Journey
Death of Duty
Part 7: Fall of the Pokemon League
Defeat
We need to be better than our primal nature. If we are not? Nature may take its course. — Professor Samuel Oak
Savage growled, a deep and predatory noise that vibrated the loose rubble around us both. His pupils found me, dilated, and refocused on the puny little human who dared to call himself master to a King of the Beasts.
"Savage," I said slowly, gauging how to handle this. My hand found it's way over his ball and I contemplated the idea. It would end the threat right now, but I'd still have to handle Savage at a later point. If there even was a later point. I was going to tame my savage beast of a pokemon. I was a trainer.
I planted my feet and looked the ancient tyrant in his golden brown eyes. "Savage," I said with as much strength as I could muster. "Yield."
He tossed his head back and let loose a primal roar. My bones shook, my teeth rattled, and my knees went weak.
"No," I replied calmly. "I'm the one in charge."
He snorted in reply and lowered his gaze to Acolyte, who stepped in front of me protectively. Artemis landed beside him, appearing at the most opportune moment. Savage growled intently and nodded at me in a vague gesture.
Acolyte shook his head, letting out his own growl of warning. Next to Savage's throaty bellow, it sounded like a mewling baby. Nevertheless, the intent was clear in the way Acolyte hefted his club. Acolyte stood with me.
Violet light enveloped Savage, lifting him suddenly off the ground. My tyrantrum slammed up against the shattered façade of the Silph Tower, roaring in pain. He thrashed wildly, his heavy clawed feet scrabbling uselessly at the ground.
"Trainer Wright," came a cold, musical voice. "return that beast before he hurts someone."
My eyes narrowed as I looked at the Champion. "Lance," I started. "You've got a lot of ner—"
"The tyrantrum," Lance repeated with a coldness that belied his true nature. "Return him now."
I meekly dropped my hand to my belt, eyes glancing to the little girl at Lance's heel. Sabrina's eyes were glowing faintly, no doubt she was the one pinning my pokemon to the building.
Savage disappeared in a flash of red light. I slotted the ball back into my belt, knowing that my tyrantrum would demand a reckoning with me if we survived this. Artemis and Acolyte disappeared into their balls a moment later.
"Lance," I began slowly. I'd looked up to this man, I'd seen him as a perfect heroic protector along with the rest of the region. That carefully cultivated image was shattered along with Kanto's disfigured landscape. He was just a man, flawed like all the rest of us. "You've got a lot to answer for."
He set his jaw and placed his hands on his hips, his trademark cape flowing down from his shoulders and framing his figure "That reckoning comes for us now, Trainer Wright. It is time for all to be laid bare." Lance turned and gestured for the man at his side to come forward. "It is time to face the real foe."
My blood ran cold as I clenched my fists. I found myself wishing that I hadn't abandoned my weapon. "Giovanni," I began coldly. The man that all of Kan-Jo had been hunting for stood implacably at Lance's side, as if he hadn't set the entire damn continent on fire.
Giovanni smirked as his gaze passed over me, seemingly taking pleasure in passing me over for the crowd slowly forming behind me.
I glanced around. Surge was there, Harding, McCulloch and the rest of Zapdos squad at his back. Dozens of weapons trained on Giovanni, the Rangers and the Gym Trainers present forming up into a loose circle around the Champion and the two Gym Leaders at his back. A charizard and pidgeot swooped down, landing heavily as Leaf and the boys dismounted the two pokemon. Janine was there a moment later, slipping off the back of her venomoth and eyeballing me. More and more trainers teleported in by the moment, swelling the crowd behind us into the hundreds.
Surge stepped forward to join me, his weapon trained on Giovanni. "That's enough now, Giovanni. It's over."
"You're right," replied Lance. "this is over. This needless carnage is now over. You are to immediately stand down and prepare for battle with a Legend-Class threat."
Surge's rifle lowered slightly. "I… I…" Surge glanced at me, then back to the Champion. I saw the hesitation in him and I knew that Lance's order would be followed. Surge was a soldier at heart. "Yes, sir." He turned to face the crowd, pointedly ignoring my glare. "Everybody stand down," he ordered.
Lance nodded in satisfaction. "Good," he said, his gaze moving back to the assembled forces. "I leave you to your men. Prepare them for battle. Our foe will be upon us in mere minutes."
I broke from Surge's side and stepped towards Lance and Giovanni. Both men's eyes found me and I knew I had the attention of the crowd. "So all of this was a lie?" I shouted. "All of this destruction, all this death to stop one man, all of it endorsed by you… and for what?"
Lance sighed and waved Giovanni back. He stepped to face me, his cape billowing around him. "Morals are often the first casualty in the war for survival. I would think that a soldier such as—"
"I'm not a soldier," I spat forcefully, waving Surge off as he tried to stop me. "I'm not even a Ranger. Not if it means giving up on what's right."
Lance smirked. "And what is right, Trainer Wright? What would you have me do with the instrument of our destruction mere minutes away?"
I opened my mouth but found no more words of protest. More Trainers were appearing by the second, teleporters working frantically to assemble Indigo's forces in the square. Lance continued with a grim scowl.
"We do the only thing we can," he continued. "We fight against fate or we die. Let the bleeding hearts of the world argue my morality after I have gathered the instruments of our salvation." He smirked again at me and I decided that I really hated Blackthorn's greatest son. "Which I have done. The forces gathered today are here because I willed it so. Your Rangers… the Gym Leaders and their Trainers… my Elites… all of Rocket… all are an extension of my will. All answer to me."
I was frozen to the spot. Silence reigned over the crowd. Lance had admitted it all and it wouldn't change a damn thing. He was the Champion and we were all but pawns in the grand game that he had been playing.
Lorelei appeared beside him, her gaze as cold as ice. A massive, muscled brute that had to be Bruno stood head and shoulders above the group. A withered old crone was there, hunched over her cane and staring at me knowingly.
"This dissent has run its course," Lance continued, knowing that no opposition would dare stand against him now. "Our true enemy is here. It is a creature of hatred, borne from our desperation. We must stand together now if we are to have any hope of survival."
Silence was his answer. It was all the reply he needed. Lance glanced at Surge, then to Giovanni at his right. "Prepare yourselves for battle," he said coldly. "the enemy will show no mercy. Do not show any in return."
He turned away, swishing his cape with him as he returned to conversation with Giovanni and the other Elites. I could hear murmurs behind me, the growing crowd dissatisfied by his grim countenance. None stepped forward though, a foul mood coming over the mass of people.
Surge placed a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back to face him. "Not now," he hissed in my ear. "Not here. This isn't the place to do this."
I turned with him, slowly walking back towards the gathered trainers. I scowled at my CO. "We can't just let them—"
He cut me off with a look I'd never seen on him. He was utterly defeated, resignation in his eyes. "We can and we will. We don't win this by fighting amongst ourselves."
"When did Rocket and Giovanni become one of us?"
He shook his head and I saw him grit his teeth. "I don't like it any more than you," he replied harshly. "But we have our orders."
I stopped cold and stared at him. I felt a calm certainty come over me and knew that this was the path I had to walk. "Orders…" I muttered.
He stopped and faced me, seeming to expect something from me. "Is that going to be a problem, Ranger?"
I was quiet. I looked over at Lance and Giovanni. Agatha's eyes locked with mine and she nodded almost imperceptibly. She knew something about my destiny, something about me that I couldn't even place. I was meant for more than orders.
I looked back at Surge and I knew what I had to do. The Champion had treated this all like some sort of game in pitting Kanto against itself. It sickened me, overriding the nascent obedient culture Surge had been trying to instill in me.
"It is a problem," I stated plainly. I had made my choice. I knew what I had to do. "Like it or not, you've been a willing participant in Lance's sick game. We all have." I shook my head. "I'm not going to be a part of it anymore. I can't be. Not if I want to change things."
"Wright—"
"I resign my position on Zapdos squad and among the Rangers." I looked him in the eyes, facing down the living legend. "I wanted to help change things. I wanted to make the world a better place." I shook my head again. "I can't do that as a Ranger. I can't do that while bound to your command. Not if your command is that of Lance's."
My CO simply looked at me with a wide grin. "I accept your resignation," he began, pride welling up in his voice. "On behalf of Zapdos squad, I thank you for your service."
I couldn't help the look of surprise that came to my face. I had expected anger or surprise, not beaming pride.
"You came to me, just a desperate kid, in way over your head. Hell, I still think you're in over your head, but you've risen to every challenge that's been put in front of you." He nodded to me. "You've gone as far as I can take you. It's up to you to take the next step."
I snapped into a salute, letting my look of surprise fade into a determined expression. "It's been an honour, sir."
He returned the salute. "The honour was all mine, Trainer Wright." He lowered his arms to his side and frowned. "Do me one favour?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"This is gonna be a shitstorm like nothing I've ever seen." He glanced over his shoulder at the Champion and his Elites. "Don't get yourself killed here. I know that's a lot to ask in a fight like this, but if things look bleak and it doesn't look like we're gonna pull out a win, then I want you to stay down. You can't change things if you're dead."
"I can't promise that," I replied.
Surge shrugged, but I saw the concern on his face. "You wouldn't be you if you could." He gestured at Oak, Janine and the boys. "Tend to your Trainers. We're going to need all of you if we have a shot at winning this."
I nodded as Janine approached us. "Thank you, sir."
He gestured over his shoulder. "I should get back to my men," he said. His gaze found Janine. "Take care of him, Lady Anzu."
She nodded in response, grabbing my hand. "I plan to."
Surge turned and made his way towards Harding and the rest of Zapdos Squad. My former CO didn't look back.
"Did you really just quit?" Janine asked with a surprised grin. "You left the Rangers?"
I nodded grimly. "I had to. Someone has to change things."
"I know you did," she replied calmly. She put her arms around me and for a moment I just enjoyed the contact. "You were never just a soldier. You're more."
I turned, breaking the contact with her. "I won't be anything if we can't make it through this fight alive."
Agatha's warning was fresh in my mind. Someone was going to pay for my life. I couldn't have it be her. "Just… promise me something."
"Anything,"
"Don't die. Please."
She smirked with earned confidence. "That's not going to happen."
I slowly nodded as we walked back towards Oak and the others. It wasn't a promise, but it was the best I was going to get from her. She was a fighter, probably even more so than I was. She would never make a promise that might keep her out of the fight.
"Luna and Curie are alright. Neither of them were seriously hurt at all," she said. "Two is bringing them down as quick as he can."
We stopped in front of Oak. I grimly nodded, trying to formulate some sort of plan. Elias appeared from the crowd, nodding at me from behind the boys. A half dozen Silph Trainers were at his back, waiting for my lead.
A flash of light erupted behind me, accompanied by a sudden pop of teleportation. Will and Karen appeared from the ether, joining my slowly growing group.
"Marcus," Oak began. "the cyborg got away."
"That doesn't matter anymore," I replied. I looked away from Oak, meeting the gaze of both Red and Blue. "We have a much bigger problem."
"Mewtwo," Oak intoned. He glanced over at the Champion and then back to me. "Lance means to use us all as cannon fodder. The trainers are a distraction meant to provide him an opening."
I nodded. "And we're going to prove ourselves as more than just fodder." I looked around at the group. "We're going to stop this. We're going to fight."
Leaf shot me a harsh glance from behind Red. She looked hurt, as though I'd suggested some terribly cruel course of action.
Oak scowled. "How do you plan on doing that?" he asked. "Mewtwo survived an explosion that wiped an island off the map. As far as we know, it's indestructible."
I shrugged. "It's still just a pokemon." I glanced around, trying madly to formulate some sort of plan. "We know what type it is, we know what it's weak to." I grimaced. Simple type advantage wasn't going to be enough. We needed more. We needed to level the playing field.
"And we know that Giovanni plans to capture it," said a new voice. Gemma emerged from the crowd, another small group of trainers in tow. She looked fine, dirt and dust notwithstanding. "He retrieved the prototype Master Ball from the Silph Board just before the shield went up."
Luna and Curie stepped out from behind the group of trainers. Two hovered another half-step behind them. I felt my heartbeat relax slightly as relief washed over me. My team was safe. They stepped in behind me, hardly missing a step.
I nodded, mind still racing despite the small measure of relief that gave me. "Then his plan is likely to hit it with the ball after it has exhausted itself against the rest of us." I scowled as I considered it. Giovanni would kill us all with his plan. Even if it worked, we were little more than a distraction. "He still wants to capture this thing and use it. That's his endgame."
"So," Janine started, deferring to me. "What's the plan?"
I looked around. Everyone was looking to me. Every trainer, prodigies like Red and Blue, living legends like Professor Oak, hardened mercenaries like Will and Karen, and the veteran Silph trainers like Elias and Gemma all were looking to me.
I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart. Then I made the plan. "None of us are a match for it. I doubt that even Lance and the Elites are. We don't win this by going head to head." I gestured around at the devastated square. "We win this by fighting dirty. We draw it into the square and hit it from every angle with everything we have."
"What if that isn't enough?" asked Blue, loud enough for the crowd to hear. More people were crowding around us, listening to the forming plan. "You said it yourself, we can't fight it conventionally."
"Use the cover that the square and all the buildings give us," I replied. "You hit it with your best shot and then get the hell out of the way before it can retaliate." I looked around at the crowd. Attentive faces were hanging on my every word. "Don't be a hero. Don't throw your life away thinking that your bravery makes you invincible. That's what Lance wants." I shook my head. "We win this by surviving and letting the big guns do the heavy lifting."
I looked around at them all. There were a lot of scared faces looking back at me. "This is going to be a fight like no other," I continued. "one that a lot of people aren't going to walk away from. I'm scared too, but I know one thing." More and more people were looking to me. "This battle will decide the fate of Indigo. Which means that we will not lose. We will not lose because we cannot afford to lose."
"What if I'm just a novice?" shouted a trainer from the crowd.
I frowned. There was the wrench in our defense plans. I knew the League would be pulling in every trainer it could right now. There were a lot of people here woefully inexperienced for a fight like this. "Stay back and support those of us who can fight. Move wounded off the field, use status attacks, anything but directly fight this thing."
I looked out at the crowd. They all looked back at me. Red, Blue and Leaf. Elias and the Kalosian woman. Oak and Ash. Janine. I swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat. Maybe I wasn't a Ranger anymore. But I could still be a leader, I could still make a difference. All these people were looking to me for strength. Strength that I'd earned through bloody sacrifice. I could be something more.
"The world will remember this day," I boomed with the most commanding voice I could muster. "They will remember the people here as heroes who fought against impossible odds." I thrust a fist into the air and watched as my salute was returned by the crowd. "For Indigo!"
The crowd erupted with a muted war cry. I stood there for a long moment, just watching the crowd. The cry grew until it was deafening, more and more people joining in. The mood lifted suddenly as the crowd fed off itself. Then I lowered my arm and the moment ended. I watched the crowd slowly fan out, Trainers taking up positions among the rubble and bombed out buildings.
Janine approached me, Oak and the others a step behind her.
"I have one last play to make," I said. "Time to bring in the big guns." I pulled back my left sleeve, exposing the thin blue marking that wrapped around my wrist. "Hopefully it's enough to tip the balance in our favour."
Oak nodded, approving of my mad plan. "Articuno," he said proudly.
I nodded. "It promised to aid me in return for driving Rocket off of the Seafoam Islands." I looked over at Leaf with a knowing smile. "Just like Zapdos promised to aid you."
Leaf's eyes went wide. All trace of her earlier disgust was replaced by surprise. Almost like she hadn't even thought of the idea. "So we call them," she replied.
"If there was ever a time to call for help…" I trailed off.
My mind flitted to Riley. He'd been marked by Moltres. I had no clue where he'd gone after we'd parted ways in Sevii, but I hoped he was somewhere in the crowd and thinking the same thing I was. Three Trainers had been marked, three Trainers had been promised aid. Hopefully it would be enough. It would have to be.
I looked around the small group gathered around me. Inspiration struck and I knew that this battle was the key to Giovanni's endgame. Whatever his plan was for Kanto, this was the point upon which it hinged. If we didn't win here, we needed to be ready for what came next. We needed to be proactive.
"I have a plan," I said. "A plan to change the League from within, to deal with the circumstances that led us here properly." My eyes met every single one of them. "And we'll need everyone here to pull it off."
"That's a bit ambitious at the moment," retorted Karen with a curt glare. "Why don't we just focus on—"
"No," I interjected, putting more force into my voice than I had before. "this is too damn important. Giovanni is about to wipe the board clear for him, using Mewtwo to do his dirty work for him." I looked around at them all. "The people in this group are some of the strongest Trainers outside of the Elites. We have the power to force our own change. We just have to survive this battle. We need to be alive so we're still on the board after this battle." I sighed heavily, knowing that was not guaranteed. "I know that's a lot to ask, but—"
"I'm in," Red said suddenly. I saw his breath quicken and knew he was quashing the same fear I was. "whatever the plan is, the League needs to change." He gestured at the crowd behind him. "Too many people are going to die today, win or lose. I say that we change things so this doesn't happen again." He knew what I was getting at. He knew what he was meant for.
Leaf's hand found Red's and I saw the two tighten their grip on each other. She didn't say a word. She didn't have to.
"It'll be difficult," Janine said. "Even as a Leader, I barely even have any influence over League politics."
"I never said that it would be easy," I continued. "But it needs to be done." I pointed at the crowd. "For the people who can't do it themselves. For everyone who has to live under this gods forsaken system."
Oak nodded to himself. "We're with you, Marcus. All of us." He looked at me grimly. "For the mistakes I've made… for the promises that I've broken…"
"For Saffron," said Gemma, breaking into the conversation. "and the people hiding in their homes."
"For the ones who can't stand up for themselves," said Leaf. "for the Trainers about to face something beyond anything they could imagine."
"For Clothos," said Blue in a solemn voice. "for Pride, for Free."
"For mom," Red added, his voice barely more than a whisper. Leaf squeezed his hand tighter and he looked up at me. "and everyone else we've lost."
Ash finally stepped forward from his place beside Oak. "This is how you win," he said with no small amount of pride in his voice. "By coming together. In my world… I was the last one left fighting for good. But here… you all have each other. You can lean on each other for strength. You can win this together."
"Then let's fight," I said. I looked around at my friends and allies. Determined faces looked back at me. The die was cast. We were in this now until the bitter end. "Together."
I pressed myself up against her, taking comfort in the contact. Janine pressed back into me. I didn't know how long we had until Mewtwo made its way through the city, but I would take the moment of comfort while it lasted.
In truth, we hadn't needed to come up here to call to the God of Snow. I likely could have done so from the ground. But a moment of peace alongside Janine, a moment to breathe away from the carnage below, had seemed right when any moment could be our last.
Janine turned her head to look at me, seated behind her on Shimmer's back. The massive venomoth was the smoothest flight I'd ever experienced. I almost envied Janine, riding on Artemis' back was an exhausting endeavour compared to this.
"I see Lance and the Elites," she said. "Top of Silph Tower."
I nodded. "They're staying above the fighting until we've committed against Mewtwo."
"Cowards," Janine remarked coldly. "They should be leading the trainers on the ground."
"More trainers teleporting in," I said as a group of five appeared on the roof. Another group of five appeared a half moment later, one of them instantly recognizable as the most powerful trainer on the planet. "The Grand Champion is here."
Janine whipped around to look. "Damn," she said. "They're calling in everyone. Looks like Alder and the Unovan Elites as well."
She turned to look at me again. "Whatever you're gonna do, you better do it now. We don't know how long we have."
I nodded. I pulled back the sleeve and stared intently at the icy blue marking on my wrist. "Articuno," I started, praying that the reclusive god was listening. "You promised to aid me in an hour of need. This is that hour. We need you. We need the might of a god on our side."
I felt the presence of an unknowable mind brush up against mine. It was cold. It was distant. But it was unmistakably there. It enveloped me completely, Janine and the burning city simply fading away as if they no longer existed.
'Marcus-Trainer,' said a cold wind on my neck
I sucked in a breath sharply. The mind of the god was a turbulent storm, a force of nature that was bound to no man. I felt a chill creep into my bones and felt the gods displeasure thrum in the cold.
'You call for my aid against the product of humanity's hubris.'
"I do," I replied quickly. I centred myself in the moment, holding onto what little of reality I could still sense. Janine's hand squeezed my own, grounding me in the reality of the moment. "We can't win this fight, not without help. Not without a god or two of our own."
'Humanity's problems are theirs to solve. We are not your guardians, nor your executioners. We simply exist among the balance of nature.'
"You promised to help me when I called!" I felt the god's mind echo with disapproval. "I'm calling you now. This creature… it won't stop at just humanity. It is a destroyer, built to combat those like yourself."
'And you believe that it would continue its warpath against my kin?'
"It is an apex predator, learning its place among the natural order. Once it has supplanted humanity, it will move on to test its strength against you and your kin." I squeezed Janine's hand tighter, desperate to avoid becoming lost within the contact with a god. "You talk of balance… this creature exists to uproot the balance of nature. It will not rest until it has found a new world order, one with it atop the ashes of the old."
I felt Articuno's presence retreat for a moment. Janine looked at me with some measure of hope as my vision returned to me. I shook my head slightly. Another long moment went by in silence.
"Please, Articuno," I continued. I was desperate now, pleading with the ancient deity. "I need your help. We need your help. We can't do this without you."
The snow god's presence came roaring back. I felt my mind dwarfed by the contact and tried to retreat from the pokemon. My thoughts became muddled until there was only the ethereal voice of the being I'd called to.
'We three have marked humans in the past. Long have we been protectors of nature's balance. Long have we called upon our marked to be our voice and our influence among your world. We have been called, for the first time in eons, we have been called. Three champions have called for the aid promised to them, three champions of three gods.'
Articuno paused for a moment, seemingly conscious of its overwhelming presence in my head. I felt it retreat slightly and my thoughts became clearer.
'My kin and I will come, Marcus-Trainer. We will meet your destroyer in battle and protect the balance of this world. Know that your words tipped the balance of our decision in your favour. Humanity is in debt to you for your actions today.'
I sighed audibly as Articuno's vast presence retreated from my mind. My body sagged as exhaustion washed over me and I steadied myself on Janine.
"Well?" she asked.
"It's going to help us," I started. "They're coming."
"They?" she said in confusion.
"All three," I replied, exhaustion seeping into my voice. My gut ached, a twinge of pain remaining where Artemis had impaled me. "The Storm Raptors. Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres."
She paused for a moment. I felt the somber demeanour in her as she looked down at the burning city. "Saffron will surely suffer today."
I steadied myself on her. "The city can be rebuilt. As long as we survive this."
"Will we?" she asked carefully. She turned to look over her shoulder at me. "Marcus… Rocket was one thing… they were just human… this, Mewtwo…"
I clenched my jaw. "I know." She hadn't been a part of my meeting with Blaine. She didn't know what I knew. She didn't know about Ash, or Lance's real involvement with Mewtwo, or what Mewtwo even was. Hell, I hadn't even had time to tell her why I'd just resigned from Zapdos squad, or what had happened with Agatha in that mirror world.
"We don't have the time to go over everything right now, I know." She shook her head slowly. "But I'm scared. I'm scared and I don't know what to do." She looked back to me. "I'm not used to that, you know?"
I nodded. My hand found hers on Shimmer's side. "I am too," I admitted. "We're about to fight an indestructible god with three more gods of our own." I took a deep breath. The idea was haunting. "People are going to get hurt. A lot of them." I offered her a weak smile. "But we'll be alright. We're together. That's what matters."
I hugged her then, holding her as tight as I could. Janine pressed back into me and the whole world seemed to just melt away. It was just us, suspended beneath the canopy of smoke.
I pulled back slightly, swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat. The board had been set. The die had been cast. All that remained was the battle. All that remained was the final stages of the game.
"Take us down," I said quietly.
We swooped silently down towards the plaza. Shimmer deposited us in front of Oak and the boys, disappearing into her ball a moment later.
"It's done," I said solemnly. "The birds are with us."
He nodded back at me. "Then we have a chance."
I put on a brave face, one that I knew Oak could see right through. "A puncher's chance, but that is all we'll have." I paused for a moment, looking around the square. Most of the trainers had gone to ground, taking up positions in cover and arraying their pokemon alongside them. "Is everyone ready?" I knew the answer. There was no way in hell we were ready for this.
Leaf answered me. "I actually have an idea that might help."
I turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "Something to give us an advantage?"
She frowned and hesitated. "Not… exactly. But it might be a way out of this fight."
"Leaf," Red started. "you can't—"
"I think… I remember Mewtwo. From before Papa and I moved to Lavender..." She trailed off but she had this look on her face like she wanted to say more. "I… I think it was my friend."
That got everyone's attention. Leaf looked suddenly nervous with all the sudden attention.
"So what?" Blue asked. "You gonna ask it nicely to not kill us all?"
Silence was his answer. Blue looked at Leaf incredulously, then to Oak, then to Red, then to me.
"That's insane," Blue continued. "the murder machine isn't gonna stop its rampage because you were its friend once upon a time."
"It might," I said suddenly. My gears were turning, plans and courses of action playing out in my head. "It's a good idea. The best one we've had yet." I shrugged. "We know for certain that force hasn't worked up to this point. Why not try reason?"
"Marcus," Oak interjected with some force. "Mewtwo isn't capable of being reasoned with."
"But how do we know that?" I replied. "It wouldn't reason with any of the scientists on the project. But why would it have any reason to?" I shook my head and gestured towards Leaf. "She says she had a positive relationship with this thing. That's enough to make success a possibility, which was explicitly not the case a minute ago."
I turned towards Leaf. "Do you think that you can get Mewtwo to listen to you? Maybe point it towards Lance and Giovanni, or get it to just leave?"
She looked back at me with a hard stare. "I don't know," she said quietly. "It was a long time ago… I don't know."
"Are you willing to try talking to it?" I asked. I caught the withering glare from Red, but the boy remained silent. "Ask it to leave. Nicely. Before this turns into a massacre."
"It already is a massacre." Oak interjected again. "We have to fight. We have to—"
I spun my head towards the professor. "Look around us, Oak! Mewtwo didn't start this fight. We did. Humanity did. We did this to ourselves." I shook my head. "You wanted a way out of this mess. Here it is."
It was quiet for a moment. Oak didn't reply, didn't even look back at me. He just stared blankly into the smoke and dust.
"I'll do it," Leaf said, her voice small among the noise present in the plaza. "I'll talk to him."
"What if Mewtwo doesn't listen to her?" Red asked quietly. He met my eyes, almost pleading with me for some answer that didn't put Leaf into danger. "What then?"
I scowled. "If it comes to that…" I knew what he was asking me. He wanted to know what happened if Mewtwo simply killed Leaf the moment she started talking. "Then we fight."
He scowled down at the ground, his eyes hard. Leaf's hand found his and squeezed.
"Spread the word around," I ordered, looking towards Blue and Janine. "We need to give this a chance. We wait for Mewtwo to strike first. We wait for Leaf to plead our case."
Blue and Janine nodded, disappearing into the plaza in different directions. Oak didn't move, still staring blankly into the smoke as Red and Leaf quietly embraced each other. Ash for his part stood in silence beside Oak, a somewhat amused expression on his face.
"It won't work," Oak murmured as I sidled up to him. "It's here because of the Master Ball. It's here because humanity found a way to threaten it. It's here to eliminate the threat."
"Give her a chance to prove that the people here aren't the threat," I said, scanning the smoke for movement. "Give her a chance to make a difference."
He sighed heavily. "I fear that even with that chance…" He trailed off and sighed again. "Lance and Giovanni have controlled everything to this point. They've run the board, they've set the pieces, they've… they've…" He trailed off again, lost for words.
"They're in your head," I said in a matter of fact tone. "They've been there for years."
Oak looked down at the ground crestfallen. "They've been in my head since I found the boys in the wreckage of my son's home." He looked over at Ash, then at me. "Years of hell…"
"All led to this moment," Ash said quietly. He turned to face Oak and put a hand on the old man's shoulder. "The Oak that I knew… he believed in me. These kids need the same. They need you to believe that they can pull off the impossible."
"Belief…" Oak murmured. "Is that enough?"
"It is. It has to be," Ash replied. He lifted his hat and attempted to brush back the wild tangle of jet black hair. He placed the hat back down on his head, apparently satisfied with his hair. I couldn't see a difference. "If my story isn't over…" He looked over at me. "Then this isn't the end of theirs."
I opened my mouth to say something, but a flicker of movement in the smoke drew my gaze. A bubble of clear air floated into view. The figure within raised an arm and all at once, the smoke and dust billowing into the sky seemed to grow still.
Then the figure moved again and I got my first glimpse of Mewtwo. It was smaller than I'd expected, probably even a little bit shorter than me. I couldn't tell from across the plaza. A long tail swished behind the humanoid body, its limbs skinny and atrophied. A long tube of flesh sprouted from the back of its elongated skull and connected to a point just above the base of its tail.
I could feel an angry presence in my head. It brushed aside my thoughts, rooting me to the spot and blocking out any coherent lines of thinking. I found myself looking up at the tower with Giovanni and Lance on my mind. My fists clenched. I'd make them pay for this farce. I'd—
A tap on my shoulder drew my attention back to my surroundings. Janine was pressing something into my hand, something cold, hard and sharp. I felt the anger lessen suddenly, fading into a dull roar in the back of my mind. I looked down at the black metal trinket.
"It's called a sharp charm. I brought a spare in case I lost mine," she said with a hint of frustration in her voice. "It'll protect your mind from psychics." She sounded tense and her body was held so stiffly I could see her shaking. "It usually works better than this."
"It's Mewtwo," Leaf said. She seemed unaffected by the pressure in our heads. "He's angry." She scowled and took a step towards the creature. "He's so angry."
I glanced over, watching her continue towards Mewtwo. I could hear the crowd growing restless. No doubt the rest of the trainers were feeling the same effect I'd been just a moment ago. I could still feel it in the back of my mind, a dull roar that served to cloud my thoughts.
"Go quickly," I urged. Leaf turned her head to look at me. "Talk him down. You think it'll work, then it'll work." I glanced around at the rest of our group. Red and Blue seemed similarly unaffected, but Oak was shaking on the spot with Ash looking on with concern. "Go," I said again. "We'll give you as much time as you need."
She nodded back at me and then broke eye contact. She walked towards the living weapon with no trace of fear in her step.
"I don't like this," Red said, eyes following her. "I really don't like this Marcus."
I crossed the small distance to stand at his side. "I'm not in love with it either, kid. But we really don't have a better plan, do we?"
He shook his head. "No." The scowl on his face said it all. He wore the frustration plainly, his clenched fists and furrowed brow telling me exactly what he thought of the plan. "She can do it," he said
Mewtwo moved, turning its head to look at Leaf. The creature floated over to her, then turned its head very deliberately to look at our little group.
"It… it's… it's right—"
A scuffle behind me tore my attention away from Leaf and the clone. Ash had Oak's hand caught in a vice grip, the old professor grunting and trying to get free.
"Control yourself, Profess—"
Oak's other fist cracked against Ash's face. Blood spurted from his nose and the raven haired boy went down in a flurry of curses.
Blue was closest. He hit Oak from the side with a flying tackle, but he was too late. Flare unfurled her wings and let out a deafening roar tinged with unusual fury.
My head snapped back to Mewtwo and Leaf as I felt the anger in my head fade. It was replaced by a solemn sadness.
Leaf was speaking faster now, becoming more animated in an attempt to keep Mewtwo's attention on her. She placed a hand on Mewtwo's shoulder and I felt the sadness shift into disappointment.
We'd failed. I knew it in that moment. We'd invalidated any of Leaf's arguments. We hadn't given her the time she'd needed. I opened my mouth to call her back.
Mewtwo moved again, placing its hand over Leaf's. The two disappeared with a heavy pop and it felt as though an immense pressure lifted from my mind.
"Where did they go?" Red exclaimed. "Where is she?"
My mind kicked into gear, immediately preparing for the worst. Mewtwo had been taken Leaf. Mewtwo had been friends with Leaf. Mewtwo was only getting her off the field so she didn't get hurt. Which meant that Mewtwo would be back.
"It's coming back," I said confidently. "everybody get ready!"
My hands dropped to my belt, releasing my team minus Savage. The rest of our group took their cue, other trainers in the crowd following suit in turn. We all stood there in quiet terror for a long few moments, eyes scanning the eerily floating clouds of dust.
Then it was back, reappearing where it had disappeared with a heavy pop. It gazed out at our hastily formed army, all the trainers and soldiers deployed against it.
'I'm sorry.'
Those two words were all the warning we got. Mewtwo waved its arms and the ground simply folded onto itself. Walls of earth and stone were thrown up and collapsed onto portions of the plaza, crushing swathes of our defense in an instant.
Red's espeon lit up like a morning sun, blasting away the curtain of concrete indiscriminately. Oak and Blue's alakazam joined Red's psychic in clearing the rest of the falling rubble. From what I could tell, some of the trainers in the plaza had reacted the same. Too few to mean much of anything in this fight.
Our psychics pulsed, flinging the remaining airborne rubble back into Mewtwo. The creature deflected our return barrage into the ground, kicking up a plume of dust that it dispelled with a thought.
We moved as one, Red and Blue charging ahead in the lead. Our pokemon followed us without needing orders. Janine and I flanked to one side as Oak took the other. More trainers were taking that as a signal to mount their own attacks.
It wasn't enough. I could see that. Our ranged fire was a fraction of what it was before Mewtwo's opening attack, with countless trainers dead or buried amongst the rubble. Those that were left were either the smarter and stronger trainers, or either very lucky. Even if the ones left were the stronger among us, there was very little we could hope to do.
Mewtwo waved its arms again and the ground rippled beneath my feet. I felt myself tumble into open air and flip end over end. I landed hard on a panel of light and I was vaguely aware of Two chattering in my ear.
I slid off the panel and hit the rough hewn ground, collapsing as my left knee crumpled. I sucked in a breath and forced myself back up as I finally heard what Two's voice was saying.
"Marcus-Trainer, Curie is down."
My blood went cold. The fight was already lost, that much was clear. I glanced over, trying to find the group. I couldn't see them in the gloom, couldn't see Janine. I couldn't even see where Mewtwo was in the dust kicked up by his attacks.
"Take me to her," I ordered. If the others were alive, they'd have to tend to themselves. This wasn't a winnable fight. Mewtwo had proven that in short order.
Two chirped and gestured for me to follow. We rounded a mound of rubble and my heart practically stopped. Curie was trapped by the debris, her lower half crushed beneath the mound. Blood was flowing out onto the ground beneath her, a growing puddle signifying worse injuries that I couldn't see.
I dropped to my knees. I didn't have any healing items. I didn't have anything that would help her.
"She will survive in her ball," Two began with the same analytical tone as always. "So long as you are able to get her medical care promptly."
I raised Curie's ball and returned her, praying that she would be alright. My hand placed her ball back on my belt and then curled into a fist.
A deafening crack came from behind me to interrupt my train of thought, followed by a thunderous impact. Indignant anger welled up within me, not all of it mine. That was fine. I was pissed. I wanted to fight. I didn't mind being angry for that.
I whirled around, looking at Two. "Where is it?" I asked.
"50 meters to your left," he replied immediately.
"Rest of the team?"
"Unknown."
I nodded. My hand found the three balls still on my belt. Two of them would be useless until Agatha made her play. The third would be useless until I could get him under control... My hands relaxed slightly. I didn't need to control Savage. I just needed to point him in the right direction
My feet pounded the ground as I charged in the direction Two had indicated. The eerie silence was gone, replaced by countless cries of anguish. I passed by countless trainers working frantically to free others from the rubble, ignoring all of them.
Mewtwo rose from a cloud of dust, deflecting a bolt of lightning into the base of Silph Tower. It lashed out, decimating the pair of trainers unlucky enough to be in it's immediate vicinity. Mewtwo lifted a hand, a swirling ball of shadows growing within.
A jet of flame torched the lower half of Mewtwo's body. It retaliated, flinging the shadow ball at the unseen attacker.
"Light screen!" I shouted over the roar of Mewtwo's quarry.
Mewtwo flared with violet light, more shadow balls forming in a helix around it. Two raised a panel of light in front of the magmortar that had torched Mewtwo. The barrier held up to the first two shadow balls, but winked out as the rest of the barrage struck home and bisected the magmortar.
A scizor buzzed towards Mewtwo, pincers outstretched. Mewtwo grabbed it with its telekinesis and slammed it down onto the magmortar's corpse. The bug buzzed angrily, trying to rise as Mewtwo peeled off its carapace.
Mewtwo reeled suddenly as a ball of white hot lightning slammed into its side. It spun and abandoned the scizor as the second half of the attack struck home.
Oak and his team hit Mewtwo as it turned, each of his pokemon unloading everything they had. Lightning and fire washed over it. Ice speared into its torso. Reality screamed and warped under the assault and the indignant anger in my head spiked.
A bubble of energy rippled off of Mewtwo, completely blunting Oak's assault. It waved an arm and the bubble expanded violently.
Two slammed a barrier down in front of us a fraction before the bubble hit us. I ducked behind my porygon, scanning the battlefield to see who was still standing. Oak was still up, his alakazam weathering the storm with both spoons raised. Janine was absent, along with Red and Blue.
The bubble popped and Two dropped the barrier. Mewtwo rounded on Oak, the professor's alakazam panting heavily. He raised an arm and a shadow ball swirled into existence.
Another ball of white hot lightning hit Mewtwo from the side again, and this time I saw the little pikachu within. It retreated as Mewtwo lashed out with a telekinetic slam that pulverized the surrounding area. Blue followed up the opening Red had created, his arcanine charging from a different direction.
Mewtwo spun, meeting the arcanine with a wave of its arm. The fire type slammed into the front of Silph Tower, bowling over a charging nidoking. Both pokemon lay deathly still in the billowing dust.
Red's pikachu was back, hitting Mewtwo again from an oblique angle and knocking it off balance again. Another flash of light grew into a huge furry form, already rearing back to strike.
Another wave of Mewtwo's arm sent the snorlax crashing through our rapidly organizing forces. It bounced twice and came to a rest somewhere out of view. Mewtwo spun and sent another wave of rubble crashing out with a vague wave of his arm again.
Two slammed another barrier down just in time, deflecting rubble away before it could wash me away. I lost Oak and the boys in the chaos and held tight to Two. It subsided a moment later and Two dropped the barrier.
Karen was there this time, her houndoom leaping at Mewtwo. An umbreon was a half step behind the houndoom, a murkrow flapping just above them. Mewtwo tried to retaliate with the psychic bubble again, but Karen and her team smashed through it unmolested.
Will followed her through the opening in the bubble she had made, his pokemon arraying behind him. They spread out as Karen charged, violet light rippling through the air between them.
Karen's team hit Mewtwo harder than anything I'd seen yet. They tore into it, fangs, claws and beak ripping chunks out of the creature. It tried to strike back, flailing wildly with enough psychic power to level everything around. Will's team managed to blunt enough of Mewtwo's tantrum that it couldn't do much more than knock a few of us off balance.
Mewtwo spun, tearing the houndoom off of itself with a spray of blood. It gazed around at Karen and her team, hesitating for a half a breath before moving. It rose off the ground a fraction and slammed back down. Mewtwo disappeared into the ground and for a long moment there was quiet save for the settling of debris. Then Mewtwo tore back upwards in a tremendous spray of rubble.
Two and I went flying as the ground bucked and threw me skyward. I lost Karen and Will in the chaos, finding and then losing Red and Blue a moment later. I hit a barrier and stopped cold as the breath was forced from my lungs. Two and I slid off and I hit the ground hard once again.
I tried to rise, my already aching knee completely failing me. I hit the ground hard and tried to draw a breath. My chest was aching and each attempt to breathe only caused more sharp pangs every time.
Someone grabbed my arm, hauling me to my feet. Elias made sure I was steady before letting me stand on my own. He stood a half step away from me, panting hard. A scizor, armoured carapace riddled with dents and leaking sticky ichor, swayed on its feet a few paces away. An electivire. I realized belatedly that the magmortar had been his.
"Too strong," he croaked. His voice was hoarse and ragged. Whether from the anguish of losing a pokemon or the strain of breathing through the dust and smoke, I couldn't say. "Can't kill it."
"Don't have to," I said, my voice similarly ragged. "just occupy its attention." We just needed to give the birds time to show. We just needed to hold Mewtwo here until they arrived.
He nodded grimly. He knew what that meant. So did I. Wordlessly, we turned and charged back towards Mewtwo.
I paid no mind to the carnage we sprinted past. I didn't have the luxury of time to waste. Anyone still up that wasn't fighting, was running. Anyone not up was likely dead or dying. Janine crossed my mind with that thought, but I shoved it down. No time to spare any focus for that at the moment. No time to spare the aching in my knee a thought.
Mewtwo loomed in the darkness, flashes of lightning and flame illuminating the scene every few seconds. A little yellow blur was darting through a storm of shadow balls and telekinetic blasts. A larger beige blur darted around the periphery of the battle, firing off orbs of green energy and streams of flame.
Luna.
I breathed in sharply. She was alive. I changed direction as Elias charged straight ahead, circling around to get around Mewtwo. His scizor hit Mewtwo from the side, savaging the creature's ribcage. Blood flowed freely as Mewtwo hesitated for the second time. It was only a half a moment of indecision, but I saw it. We'd hurt it.
Mewtwo erupted with the psychic bubble again, throwing Elias' scizor into the chaos. I saw him go flying as the bubble hit him before Two slammed a barrier down just in front of Luna and I.
"Same strategy," I said hoarsely. "keep pushing."
Luna nodded and Two chirped. My starter brushed against me, offering a moment's solace in this nightmare. Then the barrier dropped.
Luna rocketed off, already moving faster than I could follow. I could see Red's pikachu moving too, wreathing itself in blue lightning.
Mewtwo repeated the same attack, throwing up the same glowing bubble as before. Two slammed a barrier down in front of me, but there was nothing more he could do. Luna and the pikachu were sent careening away, Red disappearing back into the chaos.
My hand found the last ball on my belt. I lifted it and pitched it, praying that my tyrantrum wouldn't hold to a grudge at a moment like this. He appeared in a flash of red light and stretched to his full height with a deafening roar. He locked eyes on Mewtwo and I knew that he saw the true threat.
It was in that moment that I truly saw my newest pokemon for the first time. For Luna, it was me and the family we'd built. For Acolyte, it was what he had to protect. For Savage? It was being the strongest, bar none.
"Savage," I croaked as loudly as I could. He glanced back at me and I saw his predatory glare fall on me. "Kill."
He turned back to Mewtwo and I saw it click for him. Mewtwo was the target. Mewtwo was the strongest. He leapt into action. Savage pounded towards Mewtwo, jaws outstretched.
Mewtwo didn't hesitate. It simply lifted an arm and stopped Savage in his tracks. The world went quiet and I heard Savage whimper in pain. Then Mewtwo spiked him into the ground, half burying him in the ground with the force of the impact.
Things went quiet, Mewtwo carefully and curiously taking in the scene. I had a solemn realization that I was the last one standing.
A mottled purple gash was torn across the sky. Mewtwo gazed up as the realization hit me. My hands dropped to my belt, resting on the two battered balls secured there. This was Agatha's play. The Elites were coming now. Lance was coming now.
I tapped both of the weathered balls. Pride materialized first, forming from a stream of purple miasma rather than digitized light. Vector coalesced a moment later. They both turned to face me, standing between Mewtwo and myself.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. So much guilt welled up. I'd let them both down. I'd gotten them both killed. "I'm so sorry."
They drifted closer to me, not walking so much as sliding over the ground. Pride placed one of his paws against my chest and gently shoved.
I stumbled backwards and tripped, falling onto my ass. I looked up at them dumbfounded. Pride shook his head, Vector mirroring him. Two chirped and whistled an inquiry at them. Pride replied with a curt growl.
"They do not want you to fight," Two translated. "You will die. Mewtwo is too powerful."
I looked up at my pokemon, my resolve fading. All that had happened and they were here to protect me from an impossible fight. Fate seemed to have a sick sense of humour. I'd gotten them both killed and still, they were here in the same circumstances that had gotten them killed.
My eyes settled on Mewtwo. He was gently probing the rift in the sky. Movement beyond that, from the top of Silph Tower drew my attention. I'd done what had been asked of me. I'd fought. I'd inspired our gathered forces to fight. For all the good it had done, we'd proven Mewtwo could be hurt.
I'd done enough. For once, I was at peace with that. There'd been nothing held back, no tricks, no gambits, nothing. I'd filled the role I'd been given, played my part with everything I had.
I looked up at Pride and Vector. "I'll stay down," I said. There was nothing else I could do. Luna was gone in the chaos, Acolyte had disappeared after the first encounter with Mewtwo, the same as Artemis. Savage hadn't even been able to touch it. "For what comes after."
Pride nodded solemnly. I wondered for a long moment how much he knew of what Agatha had seen in me. She had said my destiny lay beyond this catastrophe. She had known something about the future, something about the role I'd play.
A deafening roar announced Lance and the Elites' attack. The rift screamed in thousands of discordant voices as tendrils of shadow reached from the other side.
Two pulled up a series of barriers over my head, clouding my view of the battle. I turned to him.
"We must leave the field," Two suggested. "If we are to survive."
I lifted Savage's ball. He was still buried, but I wasn't about to leave him. "Then let's move," I said. "Before we aren't able to run."
Two chirped in agreement. He dropped the barriers and I ran as hard as I could.
Pokédex entry #233 — Porygon-2
An update to the initial Porygon platform by Silph Co, the 2.0 update is closer to programmer William Sonezaki's original plans than the 1.0 version. After the initial 1.0 version was rushed out to production, William Sonezaki left Silph. Only one Porygon 2.0 is known to exist, in the care of an Indigo Ranger, after being updated during a moment of crisis.
Processing power is more than double the original, allowing for the formation of a learning algorithm as well as an evolving morality matrix. Porygon 2.0 is far closer to the traditional idea of an artificial intelligence, capable of adapting and learning with every encounter.
Intermediate Trainer KT#07996101
Trainer, Marcus Wright, current team:
Luna, Ninetales
Artemis, Aerodactyl
Two, Porygon-2
Curie, Chansey
Savage, Tyrantrum
Hey everyone! I'm back with an update, for both the story and my current situation.
Originally, this chapter would have covered the entire Mewtwo battle… As you can see, I had to cut it off. I was hitting 15-16k and I wasn't done yet. On top of that, Marcus got his ass handed to him and it stretched the realm of believability to have him still up and fighting after this point.
So, I've cut that bit out and repurposed the actual fighting into another interlude chapter like Janine's POV as well as dole out some more background info from Lance's perspective.
Now, in terms of me? I'm doing well! Mental health support is well regarded in Canada and I'm receiving the help I needed. Thanks everyone for sticking with me during this difficult time!
