Cassidy’s
fractious yells echoed into the night sky. She had just opened the flap of her
tent only to see the somewhat grumpy-looking face of Triply’s Jessie form, standing directly outside.
It was the last thing she wanted gawking at her, especially after such a
tiresome day of hiking across hillside, through a crowded, stifling city in the
blazing sun and then through some dense woodland with hardly any rest, food or
salons for that matter.
Cassidy
would have killed for access to a decent salon. But at this moment in time she knew
she would definitely throttle Triply if it weren’t removed in the next five
seconds.
“JESSIEEEEEE!
Get this thing away from me!” she screeched. Jessie
sniggered to herself. She knew Triply was only trying to get attention, and it
had found a new unorthodox way of doing so. But she decided it would be best to
recall the Pokémon, since its continual pestering may cost Jessie her rank and
place in the mission. Cassidy
was constantly trying to think of excuses to remove Jessie from the Elite rank.
Right now, Jessie had to make sure she stayed with the duo, even if they were
abusive and annoying. After
all, they were Jessie’s ticket to her real friends.
“Triply.
Dinner time,” she called simply. This caused the Pokémon to return to its feline
form and scamper up to Jessie’s tent expectantly. Giving
a snort of disapproval, Cassidy turned her attentions to her other partner, who
was quietly leaving the scene amidst the previous commotion.
“And
where are you going?”
“Somewhere,” Butch grunted unhelpfully.
“To think.”
“Well if you’re going to try and wuss out on the camp chores you can go and get us some more firewood instead!” Cassidy responded bluntly. Before Butch could protest, he was hit by a flashlight.
“Take this with you. You can’t see in the dark without it!”
It
was a sultry hour; the darkness shrouded everything about it like a stifling
veil. Though nothing could be seen through the pitch black of night, the air was
alive with the haunting calls of Hoothoot and Murkrow, the almost musical aura
of leaves in motion and the raspy, somewhat irritated tones of a certain male figure,
blindly scrabbling about for a lost possession.
“Dammit!
Where'd that flashlight go…”
The
further sounds of frantic searching continued, then a yell of agony pierced the
air, causing a swarm of Ledian to break out of a nearby tree in a panic. Cursing
at the vanished reptilian Pokémon that had bitten him, Butch
staggered forward a few paces before the creature's venom swiftly began to take
its toll. Anxious chattering thrummed from the
branches above as the figure collapsed to the muddy ground, breathing heavily.
He
needed help, but there was no one around to hear the man’s laboured calls as
they weakly died away into nothingness.
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
As
the sun rose next morning, Pachna Town almost brightened with the prospect of
its refurbishment. Every inhabitant had left their beds to start upon the
construction of the new foundations for the streets of houses, and it was a
great surprise to them all when they awoke to find that one of Buri’s tunnels
had reopened the way into town.
After a hearty breakfast and an explanation on Caley's part detailing what he'd
said to Adam regarding Cew's words and his motives, the travellers were ready to continue on their
journey. Doug and his mother accompanied them to the mouth of the new tunnel to
say farewell.
“It’s a pity you can’t stay longer,” Doug murmured.
“I bet there’s loads of people that would love to meet the town’s saviours.”
The
majority of the group chuckled modestly amongst themselves but Caley just gave
a nod of acknowledgment.
“I’ve been given a job to do,” he stated simply, looking at the floor. “And I’m afraid I can’t stay any longer than is needed. Since your Gym isn't fit for battling in right now, I'll have to come back and challenge you for a Terra Badge when its been straightened out.”
Doug looked thoughtful for a moment, then his face lit up.
"Y'know... technically you've already earned a Terra Badge," he remarked. The trainer glanced up in surprise, as the shiny circular green emblem with a blue jewel embedded in it was placed into his hand. "Remember, each Tatto Gym Leader tests their challengers in different ways. The Pachna Gym Challenge is one of teamwork, and you displayed that perfectly when you and your friends helped me to stop that creature from destroying the town. I wish you the best of luck in your mission…whatever it may be."
Caley’s blanched face lit up as Doug gave him a beaming smile.
“Thank
you,” he said solemnly, turning to leave.
“Later,”
Adam remarked, with a slight wave over his shoulder.
“Nice
meeting you,” Denise added.
“See
you around,” Rose tagged on, raising her voice as the group had put some
distance between themselves and Doug by now.
James
gave a slight cough and a grin, but said nothing. It seemed that he still had
an incredibly painful throat, and it was now impeding his speech. There was no
way he was even going to attempt yelling. Unless
he was going to yell for some lozenges.
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
It
was a nasty reception that awaited Butch as he staggered onto the campsite
later that morning, looking more the worse for wear. One whole side of his
uniform had been smeared with mud from where he had landed on the ground and
the left sleeve of his shirt had been ripped in two places by what looked like
a pair of sharp fangs.
“Where
have you been?” Cassidy snapped.
“Out
chasing Clefairies on the Moon,” Butch returned the tone. “Where
d’ya think?”
“Frankly I don’t really care,” Cassidy remarked.
“But you went and forgot the firewood, numbskull! Not only that we’re now two
hours behind schedule because of your absence, so we’ll have to skip
breakfast.”
This new piece of news caused Jessie to groan miserably. Cassidy swiftly turned on her.
“Quit
whining, Matthews. If you'd have gone out to get that firewood in the first
place like you should have, then we wouldn’t be in this situation! Now get
yourself and that furry waste of space you call your Pokémon together and pack
up the gear!”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
Light. Precious light, for the first time in almost a day and a half. Errol was overjoyed to see the sky once more after spending so many hours trapped under the ground in the darkness with a bunch of hairy, greasy (not to mention exceedingly rude) Tattoan workmen. Errol didn't quite understand why it took so long to get free, especially considering how many tunnel projects he'd assisted Jessie and James with in the past.
From one of the highest ridges, a
small figure leapt down to investigate the new arrivals. But the remaining
workmen ignored him and ventured elsewhere, leaving Errol and his two Pokémon
companions (one of them in humanoid guise) standing there in a state of anticipation.
“Are you people the workers we called for?” the boy asked, shouldering his spade.
“Dey might be, but I’m not,” Errol
replied. “I jus’ came here to
find my friends.”
“What do they look like?" the figure
blinked. "This place isn't all that big - maybe I can
help you find them.”
“Well…" Errol began. "Dere’s a kid wit’ red hair and
ski glasses…” He didn’t have to say another
word; the boy’s face had brightened with realisation.
“Are you referring to Caley and
those people?”
“Yes!” Errol
grinned. “You
seen ‘em around?”
“Sure
have!” The
boy’s eyes seemed to grow misty as he recalled the previous night’s
occurrences. “They
saved this town from being completely destroyed just yesterday.”
“Can
you take me to ‘em?” Errol inquired, even more enthusiastic to be reacquainted with his companions. But the
boy was about to burst his bubble.
“’Fraid
not…they left this morning. Think
they were heading east.”
“Aww…” Errol
sighed as his stomach grumbled disappointedly. “I'd
been hopin’ dey would have a snack on ‘em.”
“I have plenty to eat in the gym’s canteen,” the boy piped up cheerily.
“You can choose whatever you like!”
“An’
I don’t hafta pay?”
“Of
course not!" came the cheerful response.
"Any friend of Caley’s is a guest of honour here. The
food’s all yours.”
Such
news had never sounded sweeter to Errol’s ears.
“Yeehaa!” he exclaimed, while Copi's face was overcome with joy and Li trilled
happily.
“Show me what you got, kiddo!”
“Right this way,” the boy motioned to the ecstatic duo as he strode toward his gym.
“And
the name’s Doug.”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
It was mid afternoon as the
travellers reached a sloping hillside somewhere between Pachna Town and Midna
City. The hot sunlight had managed to take its toll upon the welfare of everyone
at hand. And some people weren’t taking the rise in temperature and the lack of
moisture as well as others.
“My feet hurt!” Adam whined for the
tenth time that minute as he trudged along at the back of the group. “It feels like we’ve
been walking for years! Can’t we stop for a bit? I need a drink!”
Rose and Denise gave him equally
withering stares at his annoyance, then turned to Caley for his approval.
“What do you say?" the latter asked.
"Adam’s going to
moan our ears off if we don’t give him at least five minutes to sit down in. Besides,
I could do with a rest myself. This is the longest I’ve ever
walked in one go!”
“It would be a good idea,” Caley
murmured, glancing back at James who, even though he had stayed silent, he still
looked desperate to put his legs up. “Ok…take five everybody. I’ll keep a
lookout.”
With that the group crumpled to the
ground with sighs of relief and gratitude. Rose took her Pokéball from her coat
pocket and looked at it thoughtfully.
“What do you say to giving our
Pokémon a bit of a run around, hm?”
Caley drew breath in alarm. Kota! With all the excitement following the results of the Pachna Gym victory over Buri, the trainer had forgotten to release him from his Pokéball again. Caley hoped the Psybab wouldn’t be too mad at him. But, then again, Pokémon in Pokéballs were sort of like sleeping humans; in a semi-conscious state and oblivious to anything around them until it was time to be released.
He tossed his two Pokéballs into
the air and Kota and Stian appeared in front of him. Rilly squealed happily as it also emerged into daylight,
shortly followed by Rose's Meowth, Sia and Adam's Cyameez, Cyzel. Kota floated over to Caley and
perched upon his shoulder, removing his glasses before putting them on its own
face.
“You missed my glasses, huh?”
Caley chuckled. “And there I was thinking you’d
have missed me.”
Cyzel looked around frantically, searching for a particular figure, and found her curled upon the lap of her owner, purring contentedly at the fuss she was receiving. James scrambled over to Rose’s side, trying to ignore Adam's questionable language toward Stian for unceremoniously sitting upon his chest in a way of greeting.
“I often wish Caley had left that kid
back in the HQ,”
“Nevertheless
he deserves a place in this team just like you, no matter how obnoxious you
think he is," Rose stated.
"After all, every person has their good points and bad points.”
“And he has a knack of just showing
the bad ones,”
“Some people just take time to reveal their true inner potential.
You're not even giving
him a chance!”
“Well he's not giving me one either,” James sniffed, rather sulkily.
“Adam’s still young," Rose explained. "He’s coming to terms with a freedom he’s never had before. Just...be patient with him.
He’ll settle down once he gets used to the situation.”
James reached a hand across to
stroke Sia’s furry body, but as he did so it was almost like the Pokémon had
sensed the approaching appendage, as she had opened one huge dark angry eye. The
next movement was so swift that no one knew what had happened until James let
out a cry of pain and clasped at his face. Sia rapidly left the scene while the
other travellers and their Pokémon looked around in confusion. Rose let out a
gasp of alarm as James lowered his hands and she saw not only the look of
absolute astonishment he was wearing but also the claw marks across his cheek.
“What did she do that for?” he
exclaimed. Rose glanced behind her; she was
still trying to figure out the conundrum herself. Sia was now sitting beside
Cyzel, looking infuriated. It was then Rose realised why she had reacted so
violently towards James’ gesture of intended comfort.
She had recalled the nasty treatment
her tail had received a couple of days previously and misinterpreted the
stroking as yet another of those actions. James, on the other hand, still had no idea
as to why the Pokémon had unleashed such an attack on him. So he looked to his
friend for an explanation.
“Err…you know when you were under
the effects of that antidote?” Rose began uneasily.
“Yeah…” James
trailed off and blushed deep red as he unwillingly recalled the events Mondo
had described to him not so long ago.
“Well, Sia was victim to your ‘over-playful’ nature at
one point," the woman continued.
"You grabbed her tail pretty hard and she still
hasn’t forgiven you for it. I tried to explain to her that it wasn’t your
fault, that you weren’t in control at that time, but I guess she didn't believe
me.”
James winced as he wiped at his
cheek and examined his own blood smeared across his fingers from where he had
been scratched. It hadn’t been a deep mark, but still it required some sort of
attention.
“I think I’ll go and wash my face in that stream we passed on our way up here. That alright with you, Caley?”
“Sure, James," the trainer replied.
"Just keep your wits about you. And don’t be too
long.”
The cool water was a relieving
alternative to the nasty burn of the Slash attack. James sighed at the thought
of all this punishment for a load of things he couldn’t even remember doing. He seriously hoped there wasn’t
anything worse awaiting him around the corner.
James was so absorbed in his
thoughts, he hadn’t noticed another figure dipping a tin cup into the water to
take a drink further upstream. It seemed the same figure had not picked up on
James’ presence, as they continued to gulp back the refreshing liquid. It wasn’t until both parties stood
up to leave that their gazes met, and their mouths dropped open in surprise. There was a harsh metallic clang, as
the empty cup hit the rocky ground.
“Jessie…” James began in amazement
and partial joy. The aforementioned figure stared at
James for what seemed like an eternity, then stepped towards the edge of the
stream, peering over it. The ever-present scars of Jessie’s past glared
despairingly back at her, and as she lifted her head to face her ex-partner
once more James could clearly see the savage, furious, remorseless expression
she was now wearing.
“You!”
James toppled to the ground as
Jessie’s hand made contact. He was taken by surprise as he had somehow been
hoping that this new turn of events might have changed Jessie’s perspective and
made her understand, and see sense. But,
sadly, it was not to be.
“Wh…what
was that for?” he blubbered dazedly.
“Don’t try and play innocent with me, James!” she snapped, pointing at the gashes across her face. “You were the one who did this! You were the one who shattered my perfection! These scars are too deep to be covered merely by foundation, and that lab explosion that I know you played a part in, all the hair restore formula was destroyed!"
Jessie had thrown herself dramatically to her knees at this point.
"There is no way to return to the beauty I treasured once. You corrupted me...
…and now, you’re going to pay”
The
focused acidic look upon Jessie’s face was so intense that James was frozen to
the spot as she rose to her feet and drew menacingly closer. But still, he managed to shake his
head furiously.
“No!
No! It wasn’t me, I swear! I would never do such a thing to you, Jessie!”
“Don't
try to play innocent with me!"
James’ eyes had widened in horror but Jessie had not noticed his expression of disbelief.
“What’s
going on?” came a yell from somewhere behind the foliage. The two looked in the
direction of the voice, as the familiar countenances of Caley, Rose, Denise and Adam stumbled into
view. Rose gasped as she saw whom James had been conversing with.
“Jessie!”
The
reception towards the arrival of the rest of the exiles, not to mention their
trainer companion, was not a welcome one. Jessie’s eyes narrowed coldly.
“Don’t
even talk to me, mutinous wretch!” she spat. It was as clear as day that her
almost unstoppable irrational fury had taken a fast hold once more. Rose
wisely decided
to keep silent, not willing to further provoke Jessie's frustration.
“What
are we gonna do?” Denise hissed in a sideways direction, as Jessie turned her
attention back to James, who was now shuddering and whimpering out of terror.
“We
gotta make a break for it, before Butch and Cassidy get here,” Rose hissed back. “Does
Rilly know a Mist attack?”
“I don’t know…” Denise replied apprehensively. “Caley, can’t one of your Pokémon do something?”
“Hey…” Adam cut in.
“Is it me, or has it gone dark all of a sudden?”
Everyone
looked up towards the sky, as a grey mass of cloud closed across the cheerful
blue that had once shone forth. It had all been so rapid that no one had
realised it, but now it was more than apparent. The
scenery around the figures was encased in shadow. And the shadow was darkening.
Such an unusual occurrence had stopped everyone in their tracks. James felt
himself fall to the ground as Jessie released his sweater from her gloved grip.
He backed away towards the four figures of his team-mates.
Two
people appeared behind Jessie, one of them happened to be panting heavily.
Caley and his companions figured that, from the looks of the uniforms the
people were wearing, that they were Butch and Cassidy. But at a distance, and
in such increasing darkness, it was hard to be sure.
That
was, it was hard to be sure, until the figures spoke.
“We
have you now…” Cassidy sneered.
“Yeah…and
you’d better…not try anything…” Butch muttered breathlessly. “I’ve
got a…a…”
He
cut off as the last vestiges of light disappeared in an instant. Now it was so
black that not even Caley could see his own hand in front of his face.
“Butch!
What are you waiting for? Fire that immobiliser cannon!” screeched Cassidy from
somewhere in the dark.
“Don’t do that!” Jessie exclaimed in partial alarm.
“He can’t see in conditions like this! He might hit me!”
“That’s
a risk he’ll have to take,” remarked Cassidy carelessly. “Fire
away!
Butch! Are you listening?
…Butch?”
A
chance had arisen for the travellers, and Denise knew to take it.
“Run!”
she yelled. There was a succession of thuds as five bodies made impact with
each other, then the ground.
“Ow!”
James wailed.
“You
just ran straight into me, you moron!” snapped Adam.
“This
is impossible! We can’t go anywhere without light.” Denise pointed out.
“But
if we use one, those agents will know where we’re going.” Caley murmured.
“It’s
a catch-22 situation,” Rose nodded.
“We
need to get out of their sight before we get out a light!” James remarked, a
little too cheerily for the current state of affairs.
“This
is no time for jokes, James,” the others chorused morosely.
“Sorry…”
“We
don’t even know how far they can see,” Adam piped up.
“Face
it, exiles. You’re stuck here,” Cassidy smiled fiendishly, despite no one being
able to see this.
“And soon you’ll be in our custody. Butch!
Where are you? You’re supposed to be helping!”
“Hey, I just thought of an idea…” Caley lowered his voice. “If we hold hands we can lead each other in the same direction”
Denise, James and Rose uttered expressions of agreement while
“Fine,"
he muttered.
"As
long as I don’t have to hold hands with-”
“Yeah, we know,” Denise sighed wearily.
“Not
with James.”
“Butch!" Cassidy bellowed into the dark. "I don’t find this funny! The Boss will be hearing from me on your behaviour!"
“Forget about him!” Jessie exclaimed as she heard the sounds of Caley and his
friends’ footsteps dwindling into the distance.
“We got some exiles to catch.”
“For
once, you’re right,” Cassidy nodded to the spot where she thought Jessie was. “Now,
Ms. Genius…how are we meant to know where they’ve gone?”
As
if in answer to her question a faint glow appeared up ahead.
“It seems our little traitors have themselves a light,” Cassidy grinned.
“This
is going to be easy.”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
The
darkness had lifted slightly, enabling the travellers to pick out the faint
outlines of some silhouetted buildings that they then made their way towards.
Caley and his friends had expected to find some signs of existence in such a
vast city. But, creepily
enough,
there were none. The dimly lit
streets were bare and lifeless; all that could be heard were the sounds of five
pairs of feet (and several pairs of claws) echoing upon the pavement. It was
unbearably eerie; so much so that James began to hum nervously to himself. That was until
Adam thumped him.
Caley could feel
the odd chill beginning to rise within him again. Suddenly the air surrounding
him felt stifling, agitated...alive.
Kota and
Stian seemed to be sensing this also, as they had both tensed in anticipation,
Kota's faint
psychic aura becoming brighter with his combined fear and anger.
“There’s
something out there,” Denise whispered, drawing closer to Kota's light for
comfort. “The Pokémon are
much more in tune with the atmosphere than we are, they can sense it.”
It sent a wave
of uneasiness coursing over the group. Caley stayed quiet, but nodded in
agreement. He wasn’t sure
what it was that was out there, all he knew was the travellers were not alone
in the darkened street.
Adam looked
about him hurriedly. It was obvious he was not comfortable with what was going
on, though he was trying his utmost to look unfazed. The expression on
his face up until a few seconds ago had been a forced visage of sullenness. Now
it had rapidly contorted into a panicked grimace. Without warning,
Adam screamed in terror and leapt sideways, his right foot somehow catching
upon his left and bringing him crashing to the ground in the process. The others looked down at the
quivering mass that was their companion questioningly.
“What’s up Ad’?”
Caley asked in an overly calm manner.
“Something
t-touched me!” came a petrified squeak. At this point James crumpled into fits
of amused giggles. The remainder of the group who happened to be standing,
glanced back at him in realisation of what he had just done. But Adam was in
too much of a state to figure it out himself.
“What d’ya
think’s so funny?” he snapped. “I coulda’ been killed…ya find that funny?”
“No, but that
look on your face when I grabbed your shoulder was hilarious!” James grinned,
promptly collapsing into yet more laughter. It was at that
point that Adam latched on to the situation. The following movement was so
sudden that the others didn’t realise what was going on until they heard
frantic choking. Adam had leapt up from the floor and had dived at James with
both hands in a flurry of curses and yells.
Denise took hold
of Adam’s arms and pulled him away, leaving James to cough and gasp for air
after his unexpected strangulation.
“He tried to
scare me to death, see that?”
“Yes, but that’s no reason to bring yourself down to his level” came the reply. “Now, behave. And that goes for you too James.
You should know better.”
This statement
caused Adam to look rather upset. Staring firmly at the ground so as to hide
his face he pushed himself out of Denise’s grip and stormed off. He was intent on
retaining at least part of his dignity. Sadly he wasn’t going to hold on to it
for very long. Kota rapidly disappeared behind Caley's back upon hearing Adam’s screaming.
“Do not be alarmed…I
am not going to hurt you,” came a voice from the shadows.
“Oh yeah? Tell
that to my butt,” Adam grumbled, referring to the pratfall he had just taken for
the second time. As the figure
stepped from the darker part of the street into the dim light, the travellers
saw that it was a woman dressed in a navy-coloured bodysuit with matching cape and black boots.
Look who dropped
in from the Superhero Reject Department, Adam thought to himself with a smirk.
The woman turned her gaze almost immediately toward him and her eyes narrowed.
“Such an acidic
tongue for such a small child,” she remarked. Adam was too
alarmed by the fact that the woman had read his mind to even object about the
‘small child’ remark.
“You h-heard
me?” he peeped.
“Yes, for I can hear
many things which others cannot. The coming of the rains, the sigh of the
silence, even the calls
of miserable souls, of which there are many at present. I am searching
for the lost ones of Midna City and I do not wish you to become a part of
them.”
This caused a
wave of uncertainty to course over the group.
“What’s been
going on?” Caley asked. “I’d like to help…if I can.”
“I seriously
doubt that you, young man, could assist me, Azima, Mistress of the Night and Gym
Leader of Midna,” the woman smiled slyly. “But since you
wish to know what fate has befallen this beautiful place, then I shall tell you. Four days ago, Midna City was a bustling, prosperous community. Then one morning, the sun
never rose, the city was entrenched in darkness, and the people panicked. All
of a sudden they began to disappear, but the terrible thing was they had not
even left Midna. They had simply vanished. I could feel
them, hear them calling somewhere, but no matter how hard I searched I could
not find a single soul. Soon everyone was gone from Midna City, but I continue
to roam the streets looking for their whereabouts.
Every time the
darkness returns, another soul is taken. I fear that if you stay a moment longer
one of you is bound to become the next victim.”
An air of nervousness descended. But Caley stood firm. There had to be something he could do to help.
Without warning,
every streetlamp in the city was blotted out, plunging the scene into pitch-blackness.
It was only for a few seconds, but as the glow returned Caley swung round to
see Adam and James clasped together in a ridiculous fearhug, which Adam
immediately pulled away from as soon as he realised who he was in contact with.
“Ugh! You’re not
Denise!”
Then he stopped
and looked around in confusion.
“Speaking of
which…where is Denise?”
“And where’s
Rose?” James tagged on uneasily. The two guys
looked at each other and as their gazes met, the truth struck.
“THEY’RE GONE!”
This caused
James to throw himself at Adam again, but this time he wasn’t having any of
it. Azima glared at Caley.
“See what your
meddling has cost you? Now it has your friends…and you could be next!”
It?
So there was
a being involved. Could this entity be another genetic Pokémon too? Kota arched
his back and fixed his view upon a point over the far side of the city. Caley
followed its gaze.
“What’s over
there?”
“The north-eastern side is home to the sacred Jahmiru Tower,” Azima announced proudly. “Once the headquarters of my people, here in Tatto. Within Jahmiru, we sought to uncover the deeper realms of our world in an attempt to better understand our existence. But our methods were too crude, and what we were dealing with was far too powerful to control."
James and Adam exchanged baffled expressions, but Caley simply overlooked the fact he couldn't currently grasp what Azima meant and continued with his conversation.
“Have you tried
checking in there for the lost people?” he asked.
“How do you
think that all the city’s inhabitants could be trapped in that one tower?”
“I don't really
know...”
"As farfetched as it might sound, the young man might be on to something," Azima remarked, folding her arms. "We must make haste to Jahmiru, before any more of you are taken."
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
“James? Denise? Caley?
...Adam?
...
Anyone?”
Rose’s chest tightened with panic as she hurriedly glanced around her. She couldn't see where she happened to be; most of her vision was obscured by the thick violet mist that hung all around, and the fact it felt like millions of eyes were watching her didn't help things in the slightest. As a result, her call came out as nothing more than a mere whisper.
Was she dead? It would certainly account for the odd weightless sensation she was experiencing, but surely if she was dead then she wouldn't be wondering about such things. Squinting, Rose managed to make out clusters of glowing light from somewhere amongst the mist. This only served to heighten the woman's curiosity, and that in turn smothered her fears.
Just where was she?
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
“This
is going to be easy!” Jessie trilled mockingly. “Yeah..right…”
“Shut up, Matthews,” Cassidy snapped as she brushed yet another large strand of cobweb away from her face. “It’s your fault we’re in this mess – if you’d have had half a brain you would have brought a flashlight and then we would have caught those exiles by now!”
"In case you'd forgotten, you went and threw it at Butch," Jessie smirked. "And I don't recall him returning with it this morning."
Cassidy fell silent, causing Jessie to look up at her associate. She could just barely make out the somewhat anxious expression upon the woman's face, something she could imagine Cassidy was hoping the darkness would hide. It was apparent that, despite her show of careless bravado, Cassidy was in fact worrying over Butch's absence. Turning her attentions to her surroundings, Jessie noted the four empty pedestals arranged in some kind of formation within the darkened room.
“What's with this old tower anyway?” she inquired.
"They said it used to be the headquarters of some weird cult that were intent on harvesting the powers of Etherspace," Cassidy replied distantly, causing Jessie to flinch. The question had been intended as a rhetorical one.
"Eth-what?" she exclaimed. "How do you know that?"
It was Cassidy's turn to flinch, as the faraway expression in her eyes was replaced by a more familiar, irritable-looking one.
“I do my research,” she sniffed. "Every decent Elite operative makes sure to learn about their surroundings."
Jessie rolled her eyes. She didn't
believe the elaborate cover-up, but wasn't intending to question further. Her
place on the team relied heavily on trying to keep on Cassidy's not-so-bad side.
Suddenly, there came an airy chuckle, while the tower’s
open windows began to sway back and forth to an invisible breeze.
Turning
round in the dark to try and seek her partner, Jessie nearly fell over in shock
as directly behind her there hung suspended a pair of luminous green eyes,
watching her intently. A few seconds passed, in which Jessie and the mysterious
visage stared at each other. Then the eyes vanished back into the dark.
Jessie breathed a small sigh of relief, and turned back round to see a huge floating semi-transparent blue creature with massive jaws, its fingers pulling at its face in a most grotesque manner. Terrified beyond words, Jessie's mouth fell open and let loose with the only noise she was capable of producing.
“AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
James
gulped back his next sentence and Adam began to shudder violently at the sound
of the harsh scream that pierced the eerie silence.
“That
sounded bad!” James whimpered, biting his nails.
“Course it sounded bad, you twit!” Adam snapped, though there was a note of
uneasy nervousness in his voice.
“When has someone screaming ever sounded good?”
Another
shriek arose from the floor below, causing Adam and James to spring into another
subconscious fearhug. Once
the shock wore off, Adam pushed James away in disgust. The
group continued to trudge through one of the musty corridors, led by the faint
glow of the blue jewel on Azima’s tiara. Caley listened for further sounds of
panic, but there came none, though the cold chill was stronger now, like maybe
they had somehow drawn closer to the source of the mysterious presence.
“Tread
carefully, young ones,” Azima murmured.
“This tower is barely standing; its floors and walls have been weakened by time
itself.”
“That
makes me feel so much better…” Adam muttered dryly. There
was a second movement. It wasn’t physical, but more dimensional, as the sides
of the structure seemed to melt away and the light vanished again, causing everyone
to cry out in surprise.
James scrabbled about in the dark in an
attempt to find another figure. And he made contact.
“Yeeeow!
Get off my face!”
“Is
that you, Adam?”
“No,
duh. It’s a flippin’ pink Phanpy,”
“Really?”
“Are you that dense? Of course it’s me!”
James groaned before picking himself off the floor.
"Naturally...I
should have guessed from the insults and the sarcasm.”
The
darkness lifted slightly as the glow from the streetlamps outside filtered
in through a tattered curtain. James stood up and brushed the dust from his
clothing.
“Caley?
Are you there?” he called cautiously.
There
was no answer.
“Uh…Azima?”
“Look, dumbo. It’s just you and me in here, no one else,” Adam muttered. “Something split us up. We’d better find Caley and that weird woman. But since we have no idea where they are, we’ll just have to take a stab in the dark as to which direction’s the right one.”
“Please
don’t mention stabbing!”
“What
are you so worried
about?” Adam exclaimed. “You’re with
me!”
“That’s
exactly what I am worried about,” James mumbled under his breath. Then suddenly
the tower shook.
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
“Jessie!” screeched Cassidy. “What
did you do that for? You should know full well, even with your
intelligence, that any sudden movements in old buildings like these can bring
the entire structure down!”
“It wasn’t me!” the woman retorted
shakily. She still hadn’t fully got over the previous shock of seeing a
contorted apparition floating in the dark. “And my intelligence is
perfectly fine! In
fact it’s most likely better than-”
There
was another violent shudder and the building swayed, causing the two Elite
agents to be tossed to the far side of the room. A harsh reptilian cry
resounded from further inside the tower.
“It seems that…” Jessie stammered, struggling to hold a note of calmness in her voice.
“…we’re
not alone!”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
As the tower returned to some kind of
stability, Caley
felt an onset of unusually mixed feelings came over
him. There was panic smudged together with an overwhelmingly blind rage. Since
he'd been half-expecting something like this to resurface, despite having no
idea why, Caley
somehow
managed to stop this foreign outsider emotion from completely flooding his mind.
“It is unusual that you should be
suffering as a result of such strong emotive presences,” she remarked with vague
amusement as she stopped on the
half-rotten wooden stairway. “I see you are not used
to this.
This is something quite intriguing.”
“Emotive... presences?” Caley winced. "What's...happening to me?"
“You appear to be suffering from Encephal Perplexion," Azima explained with noticeable distain. "A form of over-sensitivity to a hidden world about you. But this is hardly common; in fact it only usually occurs to recently active bearers of psychic Cho-"
The woman's sentence was cut off as a another screech was heard from above their heads.
“It seems there is another beast in The Jahmiru Tower,” she remarked worriedly. “And it also appears to be intent on bringing it down upon us all. But I cannot shift my focus; if the entity I have been seeking manages to gain the advantage over me, then the inhabitants of Midna City will be lost for good.”
"But I-" Caley began shakily.
"This is neither the time, nor place to explain your current state of affairs, child," Azima told him in sharp tones. “I must stop my original target before it causes any more harm.”
Caley looked up as the gym leader continued to ascend towards the noises. What was the reason for Azima's sudden change in attitude? Did the woman know more about his problem than she was letting on? And why did she have to speak so cryptically? Things still didn't make sense; if anything, his brain was hurting more as a result of the gym leader's confusing explanations. Picking himself from the floor, Caley gave pursuit.
“The entity seems to be using a level of power that is so dispersed that I cannot figure out the exact whereabouts of the source,” Azima muttered despairingly.
“If
only it were to create a more direct form of energy…”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
The building shuddered repeatedly as another bout of enraged screeching caused the wooden beams above James and Adam’s heads to crack and shower clouds of dust showering down upon them in the process.
“I can’t…see!” James cried, choking helplessly in the misty swirl. Adam didn’t reply, he was too busy fighting for breath. There resounded a sickening crunch, then another, and another, like a massive object was coming into contact with the building itself and breaking through it. The two crouched in defensive positions; hoping that the tower would survive its onslaught. Unfortunately for them however, the floorboards were unable to take any more abuse and swiftly gave way under their feet. Adam and James screamed in terror as they fell through the air in a mixture of splinters and dirt, before landing heavily upon the ground below with a nasty thud.
A couple of floors below, Azima paused in mid step as her gaze wavered
toward the ceiling. Caley glanced up just in time to see a massive beam come
hurtling toward him. It happened so quickly neither human had a chance to react,
but the beam suddenly stopped in mid-air and was flung aside, as if it had
rebounded off an invisible shield.
“Psy ba ba!” came a triumphant
exclamation. Caley looked up at his fuzzy Pokémon and smiled thankfully.
“Whew... thanks, buddy. We owe you
one.”
Kota turned its head,
expecting an equal display of gratitude from his trainer's companion. But Azima just
folded her arms and said nothing, which made the little psychic dragon’s happy
expression fall somewhat.
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
Once the tower had stopped shaking, James sat up again
and tried to remove the debris from his hair.
“This sure is a little house of
horrors,” he murmured jokily, as if to try and lighten the situation. But it
didn’t seem to work. “It’s turning out to be one of those
days for me. First I get scratched and punched in the face for things I don’t
remember doing, then I get dragged into a creepy old haunted building that’s
practically falling apart and lumped with a moody kid in the dark.”
James turned, half-expecting
retaliation from Adam. But he was just lying on the ground with his eyes firmly
shut, surrounded by wooden shards. Puzzled, James edged toward him with an
anxious expression on his face. The silence had returned now, and
there had descended a dubious sense of calm. James was within ten inches of his
companion now; he reached an arm across and flicked at a lock of hair that was
strewn across the boy’s forehead.
And then Adam convulsed violently. A
freakish violet aura arose from his body; it seemed to envelop the entire room
and James along with it. Adam levitated slowly into a standing position and as
his eyes opened wide James started in horror as he noticed they were not their
normal shade of brown; instead they were an eerie bright green colour.
“Just when I thought things couldn’t
go any more downhill,” he muttered, as Adam began to chuckle in a crazed,
impish manner. As he did so he waved his arms back and forth, and James
suddenly felt himself rise into the air and go flying towards the side wall,
propelled by an invisible force so strong it was as if a Tauros had hit him
with a Take Down attack.
Ka-plunch!
The
wall barely managed to hold its own but James spluttered as he made impact with it. He
didn’t even have time to register what was going on, within seconds he was off
in the other direction, heading toward the opposite wall.
Ker-ack!
“I
didn’t mean it about the ‘moody kid’ thing!” James managed to wail, before he
smacked into the first wall yet again. But Adam wasn’t listening; he continued
to giggle fiendishly as he swayed his hands from side to side. “What
are you…ow!…trying to do to me?…aaaagh!…What is wrong with…aieeeee!…you, Adam?
I
don’t know how you’re…ugh!…doing this but you’d better…ekk!…stop right now,
otherwise…”
With
a soft thud James crumpled to the floor, his bodily control returned to him
once more. He raised his head shakily, and there was an intent glare upon it.
“That’s
right…you listen to me for once, I…
…What
are you doing?”
A
sly grin had spread across the teenager’s face at this point. He lifted a
finger and began to twirl it round in a circular motion. James face fell as the
rotation began to increase in speed and blue sparks started to fly off the end
of Adam’s hand. James
knew what was coming next, as soon as he felt his body and the floor part ways
once more.
“No….
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Azima stiffened as the shriek ripped
through the air.
“An immense surge of telekinetic
energy – I can feel it!”
Caley reeled backwards. The pure force of the aura entering his mind coupled with the sudden increase in the sense of outer panic he was already experiencing was all too much for him. Azima caught the trainer before he had a chance to hit the ground.
“That yell...it sounded like James…” Caley murmured blearily, attempting to stagger to his feet while Kota looked on with concern. “We’ve got to help him.”
"You're in no state to help anyone, young man," Azima almost scolded. For the first time since she had caught on to Caley's newfound circumstances, she was appearing to show something along the lines of sympathy toward the trainer's difficulty in handling them.
"Just keep close, and leave this to me."
Round and round James spun, yelling
and cursing, somehow caught in the midst of a violet indoor tornado. Below him
Adam stood, cackling with twisted hilarity at his work as his mousy brown hair
was whipped about by the strength of the wind that encircled him.
“My goodness!” Azima exclaimed in horror, as she stood in the
doorway, not daring to enter the room because of the sight she beheld.
“Don’t just stand there,
get me down from heeere!” James screeched as he tumbled through the air. At the
sound of another presence in the room, Adam’s smile dropped and so did his arms,
causing the tornado to vanish. James fell to the floor and groaned with a
mixture of dizziness and relief.
“Thank you," James mumbled.
"I swear if I’d stayed
flying about up there a second longer, I would have barfed.”
No one took any notice of the man's
complaints. Adam’s stare was
now firmly trained on Caley, his green eyes narrowed and a snarl present across
one side of his face.
“Something is inside your friend,” Azima stated firmly. Caley nodded, scanning the written entry upon the screen of the Urudex.
Another Genetic Pokémon, this
time a Ghost Type called Darnite, he thought. No
wonder Adam can use telekinetic attacks; it’s possessed his body.
“Genetic Pokémon?” Azima murmured questioningly, causing Caley to start in alarm.
“You…”
“Read your mind, I know,” the woman
stated like it was normal, then glanced at the trainer expectantly.
“I haven’t the time to tell you what
Genetic Pokémon are right now, I have
to contain Darnite,” Caley muttered, handing back Azima's earlier reaction toward
him. Upon hearing this remark the impish smile had
returned to Adam’s face.
“You want to play, huh?” he said slowly, in a voice that sounded unlike his own. "Sounds like fun. Now you see me..."
Now you don't."
The boy raised his arms again, plunging the trio of figures before him into the dark. Suddenly Caley felt an unknown force gripping at his wrists and ankles. Light returned, in the form of a harsh, blinding overhead lamp which burned with its intensity. Turning his head to one side, the trainer saw that he had somehow become clamped to what appeared to be a kind of vertical examination table. Glancing up, Caley noticed that Azima and James' happened to be in the same situation. The latter wasn't taking it so well.
“It's okay, James,” Caley tried to sound calming, though he didn't feel much at ease with the situation either. "This is probably a hallucination."
“Pr-pretty real-looking
ha-hallucination if you ask me,” James stammered.
“This is not reality, but neither is it a misleading of the mind, ” Azima remarked suspiciously, watching as the air somehow wavered and moved about her, distorting the surrounding images. “Darnite has brought our collective consciousness to MindSpace."
"Mind-what?" the male figures cried out in unison.
"I cannot give further details," Azima remarked, rather sadly. "As I have never entered this place myself before. All I know is that while we're here, we're at the mercy of the one who transported us."
Suddenly, the three tables on which the figures were bound to were flung backwards, set in motion by some unseen force which could only be identified by the disjointed chorus of mechanical grinding below. Unable see what fate awaited him, Caley redirected his attentions to Azima who was trying in vain to reach her belt. Before any further words could be exchanged, however, the tables were upended yet again. James uttered a horrendous scream as Caley felt the pressure released from his wrists and ankles while gravity took a sudden hold on his stomach.
Caley wasn’t sure whether it was sheer petrifaction or a calm sense of
acceptance on James’ part but all of a sudden he began looking kind of bored as
they tumbled down the
metallic shaft with increasing
velocity, towards what
appeared to be their inevitable demise.
“If I’m not mistaken this will be the
153’007th near-death experience I’ve had in my lifetime” he murmured,
counting on his fingers.
“We have to act quickly and tear a hole in the dimensional fabric!” Azima yelled
above the whistling of the wind. “There's one
thing about MindSpace I do know, and that's whatever happens to us here can
cause irreparable mental harm.”
“You mean, we can still die?”
James squeaked, as the terror took a hold on his face again.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaagh! I’ll never live to
see my 153’008th near-death experience…”
“Lerik! Create a portal into the 3rd
Dimension!”
“Garr!” it cried triumphantly. Caley
watched as he fell towards it, his glasses scanning the Pokémon as he passed.
Diguard. A master of interdimensional
travel, Diguard's scythe enables the Pokémon to phase between places in the
blink of an eye. Because Diguard live in realms beyond the reach of most, hardly anyone
has seen or owned one.
Looking up from the Urudex entry, Caley realised that he and the others were back inside the tower again with Darnite-in-Adam's-body standing in a commandeering manner over them.
"I see you brought a player for our next game," he chuckled, examining Lerik's defiant stance.
"Lerik, use Taunt," Azima stated in emotionless tones.
"Digar," the Pokémon responded, turning his attentions toward the boy before reaching up and pulling the hood of his cloak down around his shoulders. "Di-digar, gar di di"
"Wh-what?" Darnite-in-Adam's-body spluttered, temporarily stunned by what the Diguard had to say for itself. "I do not hide behind human shields like a coward!"