3 o’clock came quickly and the students were assembled onto the beach by Zach who strode out of the cave and winked at Tommy.
“Best nap I’ve ever had,” Zach laughed, clapping Tommy on his shoulder. “Feels good knowing I’m not insane.”
Tommy did think Zach was insane but chose not to voice that opinion aloud.
Zach gathered all of the students around and informed them of their next event, a simple one on one Pokémon tournament. Lots were drawn and the bracket finalized but when Tommy called Solosis out in his first match, the poor guy had hardly recovered. Solosis was barely conscious so Tommy immediately forfeited the match, knowing it was pointless to even try to fight and not wanting to endanger his partner any further. Zach called Tommy over and sprayed Solosis with a Super Potion, immediately perking Solosis back up and rejuvenating him completely. Zach refused to let Tommy compete again though, a loss was still a loss.
The tournament progressed as everyone expected with Ashley and Nessa being drawn onto opposite sides of the bracket. Every fight was a boring slog, filled with mistakes and missed opportunities, except for the matches that involved Nessa or Ashley; those were always played to perfection.
Nessa and Shellder battled purely defensively and Shellder was impenetrable. Each time, he waited patiently for the opportune moment to strike; when an opponent launched an attack, Shellder countered it perfectly, repelling every move sent his way and slowly grinding his opponents and their morale down to dust.
Ashley on the other hand was an unstoppable force. Now that she was no longer concealing her Gible from her fellow trainers, the little sand dragon easily overpowered every Pokémon it fought against. Gible was impossible to hit; she was so elusive, swimming through the sand, diving in and out, and whenever she struck her opponents were felled one after the next.
Soon after the tournament began the sun was blotted from the sky by clouds that grew darker and darker as the day wore on. Rain began to fall intermittently, then more heavily, and by the time the tournament reached its apex, the light drizzle had become a deluge. Lighting streaked across the sky in brilliant forking patterns, illuminating the ever growing darkness and slamming into the sea at horizon’s edge. Thunder echoed across the heavens, shaking the foundation of their island and threatening to cast it back to the depths of the sea. Nessa and Ashley stood on the sinking beach, squared off for their final battle, Shellder vs. Gible, but Zach called out before it got started.
“This squall is the worst I’ve seen on the island in a long while!” Zach yelled, struggling to make his voice heard over the pealing of thunder. “We’re postponing the match, since Nessa and Ashley are on the same team your team will receive the three first place points and the two second place points. Everyone, recall your Pokémon and return to the cave! Stop by my tent so I can heal them all with my Super Potions.”
Sparks flew between Ashley and Nessa who were still glaring at each other intensely. Neither had budged since Zach finished speaking, the water reaching their ankles blatantly ignored as both girls refused to be the first to look away. Tommy noticed that the hatred from earlier in the week could no longer be found in their gazes and in its place was a grudging respect; the respect of a rival.
“Ashley, Nessa, come on!” Tommy yelled. “The storm is about to wash you both away! We need to get inside!”
The two girls came back to reality and looked down at the quickly rising water. They hustled after Tommy into the cave and stopped by Zach’s tent to get their Pokémon quickly patched up and to recover some of their exhaustion since they had not been hurt in battle. Tommy put more kindling on the fire at their campsite and started to prepare dinner while he waited for Ashley and Nessa. Solosis was next to him, hopping up and down and trilling, and Tommy was very glad that the little green guy was back to feeling himself. Solosis snuck small bits of mushroom off the cutting board when he thought Tommy wasn’t looking but Tommy didn’t say anything and just smiled to himself. He salted the chicken and threw everything into the pan as the two girls came back over and collapsed by the fire, trying to warm themselves up and dry the rain that had thoroughly soaked them to the bone. He tossed their towels over to them which they caught with a word of thanks.
“I would have paid all my allowance for a month with zero regret afterwards to have seen that fight,” Tommy complained, rotating the chicken around in the pan. He shouldn’t be mentioning it to them, but couldn’t help it; he felt he had been robbed from seeing the battle of the century.
“I tried to look tough but I actually think I was saved from a loss,” Ashley muttered under her breath. “That would have been my nightmare matchup, Gible against your Shellder.”
“Wow you actually paid me a compliment,” Nessa said, sounding shocked, “It would have been closer than you think though, Gible is strong enough to penetrate Shellder’s defense, even with her type disadvantage.”
Ashley smiled to herself, not saying anything as Tommy began to dish out their dinner. He pulled Solosis’ food out as well which reminded the two girls to call out all of their Pokémon so they could eat. Soon enough everyone was munching away happily around the fire, warming themselves after an incredibly exhausting day.
“Litwick doesn’t eat,” Nessa pointed out through a mouthful of chicken. The little candle was just hovering silently, smiling brightly at everything around it. “Why?”
Ashley began choking on her food and Tommy leaned over to gently pat her on the back to not aggravate her sunburn.
“Thanks,” Ashley said, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Sure,” Tommy said, “So why does Litwick not eat? Doesn’t he get hungry?”
“She,” corrected Ashley. “And yes she does get hungry, just not hungry for food.”
“What does that mean?” Nessa asked, her face looking puzzled. “What does she eat then?”
“Um…” Ashley started. She looked nervously between Nessa and Tommy not sure how to answer the question. “I don’t know if I should say, the two of you will never look at her the same way again.”
Nessa stood and walked over to the log Ashley was sitting on, she put her arm around Ashley and squeezed her. Tommy smiled to himself, happy to see them finally getting along.
“I will offer no judgment,” Nessa smiled genuinely, encouraging Ashley to tell the truth. “I might have at the beginning of the weekend but since then you’ve become more tolerable, if only slightly. You even apologized to Feebas when we were eating dinner last night. So please, trust in Tommy. Trust in me.”
“Litwick doesn’t eat food because...” Ashley sighed. “She feeds off the life force of other living beings. Her flame grows stronger the more life force she consumes.”
And many of the Many were corrupted by the Foe, a voice echoed in Tommy’s mind. His fork slipped from his fingers and clattered to the stone floor as he clutched at his head.
“What’s wrong Tommy?” Nessa asked, looking concerned. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah fine, sorry,” His brain felt itchy all of the sudden. He scratched his head but it didn’t help. “Something just popped into my mind. ‘And many of the Many were corrupted by the Foe.’ Does that mean anything to either of you?”
“Who is the Foe?” Ashley asked, looking at Tommy like he was a crazy person. Nessa was giving him the same look from a seat away.
“I don’t know,” Tommy shrugged. “Like I said that just randomly popped into my head from out of nowhere.”
At that instant a massive explosion could be heard followed quickly by horrible scraping noises coming from outside. Tommy collected Solosis and ran to the mouth of the cave to find Zach standing just outside, his arms folded across his bare chest as Tommy, Nessa, and Ashley ran up alongside him. The rain was a torrential downpour and the sun had been blacked out by the clouds, preventing Tommy from seeing more than a few meters in front of him. He did see Zach’s hand pointing out across the ocean and moments later a series of lightning strikes illuminated everything.
Tommy saw a massive cargo ship had been struck by a smaller vessel and forced into one of the now colossal whirlpools. The only thing that had prevented the ship from capsizing and sinking to the depths was the fact that it was long enough to become wedged between two massive rocks jutting out from the water on opposite ends of the whirlpool. It wouldn’t last for long though, Tommy could hear the ship groaning and creaking as it was slowly being torn in half by the force of the water. Men’s screams could be heard in the distance as they fell overboard and were dragged through the maelstrom to their watery graves below.
“Pirates?” Ashley asked. “When the lightning flashed, I saw two ships sailing just outside the perimeter of the maelstrom.”
“Yes,” Zach spat. “They must be preparing to fly through the storm now. No doubt to engage in combat with the survivors and loot the cargo before it can be claimed by the ocean. I must go over there and do battle and try to rescue whoever I can.”
“Let me go and help,” Tommy was surprised to find himself speaking before he could register the words coming from his mouth. “I can help you, you can’t go over there all alone and fight off an army of pirates.”
“Nor are you strong enough to come and help me. You couldn’t even fight one pirate,” Zach told him. “Your death will not be on my hands, so stay here.”
“I won’t fight,” Tommy said. “I’ll stay out of the way, just let me help rescue sailors. That will leave you to focus solely on repelling the pirates.”
Zach had been about to leave, he had already mounted the back of one of the Corviknights, but he paused to consider. He ultimately shook his head though. “It is still too dangerous, I would not risk the safety of the lives of you three over the lives of any number of sailors.”
“Zach,” Ashley spoke, and Tommy saw every muscle in Zach’s back and arms clench. “We are going, those men need our help and you cannot stop us. Now call out the other birds so we can fly over with you.”
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“Please,” Zach begged. He was hunched down, speaking with his back turned, and it was hard to hear what he was saying over the rain. “You cannot do this to me; you cannot ask this of me.”
“I did not ask,” was all Ashley said in response.
To Tommy’s and Nessa’s utter amazement Zach pulled out three Pokéballs and summoned the remaining Corviknight and the two Pidgeot. Tommy got on the Corviknight while the two girls mounted Pidgeots before Zach could change his mind.
“Will the rest of the students be okay with you gone?” Tommy asked. For a moment it looked like Zach had a look on his face as if to say ‘Who cares about the rest of the students?’ But that look quickly disappeared.
“Far more safe than you or your companions will soon be, Mr. Hartford,” Zach told him matter-of-factly. “Now listen here. Under no circumstance will the three of you ever fly in front of me. I will approach the ship first while you three circle overhead. Once it is clear to land I will give you the signal and only then may you approach the ship. Is that understood?”
The three of them nodded their heads, not daring to speak out against him.
“If I should fall,” Zach said. “Leave me, and return to the cave.”
Corviknight spread its great metal wings and took to the skies. Before Tommy could say anything to the two girls, his Corviknight and the two Pidgeots took off to catch up with Zach.
Tommy wished his first experience flying could have been an enjoyable one but it was an overwhelmingly miserable experience. They flew fast, the wind chilling his fingers and the rain soaking him to the bone. Every second spent on Corviknight saw more of the warmth leaving his body, but he steeled himself as they flew through the storm. Lighting cracked across the sky and he prayed he didn’t get struck as he was riding a giant metal lightning conductor.
By the time Tommy, Nessa, and Ashley reached the ship, Zach had already landed on the deck and was conversing with the captain. Bodies of sailors and pirates alike lay strewn haphazardly across the deck, as it looked like the sailors had successfully repelled the first wave of pirates; it had come at a high price though. Tommy had seen plenty of dead animals and a few dead Pokémon on the ranch, he had even killed some animals himself, but never had he seen a dead person before; he looked away fearing that he would be sick if he stared at the deck any longer. Zach waved them over and the three of them touched down next to him.
“The next wave of pirates will be coming soon. Any ideas on how to get these men to safety?” Zach asked. He gestured to the ten sailors and the captain.
“Yeah I had an idea on the way over,” Nessa said. “Do you still have any intact life rafts?”
“Aye, lass,” the captain told Nessa. “But we’ll be dragged to the depths if we try to lower ‘em o’er the side. Don't you know, lassie?”
“We’ll load you in a boat and then fly the boats to the edge of the maelstrom with our birds?” Nessa said, not appreciating being talked to like she was an idiot.
At that moment there was a rousing battle cry from across the water and Tommy saw more pirates take off from their two boats, flying atop all sorts of Pokémon. Zach procured a sword from the body of a dead pirate and then leapt back atop his Corviknight, preparing himself to fly from the deck of the cargo ship.
“You three are to only evacuate the sailors and escort them back to the island, nothing more,” Zach said, taking to the skies as soon as he finished.
“Go, get your boats!” Nessa yelled as the sailors watched Zach fly off to engage the pirates.
“You heard the lass! Heave to!” The captain yelled at his inept men.
They scrambled to the front of the sinking cargo ship and returned a few minutes later hauling 2 inflatable life rafts.
“5 in each, ye’ blockheads!” the captain shouted, as the men stood around having no clue what to do next.
The first boat was loaded and each end was grabbed by the two Pidgeots. They were just about to lift off when three pirates landed on the deck.
“Get them to the water! I’ll help out here!” Tommy shouted at Nessa and Ashley.
“But Tommy…” Ashley started to say.
“Go!” Tommy yelled and the two girls took off on Pidgeot, carrying the sailors across the maw of the whirlpool below, each of them bowing their heads and praying they wouldn’t be dropped to their death.
With the girls gone Tommy turned to help the five remaining sailors and the captain try to repel the three pirates. Two of the pirates had flown over on Fearow, which deposited them and promptly flew away, while the third was riding on a Noivern. The feral dragon and its pirate had already gone to work, hacking two sailors and their ragtag team of Rattata, Machop, and Psyduck into pieces with sword and talon. The three remaining sailors had gotten one of the three pirates in the meantime.
“Oh, fuck,” Tommy swore as one of the two remaining pirates impaled the ship captain on the end of his cutlass. Noivern circled around, ruthlessly cutting the few remaining Pokémon who were helping the sailors into ribbons. Tommy felt himself about to be sick at the sight of spurting blood and flying entrails so he jumped down from Corviknight and emptied the contents of his stomach onto the rain soaked deck.
He took a moment to steady himself and prepared to engage the Noivern with Corviknight, leaving the sailors to hopefully take care of the two remaining pirates. He had no clue what moves Corviknight knew and was about to look it up when he remembered his PokéNav had stopped working when he fell down the chasm. He swore under his breath, took a deep breath and collected himself.
“It’s Steel and Flying,” Tommy muttered, trying his best to not look at the gruesome scene splayed before his eyes. He looked up at the great metal bird who was sitting perfectly still, watching Noivern with its hate-filled red eyes. “Iron Defense?”
Corviknight puffed out his chest and expanded his feathers, they spread wide making him bulkier but shoring up all the gaps in his armor, turning him into a walking steel fortress. Noivern hissed and whipped its head around to stare at Corviknight. Its eyes were bloodshot and it looked blood crazed as it charged forward with reckless abandon.
“Steel Wing?” said Tommy, guessing correctly for a second time. The bladed feathers on Corviknights wings extended and he flew at Noivern, the two colliding in mid air. Tommy cheered as Noivern was cut deeply across its chest and shoulder, its right arm now hanging by nothing more than a thin piece of flesh. Corviknight took no damage thanks to his strengthened defense and was readying to attack again. Noivern hissed at the Steel bird, but turned its bloodshot gaze towards Tommy who was now the closest living thing in its vicinity. Noivern’s throat glowed purple as the lungs in his chest expanded like the bellows of a great forge.
“Oh, fuck,” Tommy swore again. He dove to the side and rolled foolishly just as a purple beam of molten flame exploded from Noivern’s mouth. The location Tommy had just occupied ceased to exist and the ship groaned and gave a loud crash as it finally tore in two. Now that the ship was free, both pieces of the ship began to spin around the edges of the maelstrom, getting pulled closer towards the center with every revolution.
Corviknight had engaged with Noivern again and the two were grappling furiously, but Tommy’s attention was diverted by something else. Although one of the pirates had been cut down, the final pirate just finished off the last remaining sailor. He turned his attention towards Tommy, grinned ferally, and began stalking his way over, blood dripping from the end of his sword.
“I’ll kill ye’ boy,” the pirate snarled, a ferocious glint in his eye. With no sword of his own, and no skill to use one in the first place, Tommy did the only sensible thing he could do. He ran.
The empty deck offered little protection from the pirate and his sword so Tommy opened a door and headed downstairs into the bowels of the ship, the pirate yelling behind him. Tommy knew nothing of the layout of this cargo ship so he simply just tore every door he came by open, running through long hallways, upstairs, downstairs, wherever he could go. After a few minutes of running he couldn’t hear the pirate anymore so he slowed to a walk, pushing open the next door and entering what must have been the cargo hold.
The room was massive and there stacks upon stacks of wooden crates. There were containers, boxes, and barrels of all shapes chained to the floor so they wouldn’t slide as the ship was tossed around by the ocean. The room was so massive that it must have spanned the length of the ship, which was unfortunate because as the ship was now torn in two pieces, the end of this room now opened to the sea below. The ship was getting closer to the maelstrom’s center now and Tommy saw Sharpedo circling in the water below as he edged his way over to peer into the water.
“Finally found ye’, rat!” The pirate spat as he entered the cargo hold. “After I kill ye’, I’ll plunder what I can from ‘ere. It should’ve all been ours but ye’ robbed us of it!”
With the pirate bearing down on him from the front and the sea behind him Tommy was trapped. He dashed over to the side and picked up a wooden plank, the only thing he had available to defend himself with. The boat was almost to the center of the whirlpool now, and it was starting to rotate so fast that some of the cargo was becoming unchained.
Tommy unclipped the Pokéball from his belt and called out Solosis in between himself and the pirate.
“Turn back!” Tommy begged the man. He didn’t want to use his Pokémon to attack someone but he would defend himself if it came down to it. The pirate snarled and charged forward recklessly, cutlass raised high as he dashed at Solosis.
“Do something to protect us, Solosis!” Tommy implored his Pokémon.
The pirate swung his cutlass down but it clanged harmlessly off of the Protect that Solosis used. The pirate seethed in fury, unleashing a kick before Solosis could protect himself again. Solosis was hurtled across the room where he slammed painfully into the wall.
Tommy watched in horror as one of the giant metal containers right beside the pirate became unchained from the ground before the man could do anything else. The pirate was only quick enough to get partly out of the way. He attempted to leap to the side but lost his footing as the ship jostled, and only his upper body cleared the impact zone. The metal container slid with the ship, slamming into a second container and severing the man cleanly in two. Everything from his waist down was pulped between the metal containers and Tommy plugged his ears at the unforgettable death cry; he knew it would plague his dreams for weeks to come. The pirate’s upper body slid into the water below, his leaking entrails leaving a trail of blood, as the ship began to tilt skyward.
More and more crates were being flung around the room as they became unchained and Tommy ducked behind one of the few crates that was bolted to the floor, recalling Solosis to its Pokéball so he didn’t get further hurt in the madness. He was certain that this was to be his end; he could see no way out since there was no way he could get back to the deck of the ship now.
“Tommy!” He heard Ashley and Nessa scream. He looked down and saw them flying just above the water’s surface out of the reach of the multiple leaping Sharpedo; they were carrying the second inflatable life raft between the two of them, trying to dodge the miscellaneous boxes that were being flung in their direction. Tommy took a big breath and prepared himself to drop when he saw that the box he was holding onto had been damaged by the Noivern’s Dragonbreath. He peered inside just as he was about to let go and his eyes widened in surprise. He grabbed what he could, wrapping them in his shirt and let go of the box, sliding down the now almost vertical ship to the life raft below.
He landed in a heap, protecting the treasure of a lifetime that he had just found and the girls took off, barely escaping from under the boat as it went completely vertical and then started to sink into the whirlpool. Tommy laughed as loud as he could, disbelieving that he had escaped death by only a few seconds. He saw Corviknight flanking them, small dents in his armor but flying proud and strong through the storm. He hoped the sailors had reached the cave because the first life raft was nowhere to be seen; he wondered if they had managed to save at least a few souls. The Pidgeot deposited Tommy and the raft right at the cave entrance at Zach’s feet; the girls dismounted and Zach recalled all four of the birds.
“Did the sailors make it?” Tommy asked.
“You saved five men from certain death,” Zach told them, smiling. “You should be proud of what you did tonight. You’ve all proven to be exceptional, not just tonight but the entire weekend and I don’t doubt each of you will make it to Mount Silver. Don’t let me down.”
“Are you hiding something in your shirt Tommy?” Nessa asked. She had been eyeing him since they touched down on the ground.
“Yeah it looked like you swiped something before you let go,” Ashley frowned. “We almost didn’t make it out.”
“It was worth it,” He said, grinning like a mad man. “I only wish I could have gotten more.”
He tipped the contents of his shirt into the raft and Nessa, Ashley, and Zach were left speechless at the sight of three pristine Pokémon Eggs.