Moving slowly to avoid drawing the poacher’s attention, I took out the key card I had swiped from Hawg and wormed it through the bars of the door, pressing it against the black box. The lock beeped quietly and a green light flashed. Risking a look to make sure that Hawg and Greer were still busy with the tent I pushed the door open. I was just about to leave the cage when I froze, noticing that a pair of eyes hadn’t been distracted and were fully focused on me.
Havoc stared at me for what seemed like an eternity, but could only have been a second or two. I was entirely sure that the Pokémon would bark to get the poachers attention, or simply just burn me to a crisp right there. Instead, the Houndoom simply whuffed quietly, and laid back down.
Good dog!
Stealing out of the cage, I made my way down the line of the cages until I got to the last one where the Riolu and the Skorupi were trapped. The little Riolu was staring at me with a mixture of fear, anger, and confusion, and I quickly opened the gate with my stolen key card before kneeling down to untie the Fighting type Pokémon.
“This is a jailbreak!” I hissed at it. “I think the Houndoom is okay, but don’t hesitate to knock it out if it makes a move against you, got it?”
The Riolu nodded fiercely as I undid the ropes around its feet.
“Do you think you can take care of the goons while I help get the rest of you free?”
It hesitated at that, then nodded a bit more slowly. I understood it’s hesitation, considering that there was a big difference between an ill-looking Houndoom and the massive Hawg.
“Hey!” I heard from behind me, and I hurried even faster, fumbling for a moment before pulling the last rope off of the Riolu’s arms.
A heavy hand grabbed my shoulder and I thought that would be it for me, but the little Pokémon reacted faster than I had thought possible, springing to its feet before jumping onto my head. From there it jumped again, and I heard Hawg curse and the hand fall away as the Fighting-type did what it did best, and took it’s revenge on the people who had imprisoned it.
I grabbed the Skorupi and ripped off the rubber band around its tail-claw.
“Sorry for the rough treatment!” I said but it didn’t seem to mind, instead it’s gaze was directed behind me and there was a fire in its beady eyes.
The other two restraining bands around it’s front stingers came off a bit easier and it rushed away, just as eager to pay back its treatment. I didn’t stop to watch the revenge however, instead rushing to the next cage and unlocking it. The Mime Jr. didn’t seem eager to stick around for a fight, and scampered into the undergrowth around the camp. The Croagunk on the other hand jumped into the fray as well, despite how sick it looked.
I risked a look back, and was horrified at what I saw. Greer was on the ground, clutching a bloody nose, while the Skorupi was sitting on this chest, claw and stingers waving wildly.
“Don’t kill them!” I called, and while the Skorupi glared at me it thankfully didn’t do anything more.
Hawg, on the other hand, was busy fending off the Riolu and the Croagunk. While I’m sure that the two Pokémon would have been able to take him down if they were feeling better, the fact remained that they had been kept in a cage for god knows how long. Hawg was able to keep them at bay with massive swings of his arms, and I wasn’t sure how much energy the two Pokémon had left.
It was a relief to see Havoc still laying down, although he was looking intensely at the battle, his spade-like tail wagging back and forth behind him. Obviously he wanted to fight, but for now it seemed like he was content to sit it out.
“What is going on out here?” Kane bellowed as he burst through the flaps of the tent, his face quickly paling as he took in the situation.
“You!” He said, staring at me by the last cage. “What have you done? Havoc, get her!”
Havoc looked between me and his owner, and huffed. Kane’s face did a remarkable turn, switching from pale and worried to flushed with rage in a heartbeat.
“Stupid Pokémon! You’ll get what’s coming to you after this I swear! Terror, get out here!”
Kane pulled out another Poké Ball, and with a howl of rage a Mightyena appeared in a flash of light. I had a moment to stare incredulously at the animal, shaking my head.
What is it with bad guys and dog Pokémon? I thought.
Havoc, having heard the Mightyena’s howl, jumped to its feet for the first time since the battle begun, and let out a vicious cry of its own. The two dog-like Pokémon stared at each other in clear hatred, before jumping into a vicious frenzy.
With the Mightyena tied up for a second, I quickly turned and unlocked the last cage door. The Elekid was still unconscious, which was a little worrying, but I didn’t have the time to worry about that. Instead the little Eevee came running out of the cage to hide behind my legs.
The Croagunk let out a pained croak and collapsed to the ground as Hawg finally got a hit in. The Riolu wasn’t looking much better, and I frantically tried to remember the small Pokémon’s move pool.
“Riolu!” I called, feeling a bit ridiculous as I did so. “Use Metal Claw!”
The Pokémon gave me a confused look, and returned its attention just in time to avoid a swing from the much larger Hawg.
“Uh okay, you don’t know that one yet, that’s fine. Use… Quick Attack?”
The Riolu’s eyes lit up in comprehension at what I was trying to do, and it’s entire form glowed white briefly, then the Pokémon blurred forwards and slipped underneath the massive arms of its opponent.
The small fist was moving so fast I barely saw it, but it connected solidly against the thick barrel chest of its opponent. Hawg’s breath left him in an explosive cough, and the big man stumbled backwards. He tried to bring his arms up in a boxer’s defensive pose, but I was starting to remember the moves a Riolu had at low levels.
“Don’t let him recover! Feint!”
The Riolu started to move forwards like it had just done with the Quick Attack, and Hawg frantically tried to move his arms down to protect his chest again. Riolu checked it’s movement and instead used its powerful legs to propel it into a jump. It soared over the blocking fists, and landed a solid hit across Hawg’s face. I opened my mouth to give the Riolu more orders but it was clearly going off on its own, using the opening I had given it. Several more lightning fast blows streaked out towards it’s opponent, and Hawg didn’t manage to catch himself in time to block any of them.
After a moment the big man stood like a swaying tree, eyes unfocused and staring off into the distance. Riolu smirked, jumped up one last time, and spun it’s body around in a dazzling roundhouse kick. Hawg didn’t stand a chance and collapsed to the ground, clearly unconscious. The Riolu stood triumphant on the body of its foe, before it too slumped down, exhausted from its victory.
A yelp of pain drew me away from the battle, and I turned to see Havoc edging away from the Mightyena, favoring one leg. Kane wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but I didn’t let that stop me from trying to help the Houndoom.
“Havoc, use Ember!”
The Houndoom hesitated, looking back at me, before nodding it’s head slightly and turning back around. The momentary distraction proved to be a mistake however, and the Mightyena batted at the ground with its forepaw. A clump of dirt came flying at Havoc, getting in the poor pup’s eyes. He whimpered in pain and tried to use one of its feet to wipe off its face, but Terror used the opportunity to leap forwards.
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It's jaws closed around Havoc’s leg with a sickening crunch, and the Houndoom yelped again, dropping to the ground.
Terror continued the attack, and a wave of guilt crashed over me. Havoc was only in this situation because of me, and I wouldn’t let it get hurt more.
With a yell, I charged forwards, slamming into the Mightyena’s flank. It was smaller than it had seemed at first, perhaps only three feet at the shoulder, and weighing only eighty pounds or so. It was just small enough that the force of my charge shoved it off of Havoc, and Terror whipped it’s head around in surprise at the new attacker. While it may have helped save Havoc, I hadn’t exactly thought through my attack, and I realized pretty much right after I had knocked Terror over that I may have made a mistake.
Quick as a flash, Terror was out from underneath me, and already striking back. Thin lines of fire etched their way across my face, and I threw myself backwards from the attack. Very quickly I realized I was outclassed, but thankfully my distraction had given Havoc just enough time to bounce back.
A veritable wave of flame washed over the Mightyena, and the dog howled in pain as the smell of burning hair and flesh filled the campsite. Havoc was looking incredibly hurt, but stood with his head held high as the remnants of his fire attack flicked out around his mouth. Terror, for his part, rolled around in the dirt, desperately trying to put out the flames that still licked at his body.
Even though the Pokémon had just been trying to kill me, I still felt a pang of horror and guilt, and I stepped forwards, ignoring Havoc’s warning growl. Taking off my filthy shirt, I used it like a fire blanket, smothering the fire and leaving the poor Pokémon panting on the ground.
It was battered and burnt, and I was honestly surprised that it was still conscious at all, and I backed away from it just in case, which was a good idea.
“Terror!” I heard, and spun to see Kane poking his head out of the door of the truck. “Use Crunch on Alina!”
The Mightyena howled again, a mixture of rage and pain in its voice, and somehow scrambled to its feet before charging forwards towards me, eyes alight with hatred. Time seemed to slow as the Pokémon closed the distance, and I knew that this was going to be the end. The Mightyena’s teeth were massive in its jaws, and I had no doubt in my mind that they would be able to simply rip my throat out.
My last thoughts as the Pokémon closed were filled with regret that I wouldn’t get to see more of this world, but also pride.
At least the other Pokémon should be able to escape.
I was at peace with the decision, knowing that if I had the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn’t have done anything different.
Which made it all the more surprising when a tiny fox-like creature stepped around my legs, placing it squarely in the path of the onrushing Mightyena.
The Eevee, which I was ashamed to say I had completely forgotten all about in the chaos of the fight, planted it’s feet and glared at Terror, and let out the tiniest Growl I had ever heard. The Mightyena hesitated at the growl, unsure of what to do with the tiny Pokémon, which was a mistake. Right as Terror was about to barrel into us, the Eevee moved, launching itself forwards and Tackling Terror.
Against all of my expectations, it seemed to actually have an effect against the much bigger Pokémon. Its charge faltered as it whimpered in pain, and after another step it collapsed to the ground as the Eevee Tackled it again. After another couple of seconds, it seemed to just surrender to the pain, and fell unconscious.
A red beam of light enveloped the Mightyena, and it disappeared a second later. I could hear Kane cursing from his truck, before the engine revved and he shot into the forest, leaving us behind.
I looked around in dazed amazement at the ruined camp. Hawg and Greer were both on the ground, the former unconscious and the latter guarded by a very angry Skorupi. The Riolu was unconscious on top of Hawg, the Croagunk was passed out on the ground, and Havoc was laying on his side, panting in pain and exhaustion. Last but not least, the little Eevee was looking up at me and with an expression of worry and triumph.
My face burned, and the right half of the world was starting to take on a red tint, but I couldn’t be bothered about that right now. I was exhausted, but that didn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face.
We had won, and now we were free.
/^\
Of course, just because we had won didn’t mean all of our troubles were over however. I had to find some rope to tie up Hawg and Greer, which was something I had never done before. The end result was a bit messy and I had to use a lot more rope than was probably necessary, but after a few minutes the two goons were secured.
Once the humans were sorted out and wouldn’t be causing any immediate trouble, I made sure the Pokémon were okay.
The Eevee had barely left my side after the fight, and eventually it was looking so exhausted from trying to follow me around that I simply picked it up, carrying it in my arms and only putting it down when I needed the full use of both my hands.
The Riolu and the Croagunk seemed okay for now, even though they had been knocked unconscious during the fight. I didn’t know how to check to see if they were really hurt or not, but everything that I had read and seen indicated that Pokémon were pretty resilient. Of course those were games and TV shows, not real life, so I couldn’t be sure.
Regardless I picked up the two small Pokémon and carried them into one of the still-standing tents, placing them on the camping cot that was set up in the corner. I tried to make them as comfortable as possible, but they would likely need more advanced help than what I could give them right now.
The Skorupi on the other hand seemed fine, if extremely angry at the two tied up humans. I decided it would be best to let the scorpion-like Pokémon be the two goons’ guard and it seemed happy enough in that role.
Havoc was in a bad way though, and judging by the way it was favoring it’s leg I was pretty sure that it was broken. Like the Riolu and the Croagunk I couldn’t help Havoc out more than just making him comfortable, giving him a couple pillows to rest his head and his leg on.
“Good boy.” I said as I finished propping him up on the pillow, scratching him behind the ears.
His tail wagged a little, and he gave me a little doggy grin that melted my heart.
“Yes, you were a good boy. I’ll get you some food soon, okay? I just want to get some help first.”
Havoc cocked his head and seemed to accept my words as I stepped away.
Kane’s big tent was much nicer on the inside than the other tent I had seen, with a larger cot and the table with the computer I had seen earlier. The computer itself was big and bulky, but despite its size seemed to work like a laptop considering there was no power supply for it.
I tapped on the keyboard and the screen lit up, and a big smile spread over my face.
“Oh this is good.” I told the Eevee in my arms.
It cocked it’s head, confused, and let out a tired mewl of a question.
“You see Kane apparently didn’t have enough time to log out of his profile. The fight must have happened so quickly that he just turned off the screen, not the computer itself.”
The look of confusion didn’t end, so I sighed. “We can use the computer to call for help.”
Eevee perked up as I shook my head. Of course it didn’t understand what I was saying, if it’s a wild Pokémon this is probably the first time it’s actually seen a computer.
Putting the thoughts aside, I pulled out the camp chair and sat down. The Eevee clambered out of my arms to sit in my lap, staring in awe at the glowing screen in front of it.
“Okay let’s see here, I seem to remember these kinds of computers being able to make video calls… at least they could in the show.”
The user interface on the computer wasn’t good. It really reminded me of something like the old Windows ’95 system, which was fair considering the age of the computer. It was a confusing couple of minutes as I clicked through various folders, trying to find the program that could make calls. Eventually I was rewarded with a black screen and a number pad, a blinking icon telling me that I could put in a phone number.
I stared at the icon for a long moment before sighing, picking up the Eevee and stepping out of the tent.
“Greer.” I said, getting the man’s attention. “What’s the phone number for the police?”
“And why should I tell you that?” He sneered.
“Well, considering I’m the one who’s able to walk around and you’re the one who is tied up, I think you can figure it out. If you don’t tell me…” I paused, trying to think of a punishment. “I’ll have the Skorupi here sting you.”
Said Skorupi perked up at the mention of attacking something, and Greer swallowed loudly.
“Alright, alright fine. It’s 110.”
I turned to the Skorupi. “If it turns out that he’s lying, I’ll give you permission to sting him.”
The little Bug Pokémon vibrated with excitement, and I shivered as I went back to the computer.
“Remind me never to annoy a Skorupi.”
Eevee nodded seriously, and I punched in the number into the computer. There was a ringing tone for a couple seconds, then a somewhat bored looking woman in a blue uniform appeared on the screen.
“Canalave City Emergency Department, what’s your- Oh Arceus!”
I must have been a sight, but I gave the woman a tired smile.
“Hello, I have a crime I’d like to report.”
She stammered for a second before finding her voice again. “Yes of course, what’s your emergency?”
“I was captured by some Pokémon Poachers, along with a number of Pokémon. We managed to break out, but there are two poachers tied up outside, and I need some medical attention for the Pokémon who were hurt.”
“I… Yes. Okay. Of course, we can certainly help you with that.” The poor woman seemed a little lost. “Poachers?”
“Yes, a small gang led by a man named Kane.”
“Okay. Right. I’ll contact the Rangers, they’ll know what to do. I’ll also have a fast response unit at your position as quickly as I can to help you until they get there. Where are you?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again as I realized that I didn’t actually know where I was. “One second."
Stepping outside again, I looked at Greer. “Where are we?”
“You mean you don’t know?”
“Skorupi?”
“Wait wait wait! Don’t be hasty! We’re by the intersection of Route 218 and 234! North, we’re at the small peninsula to the north!”
“Okay, don’t sting him just yet.”
The Skorupi drooped in disappointment as I returned to the tent, relaying the information to the dispatcher.
"Thank you." She said. “But please stay on the line until the responders get there!”
“I will.” I said, leaning back in the camp chair and starting to relax for the first time in hours.
My hand made its way to the Eevee, and I carefully brushed at its fur, trying to get some of the dirt out. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I wasn’t sure whether I was talking to the dispatcher or the Eevee, but I decided it didn’t really matter.