!?" Red asked, brow furrowed in frustration. Why would no one tell him anything!?
"Because I won't tell you." she didn't even look at him this time.
"Hey, don't take your anger for him out on me!" Red threw up his hands as if surrendering.
This time Emma stopped and turned to face him, where she smirked and crossed her arms, staring into him with her blue eyes.
"I'm not taking my anger out on you; trust me, you'd know if I was! I'm just not telling you because now isn't the time, capiche?" Emma stated frankly, then turned to continue walking, but paused, "Do you feel that?"
Red was sure she was just changing the subject, but paused and waited anyway. Sure enough, though, there was a low rumbling under the street. Puddles splashed and pebbles trembled, as if afraid of something. Something was just under them, heading straight for Silph Company. The crimson trainer had a bitter thought about the Onix from before, that perhaps they hadn't defeated it, and that it was heading where they were to confront them once more. A shudder went down Red's spine as he continued walking forward, making sure not to stay in one place for too long because of the presumed digging adversary.
Pretending to ignore uneasy feeling he gained from the low and dissipating rumble beneath his feet, Red continued on, a thoughts bouncing back and forth at the back of his mind about just what the source of the rumble was.
"... Well... Anyway. When will be the time that you'll tell me? I kind of feel like we can't work together as a team if we don't have full disclosure." Red broke the silence.
"When you need to know." Emma replied frankly, blowing a lock of pink hair from her eyes.
"Do I need to know?"
"Nope."
Suddenly, screams were heard from further down the street and what seemed to be a flood of people began to stream from the doors of a very large building. Red and Emma's pace quickened (though, Red was beginning to lag behind a bit, as Charmeleon was beginning to become rather heavy on Red's shoulders) as they rushed up to the crowd. Emma reached out and grabbed the arm of someone in the crowd and began to yell over the flood's screams.
"What is going on!?" Emma yelled, making eye contact with the ginger-haired man, who was not much taller than Emma, who, standing at full height, came up to the man's freckly cheeks.
"Drills just popped up out of nowhere! They have these giant 'R' labels on them! They said something about a bomb... I'm sorry! I really need to go! You kids need to get out of here as quick as possible and get to your parents! Something is definitely going down!" and with that, the man faded into the crowd and ran off.
The trainer peered into the building, and in the center of the room, there were large, black boxes with large drills at the front, surrounded by lights, and at the back there was an open hatch that led to a dimly lit interior. Treads were on all sides of the metal behemoths, only surrounded by pipes that began on the front of the drill and ended on the back, as to spit out the dirt that was displaced and make it as if there was not a single disturbance in the dirt. Rather ingenious. At the sides, lit by spotlights beneath them, there were giant "R"s stamped, signalling that this was, indeed, Team Rocket.
Red looked at Emma, "If there is a bomb in there, that means that they have Fuji, and that he is still in there! Their drills haven't left yet! There is still time to get him out!"
"Red, you don't know how long those bombs have on their timers!" Emma cried out over the crowd at Red, who was running into the building anyway.
Bursting through the entrance to the building, Red slid and brushed by as many people as he could to avoid them, others he outright collided with, ran around the baffled person, and continued to run into the building. One thing caught his eye in all of the chaos, however, and that was of a woman, standing promptly at her desk, grinning. It was all too odd to leave unanswered, so he ran up for some answers.
"Hello, and welcome to Silph Company! I am Mr. Silph's personal secretary. He is unfortunately indisposed at the moment, as he is currently engaged in private matters on the eleventh floor. Do you have an appointment?" she said, dark hair turning an odd, transparent blue at the tips.
"The eleventh floor, eh? Thanks for the info! If anyone knows where Fuji is, it's him!" the trainer began to run off, but a voice stopped him.
"Hey, kid, stop!" the voice was a male one, but it came from the woman.
Red turned to face it once more.
"You don't look like you're a Rocket... Why're you looking for Fuji?" the thing said, extremely out of place with the visage of the beautiful woman speaking with a man's voice.
"I was told to find him."
"By who?"
Red did not reply, causing the woman to squint at him hardly, as if sizing the fifteen year-old up. After the woman paused, seeming to lose all animation whatsoever as if a statue, Red picked up a pen and poked the arm of the woman, and to his surprise, it went right through her. It was plain to him now that the woman was a hologram one might hear of in sci-fi.
"Enjoying yourself?" the hologram spoke, seeming to take notice of Red poking and prodding of the hologram.
"Eh? Oh, sorry." Red backed away, a little embarrassed.
"I've deduced you're no threat. See ya in five seconds!" the woman with a man's voice stated, and disappeared entirely.
Red was left puzzled. What did that even mean? As soon as the thought went through his mind, Red caught movement off to each of his sides. Two long poles with three cameras in descending order, like on a stop-light, had been lowered and had begun to rotate at an alarming speed. On their tips were seemingly diodes that from the distance that they were, Red could feel their electric charge. He tried to get out of it, but the poles had already spun too fast. Red had no time to get out of the trap.
The trainer felt as though half of him was cold, and the other warm. One patch of his body seemed to be cold, yet directly next to him it was like he was standing out in the sun. Red looked down at his hand and saw that from the space between the index finger and the third digit all the way down to the base of his wrist was
missing. Looking around himself, he noticed that his entire body was disappearing like dust. He felt electrified and panicked at the same time.
Soon, half of Red's face was gone. What he saw was odd. One half of his vision he saw the normal room he had begun in, but the other half of his vision, he saw a white, damaged room. In front of him -- actually, he was rather below Red -- stood a young man who had to have been around twenty. Red wasn't used to being taller than other people. He usually felt small in comparison. Red turned his now fully materialized face to the left and saw that the same arms were spitting up a blackish stream of sand. Once that sand touched him, it built into a part of his body, just as it should be. Right down to the clothes.
Once he was all finished materializing, Red noticed that he couldn't touch the ground with his feet. Suddenly, claws that were hanging from the ceiling detached from his shoulders causing the trainer to fall screaming to the floor.
"Sorry about that. Must've misjudged your height." the man said, stifling a chuckle.
Picking himself up, Red adjusted his hat and turned to face the man, "Great. Thanks.
Who are you?"
"The name's Silph," the dark haired man said, jamming his left thumb towards his head, "And we have four minutes to live."
Red was stunned. Not only did he witness his own dismemberment by de-materialization, but he was in the presence of the richest man in the entire region of Kanto, and with four minutes on the clock until they all die -- presumably via the bombs he had heard of earlier. Red didn't know what to say.
"You were looking for John, right?"
"John?"
"Fuji."
"Then yes! Where is he?"
"Rockets took him and left me here to die."
"So he's pretty much gone now."
"Pretty much."
Red sighed; not only did he not only know where he was, but he had a set time on his life. Red looked around the room to try to figure out where he was. He was supposedly on the eleventh floor, considering what the hologram said to him, but that could be anywhere on that floor. With no real definition to the location of the room due to the fact that there wasn't any windows, but there was one doorway, which could mean that they were in a corner.
"Do we know where their leader is?" Red asked, beginning to step out the door.
"No, and I don't
want to know." Silph answered, following closely behind the fifteen year old.
Red paused and looked back at Silph, emphasizing the importance of finding Fuji in the glare he shot at the CEO, which was only met with a blank stare and a shrug. Silph didn't really care whether or not this kid was searching for someone; he needed someone to help get him out of the building, because if he tried to do it alone, it would literally be a suicide mission. Silph didn't know if this kid knew this fact or not, but the fact remained that the trainer seemed to be working with him, for the moment, at least.
Red stepped out into the hallway and looked about him; it was a bit more like an office building now, with now cracked and dust covered, pale blue tiles coating the floor and an almost sea-green blue on the walls. From the door and off to the left, there was a circular scarring that was present on the walls that looked like something large and boulder-like came through the corridor and through the door. Red didn't know what caused it, and he could only guess at what creature came through, but Silph witnessed first-hand what damage Golem could do, and no doubt was in his mind that the marks were caused by none other than Golem.
"So, wait, you're Silph, right? As in the owner of the Silph company?" Red asked as he began to follow the marks; his only guide, for the moment.
"That's my name!" Silph replied cheerfully, mopping his dust-covered hands on his already tarnished suit-pants.
"Why aren't you Russian, or German accented?" Red asked frankly, turning another corner without looking first.
"My father was German -- hence the name -- and my mother... My mother, she was born in America and moved here. I guess I take after my mother a bit. What about you, eh, kid? You from around here?" Silph asked, collar from his green shirt brushing against his unshaven stubble, making him scratch at it.
"Yeah." Red replied bluntly, not going into the details, once more.
Silph was about to reply with a witty "conversationalist" remark, but a sudden rumbling caught him off guard. It wasn't the rumble of explosives in the distance, or the building collapsing, but of a helicopter. It all made sense to Silph, suddenly.
"Figures." Silph remarked, scratching the back of his head.
"What does?" Red asked, pausing in his trek to face the CEO.
"Giovanni; he's their leader. He called in a helicopter to brush his ego; he's going to watch the building come down with a bird's-eye view." Silph replied, gesturing toward the roof.
"Then that is where he'll be! Let's go!" Red barked, and without leaving time for a rebuttal from Silph, the trainer was dashing down the corridor and following the signs that read "Stairs". No doubt was in Red's mind that Giovanni was on the roof, and that going there would be dangerous, but the payoff might be worth it.
Turning a corner, Red dashed toward a door and burst through it. Not checking to see if Silph was still following him, Red found that a certain headstrong confidence was building in him. Red was sure he would beat Giovanni; no, he was absolutely certain of it. Scrambling up the stairwell, the crimson trainer readied a Poke Ball, anticipating the fight to come. At the top of the stairs ahead of him there was a doorway, and behind it, the sound of a Helicopter. No doubt Giovanni was there. A wheeze came from behind the trainer: Silph had finally caught up.
"You sure you wanna-" Silph paused to swallow, "Do this, kid? Giovanni 'aint gonna take too kindly to ya. I mean, he considered me a
friend and he left me to
die."
"Friend?" Red asked, turning to face Silph.
"Long story. One that would take longer than..." Silph checked his watch, "Two minutes. I hope you got a plan, kid, 'cause the clock is running a bit low on steam..."
Red had a plan. It was a long shot, but a plan it was.
"Don't worry, you're Silph, arguably one of the most intelligent people in the region!" Red said as he burst through the door, "You'll think of something!"
There was a conclusion in Silph's mind that was drawn. The kid was either as confident -- verging on arrogant -- as they come, or as stupid as they come. How did he expect to defeat Giovanni and escape an eleven story building within
two minutes? The next question that entered Silph's mind was just that, did he even intend to? The way that Red walked, the way he talked, it wasn't of someone suicidal, it was of someone with something to live for. It was someone of confidence, and of someone who was determined to defeat his opponent no matter what. No, Silph deduced, Red wasn't one who was going to go into a fight such as this without a plan, and the CEO had confide in him that his judgement was good, otherwise they were all dead.
Bursting through the door, Red saw the glare of the evening sun bathe the helipad in a golden brown light. The helicopter at the center of the pad was black, originally, but it took on a much softer, more golden appearance in the sun's glare. At the door there was a group of Rocket grunts, loading supplies. Overseeing the operation was a man with jet-black hair slicked to the back of his head and a seemingly hand-woven tan suit. He carried nothing, and his mere presence made the area seem a little colder, even with the warm air buffeting Red from the helicopter. No doubt this was Giovanni.
Tossing his Poke Ball, Red prepared for the battle with intense anticipation. Looking down at the Pokemon he had sent out, expecting Paras, it was actually Magikarp instead. The fish flopped on the hot concrete of the roof weakly, trying to find water. Red let out a sigh and returned Magikarp to its Poke Ball and tossed his other Poke Ball. Thankfully, Paras materialized with ease from her capsule and gave Red a chirp and a slight squint with her multi-faceted, mantis-like eyes.
"Ready?" Red asked, both he and Paras rearing up, ready to dash forward, "Sleep Powder on the pilots!"
Paras dashed forward, the Rockets were so enveloped in their job and the helicopter was so loud, they didn't notice the Paras approaching them at high speeds. Paras ran past Giovanni, who looked down at the Pokemon, startled. The bug leaped into the helicopter and into the cockpit, landing in the lap of one of the pilots. Barely getting a yelp out, the cockpit and everywhere else in the chopper exploded in green spores, and, thanks to the spinning blades of the helicopter, the spores cleared to reveal that all of the grunts were unconscious, including the pilots.
With a sigh, Giovanni reached into his pocket and began to feel around. Pulling his hand back out, the leader glared at one of the Rockets and the briefcase he was holding, then back to Paras. He would have to do this the hard way, then. Giovanni reached into his left pocket and pulled out an ornate, wooden glazed Poke Ball. It was a custom, something that Giovanni had imported. The best require the best, no? With a flash of plasma, the ornate Poke Ball opened and jet out a large, purple snake with piercing yellow eyes, yellow stripe at the base of its skull and a yellow rattler at the tip of its tail. The creature opened its mouth to reveal a tooth-riddled jaw with two large, long fangs at the top that no doubt deliver the killing blow.
"Choke the life from its body, Ekans," Giovanni said coolly with a gesture of his hand, as if asking for someone to pass the salt rather than issuing a killing order.
Before Red could react, and subsequently Paras, Ekans reached inside the cockpit of the helicopter and yanked the bug Pokemon out with its jaws. Once out of the range of the blades, the snake proceeded to wrap itself again and again around the Pokemon, and with each breath, Paras began to get less and less air in her lungs. Red stood aghast, he didn't know what to do. Paras' mushrooms were covered by the body of the snake, and therefore they could not release their noxious spores into the air. Her claws were pinned to her underbelly along with her legs. Her shell was beginning to crack and her claw was beginning to be crushed once more. It seemed there was no fighting back.
"Don't worry, Red, I got this! You take care of Giovanni!" a familiar voice called out. It was Silph!
The CEO dashed across the golden hued concrete, now untucked suit shirt blowing as if a cape in the wind from the helicopter, howling like a madman. In his hand was a small device that seemed like a remote with two prongs at the end. From Red's view, it actually looked as if someone had taped dowsing rods to a hand-held Taser. Wait; it actually
was two dowsing rods taped to a Taser. Red shrugged; whatever works.
He turned back to where Giovanni was, expecting to see him there. But what he was instead met with were dangerous, scrunched black slits for eyes and a rage-filled snarl no less than two feet away from Red. Suddenly, Red's face and vision exploded in a painful light show of agony. Red staggered back as the left jab made contact with his chin and bloodied the interior of his cheek. A vicious right uppercut came from the Rocket leader and made contact with Red's stomach, causing the air in his lungs to shoot from his mouth in a pain-filled yelp. Disoriented, Red could see two hands clasp around his shoulders and send his chest flying into a knee speeding in the opposite direction. Staggering back, Red took a deep breath, readying his fists. He had never fought before, but he'd give it a go.
Red let out a right hook to Giovanni's face, followed by a left hook, then another right. But there was no effect. Instead of even recoiling under the impact -- let alone give any indication of pain -- Giovanni gave him a toothy grin, teeth like fangs to a snake, and he lashed out again with a kick to the side of Red's left leg, sending him spiraling to one knee. Giovanni's right hand came and clasped around the trainer's neck and lifted. One-handed, the Rocket leader held him higher than Giovanni's own head and began to carry Red to the edge of the building.
*****
Meanwhile, Michael Silph was having his own problems. He couldn't do anything of note to the snake without getting either zapped by his own shabby machine (it's amazing what you can find in a trash can) or nearly taken down by the snake's venomous bite. Grimacing, Silph looked back at Giovanni and Red, where the latter was failing miserably. There wasn't anything he could do with the machine he had. It could barely cause pain to an Ekans, what did he think it would do to Giovanni? Nothing.
Michael had an idea when he remarked to himself at the power of the device he had. It could cause pain, and when there is pain...!
"Take that!" Silph yelled out as he dove forward and ducked under the striking head.
He grabbed of the yellow stripe and held the mouth at bay as he jabbed Ekans' body that surrounded the barely living Paras. Silph struck again and again, using the involuntary jolt away from pain that all living beings have against Ekans, loosening the snake's grip on the bug Pokemon. Finally, after the fifth strike, there was enough of a gap to make his move. The CEO reached in and grabbed hold of the cracked shell of the insect, and with a yank, Paras was free. The sudden lack of friction sent Silph flying backward, arms curled around the now freed Pokemon. Relief flowed through Silph's body, thankful that he got Paras out of a near death experience. Ekans, however, was not so happy.
It struck and grabbed the taser from Silph's hand and proceeded to bite into it, breaking the shabby thing to bits. Something someone might call a devilish smile came over the snake's face as it's beady yellow eyes focused in on Silph. It opened it's mouth, and lashed out.
*****
Just as Red's battle began above, Emma noticed movement in the now abandoned building. She had been waiting for nearly four minutes already, and with bombs you can never really tell how long they have on their timers, so she expected Red to come back out -- empty handed or with Fuji, it didn't matter -- when she saw the movement. Instead, what she saw was a group of Rocket grunts with a handcuffed Dr. Fuji in tow, heading for a drill. Charmeleon saw it, too, but didn't care; he didn't recognize Fuji, not like Emma did from the pictures from earlier.
"Charmeleon, that's Dr. Fuji! He's being taken away, let's go after him!" Emma said, beginning to walk into the building.
Charmeleon turned his back on her and huffed, being stubborn for no real logic, really. It was something he liked to do especially to those he didn't respect. He did it to Red a lot when they first left home. His mind was soon changed when a slap met the back of his head, painfully. He turned to find Emma, tapping her foot with her hands at her sides, a firey look on her face that could melt steel. Fear bubbling up, Charmeleon nodded, wide-eyed, and ran into Silph Company.
Bursting through the door, Emma quickly jammed a finger at the drill the Rockets were loading into.
"Charmeleon, melt that drill! They're not going anywhere!" Emma ordered, and instantly, Charmeleon leaped over and dug into the drill with his claws. At the base of the drill, the lizard opened his mouth and let loose a large flame. It seemed that Charmeleon's fire breathing abilities were maturing. Before the Pokemon could only breathe a few small embers.
The drill let out a hollow twisting noise as the engine was beginning to start up and the axle began to turn. Unfortunately for the drill and it's inhabitants, however, the super-heated metal being twisted was just enough for the axle to snap, sending the drill to the floor and the vehicle useless.
Shouting several profanities loudly, a large Rocket clambered out of the drill he was piloting and turned to Emma, the other grunts standing behind him, aghast.
"Alright, little girl, I'm going to count to five. When I reach five, you'd best be gone, or I'll-" he was interrupted by Emma.
"You're a moron." she stated blankly, motioning at Charmeleon to attack, "Don't you know? Counting never works with children, let alone teenagers."
Charmeleon leaped from the top of the drill into the crowd and let out a massive exhale of inky black smoke. In the blinded crowd, the Pokemon leaped from Rocket to Rocket, searching for Fuji. In the black smoke, Charmeleon made out a lab coat and gray hair. This had to be the scientist. He leaped forward and tackled the scientist out of the smoke and onto the floor behind it. With a quick motion of his head, Charmeleon grabbed the coat of the scientist with his jaws and tugged, trying to pull the scientist in the direction he needed to go. Standing up, Fuji gave Charmeleon a pat on the head as he dashed over to his savior: Emma.
"Dr. Fuji?" Emma asked quickly, getting ready to fight back against the Rockets.
"That's me; who are-" Fuji stopped himself as he looked up; he recognized Emma, and his face became very pale and his eyes widened, "... You."
Emma didn't respond. There wasn't time for a response, anyway. The large Rocket waved his hands about his head and choked on the smokescreen that Charmeleon let out, his vision blurry with the tears caused by his stinging eyes. But when he noticed their captive and their attacker, standing together like they could take the Rockets on, it angered him. He removed his black cap, revealing his sweaty, bald head as he tossed the cap aside. The grunt pulled out a Poke Ball and tossed it to the ground, and out of it came a large rat -- nearly two feet long and one foot high, it was tan, with a mangy coat and four large teeth protruding from its mouth that came together like a vice grip. It let out a vibrating squeak, like a mutant rat (and in essence, it looked like one, too) from a horror film.
"Kill them, Raticate! Leave the scientist alive, but cut the others to
ribbons!!" the Rocket howled at the top of his lungs.
The rat sped forward at a startling pace. It was like a blur of tan fur and teeth. In an instant, it was upon Charmeleon and was using it's sharp claws to slash at him. Charmeleon's tough scales were protecting him for the most part, but there was only so much that scales could do. It cut at him and cut at him, slashing at his face, arms body, anything it could reach with a claw.
But suddenly, Charmeleon opened his eyes and grabbed the right claw of the Raticate and held it firm. Then, he opened his mouth and let out a massive flame that enveloped the rat and went so far as to set the ceiling ablaze. The now flaming Raticate yelped and screamed in retaliation, only to be met with a vicious Rock Smash to the face, sending it flying back to the shocked Rocket's feet, unconscious. The lizard stood proud, letting his scratched arms out at his sides, and giving a devilish snarl that was drenched with the words "bring it".
The shocked Rocket yelped and picked up his Pokemon, putting out the flame with his hands shouting to the others, "Retreat! Get to the other drill! Leave Fuji; we'll get him later!!"
They all followed their apparent leader and scrambled over to the second drill, and almost as soon as the next to last one was on board, the hatch on the back was already being sent up. The final Rocket scrambled aboard rolling inside as the massive drill began to power up once more. Emma, satisfied, gave Charmeleon a rub on the chin and a soft pat on the head, much appreciated by Charmeleon. Together, they walked outside and stood at the edge of the road, waiting for Red. Emma had knelt down and used another medical spray on Charmeleon; the same brand that she had used on Red earlier.
"Where is your friend?" Fuji asked, still pale and staring at Emma with his gray eyes.
"In there. He'll be back out in a moment." replied Emma, watching closely as the liquid from the medication began to foam and form to Charmeleon's wounds.
"Is a moment thirty seconds? The bombs have five minutes on their clocks, and it's been four and a half minutes since they were activated!" Fuji said, panic returning color to his face.
Suddenly, something fell onto the sidewalk next to Charmeleon. It was the candy that Fuji gave to Red earlier, along with his red baseball cap. Fear set in with Emma as she slowly looked up, worrying at what she might see. Over the edge of the building, there was what seemed to be a red-coated person being held by his neck over the side by a suited man! It was Red and... Emma recognized this man all too well.
She didn't know what to do. They didn't have time and they didn't have means to get up to Red before he was dropped. What could they do other than watch!?
Fuji thought the same thing, but he had an idea. What was dropped was something that he recognized -- no, more than recognized, he
designed. He knew it would work if the proper conditions were met, and if these children had it, then the conditions had to of been met already because the only way they could obtain one is by visiting his father. The scientist scrambled and picked up the blue-wrapped candy and pulled the two twists on the edges, unwrapping it. Inside the wrapper was a cloudy, pale-yellow hard candy. In any other case, Fuji would have probably eaten it already. He looked to Charmeleon and let out a strike with his hand to the back of the Pokemon's neck. Involuntarily, the lizard opened his mouth to yelp, and as soon as that happened, the candy was shot down the Pokemon's throat by the scientist.
Charmeleon snarled. So many things had been shoved down his throat recently it wasn't even funny anymore. The scientist could have just asked him to eat the candy and the Pokemon would have happily eaten it, but no, they just loved shoving things down his throat, didn't they? Charmeleon paused when he felt an odd sensation in his stomach. It was like he was burning up, yet cold at the same time; like he was hungry, but he couldn't eat another bite without becoming sick, and many other contradictions at the same time.
Charmeleon recognized this feeling, and he liked it.
Emma watched in startled amazement as scales began to split, claws fell from their previous places like an old tooth would to make room for the new one. As that was happening, the skin on the back of Charmeleon split to reveal two fast growing, fast changing lumps. The singular horn at the back of the Pokemon's skull split into two as his tail grew. Charmeleon opened his eyes; the previous dark blue of Charmeleon's eyes grew larger and deeper. On the growing snout, a snarling grin formed. He was evolving, and he loved every second of it.
*****
Red's brown eyes darted around in his head for ways to get out of this situation. Giovanni was holding him tightly over the edge of the essential twelfth floor of Silph Company, he had just tried to reach for something -- anything -- he might find in his left jacket pocket and ended up tearing it, instead, and spilling the entire contents onto the street below. Red's body ached and strained under the unrelenting strength of Giovanni, who was holding him with amazingly one hand.
Giovanni's face contorted from a cool, calm look into a deep, rage-filled scowl, "I'm disappointed,
boy. You would think that, after everything, she would have developed better taste in men! Tch! You can't even fend for yourself! You rely on your Pokemon and you walk in proud and
arrogant; so
sure of yourself! When in reality, you are just riding off other's power and calling it your own! You are
nothing!"
Red dangled there, defeated. The words echoed in the trainer's mind; had he just been using Charmeleon's, Paras', even Magikarp's power and calling it his own? Had he become boastful off the accomplishments of others? Red felt a fire burn in his stomach of determination. No, he hadn't, and he never would!
Grabbing hold of Giovanni's hand and doing his best to pry it open just enough so he could take a quick breath and to speak his mind, Red struggled to say, "We... are... a... Team...! Syn...arch...y!"
With each word Red struggled to say, Giovanni's face became more contorted with rage and his hand became more and more clenched. Any more, Red thought, his throat might be crushed. The crimson clad trainer didn't know why what he said made the Rocket leader angry, but it was the truth. In a team, one cannot be anything without the other. A Pokemon needs orders in order to fight well, and a trainer needs a Pokemon to fight. Together, they are strong; apart, they are weak.
"Boss! Run! You've got five seconds left on the clock!" one of the pilots had woken up and had begun to make preparations to take off.
The suited man relaxed his face, revealing his light tan eyes so he could take a clear, quick glance to the helicopter, Giovanni looked back to Red with a smile, "I've got a flight to catch."
Giovanni's hand released. Red felt relief for a moment; the rich, warm air coursing through his lungs once more, the relaxing release of the painful grip around his neck. But in an instant, all of the feelings of relief were washed away by fear. Red had begun to fall. His jacket swirled and flapped in the wind that began to speed around Red's face, the buildings looked as if they were golden blurs out the window of a speeding car, the only seeming constant was the concrete pavement below him, which seemed to beckon him onward, as if inviting him to take a dive into it's deep, murky, stone.
Suddenly, the building erupted in a series of firy explosions, starting at the base and progressing all the way to the top of Silph Company. The bombs had gone off. The building seemed to expand for a moment, as if taking a breath, and suddenly all of the windows blew out of their place in the form of painful knife-like shards. Red covered his face and closed his eyes as the glass seemed to fire at him like bullets that cut at his arms and bounced off his clothes. Red opened his eyes once more. The glass was around him as if in zero gravity, joining him in his fast descent into the seemingly fast approaching pavement below. But there was something else among them that matched Red's speed. It came up from behind him and wrapped it's arms around him in a warm embrace. He looked up, and somewhat recognized what he saw next.
It was like Charmeleon, but it was lighter orange, at least double Charmeleon's size and, beyond differences such as the two bony protrusions on the back of this new Pokemon's head and much more stout body, the one thing that set it apart from Charmeleon the most was the fact that it had
wings. They were fleshy and blue on the inside, and yet it was light orange on the edges. The wings were large, yet they were pinned behind the great creature to where they almost touched the two-thirds point on the tail of the creature, which was burning a bright flame. The creature smirked with two large, blue eyes as it continued to speed toward the ground. Who
was this Pokemon?
Looking forward, Red could see detail in the pavement, down to the cracks in the yellow paint that made up dual bars that separated the lanes of the road. But the dragon was not stopping; no, he was speeding up! Red braced himself with his arms and let out a howl of fear, only to have everything seem to be pulled backward, just as Red's nose came within two inches of the ground. The howl of fear turned to a chuckle, then an outright laugh. He was now enjoying himself, wrapped in the arms of his oldest and most trusted friend. This dragon was, without a doubt, an evolved Charmeleon.
As dust began to fall from the building as it's supports failed one by one, Red suddenly remembered who and what he had forgotten.
"Charmeleon! Take me up to the roof! Paras and Silph are still up there, and they're in trouble!" Red shouted as loud as he could over the wind whirling by his ears.
A jab on his shoulder blade caught his attention as Charmeleon -- if you could still call him that -- pulled up from the road and began to spread his great wings. Red looked up and saw that it was Emma who was riding on Charmeleon's back. She mouthed something along the lines of, "don't worry, we know!", though Red couldn't really tell all that well, considering he wasn't used to lip reading by any means.
The newly evolved Pokemon spun and twirled for a moment, then rocketed upward, roaring loudly. The building crumbled around them as "Charmeleon" sped upward, beating his wings to skillfully dodge falling parts of the building. Paper fluttered by as glass and concrete roared past their heads like meteors, smashing into the pavement below. The building strained and let out a loud, creaking snap; another one of the supports had blown out under pressure. It wouldn't be long now until the entire Silph Company building would be upon them.
But "Charmeleon" out-sped the building, and he reached the top in a matter of moments. Using one of his clawed arms, "Charmeleon" pulled Red over his head and dropped the trainer upon his long, scaly neck. The dragon reached the peak of his ascent and turned to look at where Paras and Silph were. What he saw was a man dressed in a green dress shirt using his left arm wrapped in cables to block the strikes of a large, purple snake. Paras lay on the ground behind the man, crippled once more. "Charmeleon" scowled and dove forward, folding his wings back and sped forward like a missile, seeming to cut the very air to shreds.
Dust showered the area as the roof began to crack and split apart. The dragon didn't care, however; there was something else on his mind. Through a cloud of dust, the Pokemon sped forward, opened his fanged mouth and snapped the Ekans up mid-strike. The snake screeched as the dragon bit down upon it and shook his head violently, wringing the snake like an old rag. Planting his feet on the ground, the orange behemoth spat Ekans on the ground and stepped on it's tail, opened his mouth and let out a massive, vengeful flame. With a screech and a pop, the Ekans was no more, burned to oblivion, taking part of the roof and part of the floor beneath that with it.
Silph snatched Paras up in his arms, being cautious not to harm the Pokemon any further, and climbed upon Charizard's back. He peered over the side of the dragon as he began to take off once more, floor falling away.
"Dang, man! Your Charizard kicks some serious-" Silph paused and looked to Red and Emma, "Butt. Yeah. That's... Totally what I was going to say."
Charizard, huh? Sounds... Awesome. Red thought to himself as he turned to the Helicopter.
Giovanni had run across the roof and climbed in the copilot seat of the helicopter and the pilot -- the only Rocket who managed to wake up -- had achieved liftoff. The black helicopter turned and began to speed off, fleeing the scene. Red scowled. It wouldn't be a victory with their leader's escape.
"Charizard! Put us down in a safe spot and get Giovanni before he escapes!" Red ordered, feeling the strength of the newly formed wings beneath his thighs.
With a roar, Charizard flapped his wings and dove down, circling around the now completely collapsing building and gaining enough speed to glide over to the next building. The devastation was horrific. It was like a giant tree had been chopped at it's crucial points and the lumberjack let the tree fall on it's own without taking a piece of wood for himself. It was wasteful, terroristic and enraging. Who knows if someone was trapped in there under rubble, and they were just left there to die? It was, for the lack of a better word, wrong.
Charizard soared up to a building two blocks away and landed on the roof. There was someone already there, sporting a labcoat, long grey hair and a goatee. Red recognized this man from photos that they were shown at Fuji's residence. It was Dr. Fuji, the man they had worked so hard to find, and the man who created the creature known as Mewtwo.
Climbing down from Charizard proved to be much easier than anticipated. Charizard held out his hand like a staircase, and the passengers stepped down with ease. The dragon felt relief wash over him. Having to fly around three people was getting heavy and annoying. After all three people and Paras had gotten off, Charizard took flight once more, speeding after the fleeing helicopter. Dust and gravel that made up the rooftop was tossed around as Charizard's great wings flapped. Taking off, he turned, roared and sped away to attack the helicopter while Red watched, full of pride.
He turned to face his companions and, instead of being met with their smiling faces, he was instead met with the palm of Emma's hand slamming into his left cheek. Pain exploded once more as he staggered under the impact; that was one of the places that Giovanni had punched him.
"What was that for!?" Red turned to face Emma once more, this time prepared for a second slap to the face.
"That was for being so reckless!" Emma said with firy, yet tear-filled eyes, "You realized you could have gotten killed and you stayed in there
anyway! I told you about the bomb threat and what did you do? You
ignored me! I warned you that you might not be able to make it out again, and what?
Ignored yet again! You decided to endanger the lives of not only Silph --"
She turned to gesture towards the man, who looked up at his name being spoken in such tones to make sure he wasn't in any trouble.
"-- But your Pokemon as well! You became so blinded by your pride and self confidence that you nearly ended up dying!"
"I had a plan! I was going to knock out the pilots with Paras and take Giovanni as my prisoner, then use Silph's technical experience to fly off the roof in the helicopter and turn them over to the-" Red tried to explain himself, but stopped when he saw Emma begin to raise her hand to slap him yet again.
"It
doesn't matter! What you did was selfish, arrogant and foolish! You were
lucky that Charmeleon had the right
conditions and that
Fuji was here to notice the method of his evolution! If
any one of those factors had
not happened, you would be
dead!" Emma jammed her first digit into his chest with every word. It was painful not only mentally, but physically as well, as she was jamming her finger into another spot where Giovanni had beaten him.
Red looked down. What she said was true. He was a fool to believe that he could do such things without repercussions. Guilt washed over him with each word. He was blinded by his own pride, but no longer. He would be better, for Emma, for Charizard, for himself. The revelation made him realize deep down just how mortal he really was. Guilt, though, wasn't the only thing that came over him. Emma wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his right shoulder, bringing her fist softly down upon the opposite one repeatedly.
"Don't you...
Ever do something like that again!" Emma said, muffled by her head buried in his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Emma... I... Was blinded by pride." Red didn't know how to respond physically, so he simply put his left hand on her back and gave her an awkward, soft pat.
"It's alright to be proud, Red. Without pride you can never truly be confident in yourself, therefore you would always fail. Be proud of yourself, Red, but," Emma released him and looked deeply into him, emphasizing her point, "But you have to remember to think before you act."
Red released her and grinned.
*****
Giovanni panted as he mopped sweat from his brow. That was a close call, between the building collapsing under his feet and the Charizard showing up, he was lucky. He was honestly surprised that the child hadn't ordered the Pokemon to burn the helicopter to a crisp. Perhaps it was the precious cargo, Giovanni thought as he turned in his seat to peer around the door to face the couple who had been taken by his men earlier. They were gagged and unconscious, a man and a woman, newlyweds. That had to be why. But then it dawned upon Giovanni; he couldn't have known about their hostages, so why didn't he give the order to blow the helicopter? Maybe the child was too soft to make the tough -- and sometimes lethal -- choices... The rocket leader chuckled as he turned back in his seat to face the window. At least they got Fuji and the Master Ball, didn't they? That is all that matters in the end.
There was a sudden beep that came from the radar built into the console in front of him. It was moving fast, and toward them, whatever it was. What was it? The suited man tapped the pilot on the shoulder to get his attention and jammed his finger at the screen. The pilot shrugged; he didn't think that they were followed, and the helicopter was a stealth-breed anyway; completely invisible to radar.
Gritting his teeth, Giovanni grabbed the window handle and yanked it open. He leaned outside and saw his worst fear. It was a Charizard, coming right for him, blowing fire from his mouth. The boy had made the tough choice, after all.
"Go faster! We're being followed! Evasive maneuvers!" Giovanni turned into the cockpit and yelled into his headset that was a given for anyone piloting -- or riding in, for that matter -- a helicopter.
The Rocket leader turned back out in the windy air to check on where the Charizard was. To his surprise, the dragon wasn't there any longer. His eyes darted around, trying to make sense of the sudden disappearance of the massive beast.
"Where did that thing go!?"
The leader turned back into the cockpit to consult the radar, but was instead met with a pilot too scared to move and a massive beast at the front of the chopper, clutching the nose of the cockpit and snarling at him.
"Oh."
In an instant, Charizard busted through the window with immense power and grabbed Giovanni by the head in his massive jaws, surprisingly, though, he was gentle. Giovanni screamed as he was yanked from his seat and through the shattered glass window. With a flap, Charizard had released himself from the helicopter and had turned away. What he didn't realize was the fact that he was approaching the stabilizing blade.
Hearing the sound and feeling the wind of the blade upon him, Charizard turned and narrowly avoided getting sliced by the blade. Giovanni, however, lost something. The Rocket leader looked down, only to see that he was missing his entire body. Looking around for his missing body, he noticed it falling into the forest below, then morphing into a purple blob with black, doll-like eyes. He was now a disembodied head.
"Dang it."
He could hear the puns now.
*****
Fuji certainly was an interesting fellow. He seemed to be at ease, even though he was very much at the center of the conflict. He and Silph chatted like old friends -- probably because they were -- and Fuji seemed to be enjoying himself, even after a building toppled because of him. One thing was bothering Red about the scientist, however. Whenever the man would see Emma, he would grow very pale, his eyes would widen, and he would turn away. Red didn't know why, but it seemed there was a history between the two of them.
"Red." Emma said, nudging him in the arm as they walked back to Silph and Fuji, where the latter seemed to want to take a step away for every step that Red and Emma took.
Red turned to face her, only to see her digging in her messenger bag for something. Digging around water bottles, pouches of spherical medicine and whatnot, she finally reached her target. She whipped it out and presented it proudly.
"Ta-da!" she announced almost musically; it was his hat.
Red grinned as she handed it to him; he thought he had lost it in the fight with Giovanni, as it fell off the edge of the building. Lucky for him, however, that Emma managed to find it. It is his only cap, after all. Adjusting it firmly upon his brown hair, which was still matted down due to the excessive use of his cap, Red began to walk over to the rest of the group.
"Now that we've found Fuji, shouldn't we be getting another message soon?" Red asked Emma, who had since wiped the tears from her cheeks and put on a subtle smile.
"Beats me." she replied simply with a shrug.
Something seemed to dawn on Silph as he overheard the two of them talking. Like an answer to a puzzle that had been stumping him for a while. The CEO stopped his conversation and turned to address Red directly.
"So you were sent by
her, eh? Mew?" Silph stated to a startled Red and Emma alike.
Silph smirked as he put his hands in his pockets, then continued, "So I take it I'm correct. You guys can relax; Fuji's told me about that
years ago."
"So... Okay. To be honest I'm starting to get used to this sort of thing after Emma and Fuji -- Mr. Fuji, that is -- told me that they knew, so that's all fine and good, but what do we do now?" Red replied with a quick glance to Emma.
"The
Anne is docked in Vermillion right now, if I'm not mistaken, so we should go there."
"The
Anne?"
"Yeah, Red, the
Anne is my ship. She's a cruise ship that comes into port every once in a while."
"Where would we be going once we got there?"
"Somewhere safe."
Red didn't want to ask any more questions after that. Quite frankly, he was getting used to the notion that all would be answered in time. Though he hoped that the time would come soon, he would wait until everyone was good and ready to talk to him about whatever they needed to talk to him about. It was irritating, though, of how seemingly everyone around him was keeping secrets. First Emma, then Mr. Fuji and his subsequent relatives, now Silph.
Well, Red thought,
I'm not exactly innocent of that, either, am I?
_____
This makes up for my absence, right?
