The atmosphere in the chamber soured as everyone fell into a defensive stance. George’s feet were one hair removed from slipping off the stairs. He would’ve fallen if not for quick reflexes.
“The Crest?”
A bone-chilling roar came from the temple’s entrance. All at once, everyone’s head turned towards the threat. Everyone could guess what it was. Instinctively, you had to know, else you were all but dead.
And if the roar wasn’t enough to set off alarms, the scream following it put any doubts to rest.
“It’s an attack!” Venusa shouted, her leaves wilting as she backed behind the others. Porov stepped onto the spot she’d been standing in, nudging Minos out of the way.
“How?! I swear on me life, we had this place locked down!”
“Will you not shove me?” Minos growled, ears backwards. “Just… stay calm here. There’s got to be another way out.”
Skal nodded. “That there is. But not in this exhibit. In one of the side ones. We should be able to-”
A second, far more terrified scream came from the hall just ahead, followed by the clatter of metal hitting the ground. George, Blitzer, Skal, Venusa, Minos and Porov all looked one another in the eye. Then Skal punched himself on the chest like a primate, sharpened his eyes, then growled at the others, his armoured body shining in candlelight.
“Quick. We gotta move fast.”
No time for objections, that much was clear. Everyone followed Skal out of the Flute’s exhibit, back towards the centre. Other guards of the Hall ran with them, some wielding spears, others ready to use their claws and elements to repel the attacker.
But their run would be short lived. It was at the intersection of the three exhibits that they came face to face with the foe. It was precisely who George thought it was. And who no one, George least of all, wanted to see here.
One vicious Garchomp with a green and dirtied scarf, flanked on her sides by a limping Magmar and a Toucannon, several Soldiers and guards of the Hall at her back. By her feet lay a guard, whose legs were twitching, and whose ragged breaths pierced the bitter silence.
George stared ahead into his would-be assassin's eyes, who stared back at him, and him alone. The Garchomp’s eyes gleamed with a tinge of anger, masked by a longing. Like she was eyeing a trophy. Something to hang on your wall.
‘Why you… and why now…’ George gritted his teeth. Gareda tilted her head back at his reaction; something shifted in her eyes. It was subtle, but there was just a little less confidence in the way she composed herself.
“Listen. Don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.”
“Why don’t ye take yer own advice,” Skal growled, his tail whipping the ground as he got his claws ready. “More than ready to drag ye all down with me.” He bared a vicious smile. ”Too bad for ye that I won’t need to!”
The Magmar stepped up beside Gareda. “Don’t you DARE! You ruined enough al- ngh!” She winced as if an arrow passed through her abdomen.
Without averting her eyes, Gareda nudged Luffy back. “Easy now… We can solve this diplomatically. Without any further violence. I know fulwell that’s what most of you love. But this isn’t a fight you will win. Not in a million years.”
“Wouldn’t bet on it, if I were ye…” Porov chuckled.
“Ain’t going down so easily, foreigner…” Lon growled.
“Y-yer underestimatin’ us all…” Venusa said with rustling leaves. She was looking at Vli the whole time, who in turn was eyeing Blitzer with a curious, somewhat annoyed posture.
Blitzer, meanwhile, couldn’t keep his tail from flaring red hot with the desire to fire the first shot. “You’re NOT laying a finger on George! I’ll roast you all into pot roast!” he shouted. Half the Soldiers steadied themselves like they were facing a thirteen foot tall Charizard, while Luffy just chuckled. Blitzer gritted his teeth; Gareda shook her head.
“Please. With what you fools are up to, nothing I can tell or do to him is even in the same world…” the Garchomp’s attention fell back onto George. “I know. You probably hate me. Think I am nothing but a murderous, bloodthirsty fiend, out for your head no matter what. This is a lie. It is pure fiction-”
‘Lies, LIES!’ George put his foot down, hands holding steadily onto the flute piece. “Do you think I’m stupid?! Stealing, killing, hunting me down ever since I came here… you want me dead, I know it when I see it!” he shouted. “I’ll never join a beast like you! That’s right! BEAST! You’re an animal! And I’ll put you down like the rabid animal you are!”
George panted after he was done. Surprisingly, the Garchomp’s posture weakened. The words had cut deep into her. George felt water stirring in the back of his throat. All he had done was hold a mirror up to Gareda’s head. Who wouldn’t recoil knowing just how ugly they really were.
“Grr, I knew they got their claws deep into you, but I didn’t know it was this bad,” Gareda growled, raising her talons into a fighting stance. “You and I-”
Skal suddenly thumped his tail on the ground hard, sending a mild shockwave that caught Gareda and her cohort off guard. Not enough to knock any of them off their feet, however. “Enough of this crap.”
At that moment, Skal raised his feet, and Vli threw his beak open at the same time. Skal stomped the ground, then dove into Minos and Blitzer. A projectile splattered the empty space the Aggron left behind, shrapnel hitting Porov and Venusa. Gareda, Luffy and the Soldiers on their side were all on the defensive as the quake fizzled out. Right as it did, the guardians with the Alliance went on the offensive.
“QUICK!”
“Get his legs!” Gareda roared.
A brawl broke out between the Soldiers and Guardians as the Alliance fled into the leftmost exhibition, Porov carrying Venusa over his shoulder. She had been knocked to the ground by the shrapnel, nectary breath spilling over the floor. The Lilligant tossed several Leech Seeds into the fray on their way out, sapping some of her lost strength back.
But the chaos wouldn’t be left behind, not that easily. Vli and Luffy shot a projectile and a stream of fire into the exhibit respectively, each aiming for Skal’s legs. Both missed their targets by a hair. One guardian ran into the exhibit, searching for fires or damage. They were thrown out the way. One lash of a talon, and Gareda had free reign.
“You’re not leaving!”
The exhibit was in tatters. George, unsure of whether they had just trapped themselves, threw himself back to face Gareda, much to Blitzer’s horror. “GEORGE!” the Charmeleon shouted.
But George had other plans. A beam of ice left his mouth and charged through the air towards Gareda, ready to turn her blood solid. Gareda dove out the way and rolled onto her side, coming to a stop against a wall. The force of the impact knocked a painting loose. No time to consider the impact. George ran.
Porov, Blitzer and Venusa formed a rear guard. It wasn’t long before the combatants were trading attacks, Blitzer and Luffy getting locked into a flamethrower tug o’ war, Venusa laying traps behind, while Porov swiftly defended himself from Gareda. The Garchomp’s lashes were rapid and frantic, with enough force to crush a truck put behind them.
“WEDGE!” Gareda shouted. Minos and George jumped in to assist Porov, the former with flowery tricks, and George primarily with water. But the three of them succeeded only at slowing her down. Minos’ attacks were cut into pieces, as was George’s water blocked and his ice dodged, and Porov’s punches and fire were blocked. It was as if the dragon’s scales were made out of steel, every last one a shield forged by the finest blacksmith in the world.
They ended up on the backfoot, all five of them. Gareda raised her talon and brought it down upon Porov. A slash appeared on his face, and he was thrown into an exhibit of glass.
“Nggh!”
“POROV!!” Blitzer shouted, rushing over to help him. Gareda jumped in his way and kicked him in the belly, knocking him ten paces backwards into a different exhibit. Minos was next in her way.
‘You… monster!’ George gritted his teeth. Instincts and anger took over, and his eyes assumed a blue glow. He didn’t realise what was happening anymore. Only that there were vines and cannon-like projectiles flying back and forth across the exhibit. He took hold of both using a single hand, and flung them at Gareda’s back. A growl sounded throughout the exhibit, and that got adrenaline pumping through his system unlike anything else. The blue glow ever so fierce, he found ancient spears hanging on the wall. Sharp, sharp spears. He grabbed them from afar, hands balled into fists, then once again aimed for Gareda’s back.
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“BleaaGH!”
Gareda turned around and struck the spears down with blazing speed. Nary a scratch on her and her scarf, nor any of her cohorts. But she had turned her back. Minos and Venusa used the opportunity and struck her right in the back, throwing her against the floor much like she’d done to Blitzer and Porov. The air rushed out of, then back into her lungs, as Vli went on a shooting spree and Luffy covered Gareda, her voice rising with anger.
Porov and Blitzer were getting up and back into the fray. George and Venusa were covering the range, while Minos waited for Gareda to come back. George glanced over his shoulder, annoyed and worried.
‘Where’s Skal?! Where’s that giant idiot when you need him?!’
“OI! It’s here, c’mere, quick!” a growly voice then shouted through the exhibit, just as some Soldiers came rushing into the room.
“You heard ‘im!” Porov said. “Out, out, out!”
“Not on our watch!” Gareda growled back, ordering everyone on the offensive.
The fight retreated deeper into the exhibit, Soldiers and Guardians both joining in on the side of the Crest. Those that had joined the Alliance must have been brought down. George bit his lip as he ran for where Skal was. He and Lon had found a switch, which opened a secret passageway. The way out. It had all happened so quickly. Blink and you miss it. They were either dead, or captured, soon to join their brothers and sisters in arms. All for the plan. All for him. He squeezed his eyes shut.
‘I won’t let the world down… You won’t regret this, I swear.’
But as fate would have it, in between the numerous delaying actions and damage they were inflicting on the exhibit and its treasures, the battle was far from over. Gareda’s mouth was suddenly ablaze in a blue, greenish fire, which she unleashed right down a narrow strip of the exhibit. Porov was stuck on the wrong side, and the Soldiers rushed right in to widen the strip. He was hounded, pried at with weapons, pelted with Pokemon attacks. Minos and Venusa dove into the passage. Blitzer and George, on the other hand, refused.
“P-Porov?!” Blitzer called out. “Porov!! Fast!!”
“It’s too late kid,” Skal said. “Leave.”
“We can’t leave him like this!!” Blitzer shouted. “We have to go back-”
Surrounded though he was, Porov didn’t let that beat him. He shot a smile over the crowd. “Agh, Don’t worry ‘bout me kid… Taught ye everythin’ ye needed to know. Ye can take it from here…”
“I…” Blitzer’s eyes welled up, as he dove into the passage as well. George shot a regretful glance back, before going in too. Skal was last to leave, and their final words to each other were something George could hear despite how fast he was sliding down the passage.
“‘Till we meet again, brother.”
“See ya around…”
Skal dove into the passage and closed it behind him, leaving Porov alone against overwhelming odds. He had but a defiant smile to offer.
“Heh… ‘tis too late already… Ye can’t stop what’s been waitin’ for thousands of years!”
* * *
Sliding down the dusty passage and shedding whatever tears they could for Porov, George and the others kept going. Porov wanted it that way, after all. No tears, no regrets, just a continued concentration on the ultimate goal. The time to mourn came later.
They slid their way down the passage, Skal bashing the walls to scare off any followers. George didn’t know where he was going, only that gravity had a bigger say in it than he did, and that the flickers of Blitzer’s flames in the distance came far too close for comfort. All he could busy himself with was keeping a firm grip on the flute piece. His heart beat rapidly as adrenaline surged through. A grunt echoed in the distance.
‘What is that?’
Suddenly, the ground under George’s body vanished. Fresh air rushed around him as he was headed straight for a body of water. A splash sounded, and the wonderful essence of water permeated around his lower body. He recoiled a little, got up, then quickly jumped out the way. Moments later, an even larger splash hit the water behind. Skal had landed. Everyone seemed to be accounted for. Skal wasn’t happy.
“Don’t stand there. Let’s get goin’ already!”
Nearby the landing zone was a staircase. They climbed as fast as they could, Minos helping Venusa up.
“Turn me around!” the Lilligant said to the Meowscarada carrying her as they reached the top of the staircase. Minos couldn’t believe her ears; they flicked right back.
“Are you out of your mind?! They’ll kill you!”
“I meant on yer shoulders! Then I can hit ‘em back! Right where it’ll hurt ‘em,” Venusa groaned.
Lon cracked his knuckles on the way out. “Better aim right, missy. Else ye’d have wasted all of our time!”
“I’m yer senior, kitten!” Venusa spat out. Lon let out a soft hiss.
George looked at her as they ran, blinking several times. She must’ve been waiting to jump into the fray herself for a long time, even with her advanced age.
‘Old habits die hard, as they say. It’s admirable, though.’
The covering fire ended up being far more practical, it turned out. They had climbed out of the moat, and there was nothing standing between them and the hills in the distance. Not even a shrub. Everything had been trimmed down into the dirt, and George found the misfortune far too exact to attribute it to mere luck. Someone had to have known.
Nevertheless, no choice now. They rushed across the open plains, Minos, Venusa and Lon in the back. It didn’t take long before Soldiers and Guardians poured out of the main entrance of the Hall, their sights set on the treasure that had been taken.
Skal slowed down, and George bit his lip. He didn’t understand, least of all Skal dragging his feet along in the dirt. The scraping of metal along the rough ground sounded like nails on a chalkboard, except far rougher. No high pitched squeal, just a heavy grinding noise.
But the purpose of this action revealed itself alongside the massive cloud of dust it was kicking up. A smokescreen. It wasn’t just coming from Skal’s exact spot, either. The entire earth nearby seemed to be crying out in pain, releasing a dusty mixture into the air that clouded the party as they fled.
Without being told anything, Venusa had a trick of her own up her sleeve. She raised her leafy hands, and vegetation sprang out of the earth. It masked up the many footprints in between the Hall and the hills, further masking where they were headed. As they reached the hill, the smoke had gotten to the point where the Hall was just a sliver in the distance. Even a hawk-eyed flying type would struggle to spot them.
And it was with this cover that they managed to make their escape. With the flute piece in hand, George and the others spent the next five hours making their way across the rolling hills to another Alliance sanctuary, hidden away in a cave. A teleporter was here, and aside from Minos not having access by herself and needing Venusa’s help, the five of them made it out. One long and chaotic teleportation later, they were back in the teleporter room, inside the Drasal base. They were in sanctuary. They were safe… under the watchful eyes of Len, that is.
“Blimey. Almost got caught there, didn’t we?” the Lurantis said. Skal spat beside him; his spit looked like wet dirt.
“Pfft. Whaddye think this looks like, eh?”
Len folded his scythes over each other. “Got too reckless, I get it. Anyway, time to disable that teleporter and destroy it. You know how it is, can’t risk it.”
Blitzer, Venusa and Minos crashed down on the floor after getting off the pedestal, Len shuffling past them to deactivate the teleporter. Skal followed by sitting down. George took one good look at the flute in his hands, before sighing in relief, and sitting down as well.
“Thank god… thought we’d never make it out of there for a second.”
“Yeh… thank him,” Skal grumbled,fluffing up the black scarf wrapped around his neck. “Ain’t gonna lie… I regret not gettin’ Porov outta there. Shame it turned out to be that way, though…”
Blitzer sniffed the moment he heard Porov’s name. “He… did it for us, didn’t he?” he asked, tail flickering uncomfortably. “He didn’t just-”
“Don’ ever convince yerself it’s yer bad…” Skal said, glaring at him. “Yer just a follower, remember. We came up with this plan t’gether. Ain’t no one to blame but us for it goin’ wrong… but we did it. We got what we came for. What Porov wanted to die for.” He pointed at the flute piece in George’s hand with a single digit. Blitzer opened his mouth while looking at it, a tear sliding out of his eye.
“I… I won’t let him live this down…”
George’s emotions were poking at his eyes as well. ‘Porov… we may not always have gotten along, may have been difficult, but… I, I won’t forget this. Ever.’
Venusa rustled her leaves, patting down the flower on her head. “Well… I gotta get back to Rustborough… outskirts, rather. We got a lot to take care of.”
“I need to get back home…” Minos said, longingly looking at all the teleporters around me. “I know, I got myself involved in this mess now, but my place isn’t here. It’s with my old man. I can’t just leave him hanging to go on some crazy adventure.”
“It’s not crazy,” Venusa retorted, her leaves wilting a little. “But fair is fair, ain’t it?”
“Sure is,” Skal said, tail curling around his side. “Did what we asked ye for. Ain’t nothin’ more to it than that, promise is promise. I’ll be makin’ sure ye’ll be alright. And yer old man, too.”
Venusa shook her head. “Let me take care of it, alright? Worry about the flute. About the Prince,” she said while glancing sideways at Minos.
Skal chuckled. “Yeh… ain’t that right?” He said as he got up.
Minos tilted her head at both of them. “The Prince?”
“Ah, ‘s just who the boss is, no worry ‘bout it. Ye’ll see eventually when we get the Crest out, hah! Anyway, ‘s time to get goin’, wouldn’t ya say?” the Aggron winked at Minos, who nervously stroked her whiskers in response.
“Right, right…”
Lon pulled on his whiskers. “Oi. Two of ye... got any more room where yer goin’? Wasn’t plannin’ on exile meself.”
“Sure is,” Minos and Venusa both said at the same time.
Skal chuckled, oblivious to how Minos felt discovering any of this for the first time. “Righto! Well, Blitzer? George? Me boys, think it’s time ye got back to yer rooms. Been a long time away, and I gotta prepare some stuff before ye get to hear things from the big boss himself.” Though he was still laughing, one shake of his head betrayed how he truly felt. “Poor Porov.”
“I understand,” George said with a determined nod, his tail slapping the wind behind. Without saying a word, Blitzer followed along. Silence was a statement in and of itself.
* * *
Some time later, George and Blitzer were left in their room, which was as colourful as ever. A lot cleaner than how they left it, as a matter of fact. Neither was in a mood to clean anyways. Or be glad they were back here after so much time had passed, for that matter.
Blitzer fidgeted with the sheets, his eyes glued to the floor. “Can’t believe he’s gone…”
George shook his head. “Another one for our sake. It… doesn’t get any easier.” He swiped a lone tear out of his eye. “It shouldn’t have ended that way.”
Blitzer sniffed. “No. No it shouldn’t have. Even if he said he was prepared to die.”
“Exactly,” George said. There was no point contesting Porov being dead. Gareda’s intent spoke for itself. He clutched onto his own fur, squeezing his eyes shut as his fingers pressed into his skin. “You know… there’s a lot I regret, to be honest. Just in these few months.”
Blitzer’s eyes shifted away from the ground for a second. “Such as?”
George’s hands shifted onto his knees, right through the ocean blue fur around his thighs. “Not getting to say goodbye. To a lot of people, that is.” He paused to breathe. “Never got to apologise to Porov for that whole mess in Mountainshade. Didn’t get to say goodbye to your parents before it was too late, either. Or Lance. Or anyone else in Greenfield. Barely knew most of them, but… they were good people.”
“Yes. They were,” Blitzer whispered, his head buried under his arms. “I’ll… I’ll never forgive myself for it, too. Even if I came back to Greenfield I…” A soft whine came out of his throat. George curled up on his bedsheets, covering his own eyes. Looking Blitzer in the eyes made everything worse.
”It wouldn’t be the same, no.”
“Yes!” Blitzer said twice, the second far weaker, almost apologetic in tone. George sighed.
“To be honest… it’s how I feel about home. My real home, horrible as it was. No parents, everyone else kicking me around left and right, headmistress included… even after everything, I at least owed them a proper goodbye.”
“Why though,” Blitzer asked. “They hated you, didn’t they? And you said the feeling’s mutual.”
George nodded. “Believe me, I’d say goodbye, then spray them full of water if I showed up like this. But… I feel the need to say goodbye. Especially to teachers I had that supported me. To leave out of nowhere, it’s… not right.”
Blitzer’s head fell down on the pillow; he looked injured from afar.
“The way you say that, you make it sound like you still don’t feel at home here.”
To this, George’s eyes narrowed. ‘Well yeah, at least no one wanted to kill me back home.’ “In a way, I don’t. Some days I do. Most of the time though, my mind’s a warzone. Half human, half Pokemon, no side strong enough to really take control. And that’s something that just stays with you regardless of what, especially when you remember all the things you’re missing on the other side. I’m pretty sure my fourteenth birthday’s come and gone, yet I barely realised. Or that I’d be on a trip to a foreign city. Maybe one of my teachers was going to adopt me, take me out of that horrible foster home. She certainly looked at me like I was her son, but…”
He shook his head. “I wonder how everyone’s doing, now that I’m not around…”
Blitzer looked up from his tear stained sheets. “You… you don’t hate being here, do you?”
George shook his head. “No. It’s… confusing, sometimes sad, sometimes terrible, but… well, I’ve noticed that Pokemon have each other’s backs. Even when times are at their darkest, they continue onwards, not looking back. Just looking ahead towards the future, not leaving anyone behind. And… that’s something I cherish. I really do. After so many years of not being around people who don’t value each other, it’s what I always wanted.”
A small smile formed on Blitzer’s face. “You… you won’t just leave me, would you? If you could go back.”
George nodded, then got up off the bed, walking towards Blitzer’s side of the room.
“Not in a million years. Come here, you.”
Blitzer’s tail flared as he jumped off the bed as well, and the two embraced each other in a long hug.