TEEN: Unpredictable

[AetherX]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Hi guys! I realize it's been a really long time and I'm really sorry about that. I really can't complain about no one reading my fic anymore, can I? I'm blown away by the responses to the last chapter, so I'll go ahead and reply to those before making a bit of an announcement.

@some colour no doubt; All caps responses are the best. I hope you reappear again to read the rest!
@Flaze; Wow, that's a lot of high praise! I'm glad that you think so highly of this fic and I hope the next few chapters will stay up to that par of quality.
@Kyuuketsuki; Thanks for reading and reviewing. It was hard to provoke more interest in Criss's past without giving away key details, but I tried my best. Looking back, I don't think I did very well in establishing any characters at all, which has unfortunately hurt the entirety of the fic. Those first few chapters were some of the first serious fiction I ever wrote of my own volition, so they're a bit lackluster. Thanks for the corrections, I should really go back and fix some of that stuff.
@Gotpika; I'm glad you like Criss, I've put more and more effort into her over the course of the fic. I honestly thought she was a bit cliche when I first created her, but as I've written her more I've kind of discovered just how deep she is. Expect more of that in the future. Thanks for the comment on my description, I've noticed that too and I've been working really hard to improve. Hopefully the next few chapters are better.
@kintsugi; Glad to see I'm still attracting new readers! I love The Avengers, but no I did not copy it I was kind of going for the cheesy action movie badass one-liner thing, so I'm glad that was caught. I hope you keep reading!

OKAY. So... No new chapter yet. I've started it, but I honestly have no idea how long it's going to be. Hopefully I'll have it done in the next few weeks *knock on wood* but for now, if you want something to read, I haven't been entirely lazy over the past several months. I've been writing a long one-shot about Harry and the resistance. That can be found here: UNSUNG HEROES. Hopefully that tides you over until I can get Chapter 40 up.

 

[AetherX]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Hey everyone! Thanks for waiting so patiently (those of you still with me). The fic isn't dead and won't be for the foreseeable future. I've been busy as hell for the last several months, so this chapter has been very slow in the making. I did do Unsung Heroes, though. It's a spin-off one shot about Harry that you all should really read if you haven't.

I apologize for any decline in quality. I didn't spend long proofreading, as I wanted to get this out as soon as possible. Also in the spirit of getting this out as quickly as possible, I decided to split this final battle chapter into two bits. So this isn't exactly the "finale-ish" as promised before, but that doesn't mean it's short. Far from it! I'll try really hard to get the next one out in a few weeks. NOT NINE MONTHS I PROMISE.

It's been a while, so here's a quick summary of recent events to get you all caught up:

Spoiler

Keith, Criss and Tim entered Saffron City with Neil and Anna from the tournament. After some fighting, they made it to the Pokemon Center, which was immediately attacked by Team Rocket. Neil and Anna stayed behind to fight them off while Keith, Criss, and Tim continued onward. They fought their way to Silph Tower, coming across Koga, who showed them a secret entrance through the sewers. They freed a group of prisoners, which Koga helped to escape. The trio fought their way up the tower, but became separated by a malfunctioning teleportation machine that scattered them and their Pokemon. Keith and Criss managed to meet back up, but were ambushed by Team Rocket. Then, out of nowhere, it was Rainer to the rescue! When we left our heroes, Criss had been injured by a Nidoqueen, Tim and Psyke were lost somewhere in Silph Tower, Skyguard Captain Reese Walker was on the warpath, and Keith was reunited with his starter Pokemon.

Meanwhile, Keith's brother Spencer entered Saffron City with Celadon City's police force as part of his assignment for Silph Co. They fought their way towards Silph Tower, along the way encountering a group of vigilantes led by a man named Harry. When we last left them, they were recuperating from their last fight and preparing to make the final push towards Silph Tower.

Enjoy~

This time: The fight for Saffron reaches a fever pitch, and Keith and co. discover some hints as to what Team Rocket has been up to.

Chapter 40

Spencer stared in awe at the Pokémon in front of him. He had never seen anything quite like it. Clearly a flying-type, it stretched out its majestic feathered wings and gave a shrieking battle cry to no one in particular.

“Beautiful, isn’t he?” Harry smirked at the expression on Spencer’s face.

Spencer let out a low whistle in agreement. “What’s the species?”

“Braviary,” Harry replied matter-of-factly. “Unova native. Not surprised you ain’t seen one before.”

“So long as it can fight.” Blackston walked up to the two with a grumble.

Spencer jumped to his feet. “We heading out?”

The police chief nodded. “Scouting party just got back. Supposedly there’s a phalanx of Rockets guarding the place, but with the boys from Cerulean here we shouldn’t have a problem. They said the gyms were abandoned though, and that doesn’t bode well.”

The police force from Cerulean had marched into the plaza not long before. They were still a little shaken from the ambush at the gates, but had a good number of hardy officers.

Blackston left to go round up his troops, but Harry’s two friends from earlier joined them.

“So how long have you three been doing this?” Spencer asked.

“About a month, I think,” Harry replied.

“At least, that’s how long it’s been since the train station,” the woman, Elizabeth, added. “These two were stepping on the Rocket’s toes even before that.”

“Were there many others that fought back?” Spencer asked.

“Not really,” said the man, Zach. “Except for one or two occasions, people were just too scared.

“So where did people hide?”

“The Pokémon Center, mostly, if their home was destroyed,” Harry replied. “For some reason, Team Rocket left the Center alone.”

“I wonder why that is…” Spencer said.

“It’s hard to say, but it’s not like they were trying to kill everyone. I think they wanted to maintain some sort of order,” Elizabeth said.

“Then what were they here for?” Spencer asked. “Do any of you know?”

“Something at Silph, according to the rumors,” Zach said.

“Not just something,” Elizabeth added, “but all of Silph’s facilities and workers.”

Harry nodded. “I heard a lot of stories of scientists’ families getting kidnapped and held hostage.”

“That’s awful,” Spencer said.

“That’s been our life for the past six months, partner,” Harry said sadly. His Braviary let out a soft coo of agreement.

“Alright!” Blackston shouted from the middle of the plaza. “We’re moving out. Keep a spread formation, and one Pokémon out at all times. No more and no less. Move quietly and keep a close eye out. We’re going to the base of Silph Tower, where we’ll hopefully meet up with Vermillion and Lavender’s forces.”

Slowly, the crowd of sixty or seventy police officers began to filter out of the plaza and down the road. Spencer, Harry, Elizabeth, and Zach went along. Blackston jogged to catch up with them.

“I want you all on the front line with me,” the police chief said. “Anders, you’ve got some strong Pokémon, and the rest of you clearly know what you’re doing.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Harry, cracking his knuckles.

“I disagree,” said Elizabeth.

Blackston looked at her incredulously.

“The Rockets know where we’re headed, so they’re sure to set up a trap,” she explained. “Zach and I should be rear guard, and some of your strongest men should watch our flanks. We can’t be caught flat-footed.”

Blackston looked at her for a second before nodding. “Fair enough, I’ll go organize some of my officers.”

Zach, Elizabeth, and Blackston all set off. Harry looked up at Spencer.

“That’s why I keep her around.” He grinned.

“What about her Pokémon? Her Electrode is knocked out,” Spencer said.

“She’s got a Bellsprout too.”

“A Bellsprout?”

“Hey, I’ve seen that thing kick more ass than a full grown Bisharp. Elizabeth and Zach both know what they’re doing.”

Moments later, a call from Blackston spurred the crowd into action. Spencer released his Charizard and took his spot next to Harry as they began to move down the street.

Besides the varied footfalls of the plethora of Pokémon, there was nearly complete silence. A few gray clouds lingered in the sky, one of which covered the sun. Spencer shivered.

As they approached the middle of the city, the buildings became steadily taller, but Silph Tower continued to stand out far above them.

The force moved slowly and carefully, but they noticed nothing until they were within a couple blocks of the tower. Despite the fact that the elegant glass doors were only a short sprint away, no one was guarding them.

“Can you say ‘trap’?” Harry whispered.

Spencer nodded, looking around warily.

A few feet away, Blackston held up his hand, signaling everyone to stop. Next to him, his Arcanine began to growl.

“Look,” Harry whispered to Spencer, pointing at a spot in the middle of the road about ten yards in front of them.

All Spencer saw was what looked like an unassuming pothole, but then a low rumble reverberated through the street. The entire police force took in a collective breath.

The rumble grew a bit louder, and cracks began to form around the pothole. A second later, a trio of brown furry heads burst from the street.

“What the hell?” Blackston squinted at the Dugtrio.

The Pokémon wiggled their pink noses innocently.

Spencer looked at Harry, who was nodding.

“Hmm… well,” Harry said, “it’s not like there’s anywhere to run.”

“What?”

Suddenly, the Dugtrio ducked back beneath the surface. The rumbling from before came back, but louder and more violent than ever. Windows shattered and asphalt split as the earthquake shook the ground.

The vibrations swept Spencer off of his feet. He desperately struggled to get back up, but the road was shifting underneath him. Massive slabs of asphalt twisted and tilted. He was vaguely aware of commotion all around him, but it wasn’t until he managed to get his feet back under him that he got a good look around.

As soon as the Dugtrio had used earthquake, hundreds of Team Rocket troops had burst from the buildings around them. Even from the higher floor windows, hostile Pokémon and their trainers rained death down upon them.

Fortunately, due to Elizabeth’s foresight, they were not caught completely off guard. Officers on the outside of the group were fighting valiantly as their comrades tried to regain their footing. Harry’s Braviary took off with two flaps of its mighty wings and flew straight to the Rockets above, giving a screech of defiance.

Blackston was already shouting orders. “Everyone with flying-types, clear those windows!”

“Go!” Spencer shouted to his Charizard. It took off, breathing deadly flames at an Exeggutor that was throwing seed bombs down into the battle. Spencer was hesitant to give up his only protection, as he was unarmed, but they needed to clear the Rockets’ high-ground advantage as quickly as possible.

A bulk of Team Rocket’s forces had come from inside Silph Tower, and so were still sprinting down the street towards them.

Spencer was about to ignore Blackston’s order to minimize potential damage by having only one Pokémon out at a time, but before he could reach for another one of his Pokémon, a Rocket clambered over a slab of asphalt and came at him.

Spencer took a step backwards, unsure of what to do. Fortunately, he never had to do anything. A green blur sped by and tackled the Rocket. The Rocket’s scream turned to a gurgle as some Pokémon Spencer didn’t know the name of swept a leaf blade across the Rocket’s throat.

Before he could get a closer look at the new Pokémon, its trainer burst through the fight.

“You’re welcome,” the out of breath trainer said.

“Hey!” Spencer said. “You’re the guy from the gates!”

“Call me Nolan,” the trainer replied, hands on his knees and taking in massive gulps of air. He had clearly been running for a while. “This city’s quite the maze.”

“I’m glad you’re here, th-” Spencer started, but Nolan interrupted him.

“I’m going up the tower,” Nolan said flatly. He straightened up and beckoned to his Pokémon, who was eviscerating another Rocket.

“But we ne-“ Spencer’s protestations went unheard as Nolan and his Pokémon took off through the fighting in the direction of Silph Tower.

“Who was that?” Harry asked.

Spencer looked over at him. A glint of metal on Harry’s hands caught his eye. Harry was wearing brass knuckles. Spencer raised his eyebrows before answering, “I’m not entirely sure...”

*****

Any doubt in my mind that this wasn’t my old Wartortle was expelled when Tesla burst forward at the Blastoise, buzzing excitedly, its magnets spinning wildly. This was about as much emotion as the odd Pokémon could possibly display.

I had never seen a real Blastoise before, but ever since deciding on a Squirtle as my starter, I had often dreamt of it. Rainer had grown from the tips of his ears barely coming up to my waste into being a little bit taller than I was, and several times bigger around. His feather-like ears were gone, and his entire head had flattened somewhat. His shell was huge and hulking, with a pair of metallic water cannons coming out above his shoulders.

Unable to contain myself, I rushed over to him and hugged him the best that I could, as my arms couldn’t reach very far around his bulk. It was like a weight had been removed from my heart. With Rainer back, anything was possible. We would have no problem kicking the Rockets out of Saffron. Rainer returned my affection with a hum of content.

A groan from behind me pulled me out of my reverie.

Criss was slowly getting to her feet for the first time since being slammed by the Rocket’s Nidoqueen. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was grabbing her side. I rushed over to her.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I helped her up.

“Not… ow… not really.” She grimaced.

As Criss pulled up her shirt a bit to inspect her further bruised ribcage, I went back to the window to fetch my dropped stun rod.

“We should probably just meet up with Tim and then get the hell out of here,” I said. Despite the victory of finding Rainer, with Criss injured I felt uneasy about continuing.

“No,” Criss said, “we have to keep going.”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

Criss and I spun around and looked at the door.

Reese had found us, and he didn’t look happy.

Flareon, Rainer, Gengar, and Tesla all growled ferociously.

“I deeply regret not killing you both properly the last time we met,” Reese said, stepping over the wreckage left by our fighting as he walked towards us. “It’s really quite unfortunate that Criss got you all wrapped up in this, boy. She has a knack for getting in trouble.”

My heart raced. My anger at this man lit a fire within me, but it was battling with my fear. My face twinged with pain as if to remind me of what he could do.

“Honestly,” he continued. “I’m surprised she convinced you to throw your life away. But then… she learned manipulation from the best.” He smiled.

Criss let out a growl even fiercer than that of any of the Pokémon.

It felt like adrenaline was making my throat tight, but I managed to squeeze out a few words. “She didn’t manipulate me.”

“Is that so?” He stopped a safe distance away from the Pokémon and brushed his long coat back to reveal a pistol in a holster at his belt. There was a collective intake of breath by me, Criss, and the Pokémon as we simultaneously realized that rushing Reese was not an option.

But at the same time… it was the only option. He would get one shot off no matter what, and then at the very least Rainer would blast him with his cannons. Maybe if I could buy time, someone would think of something.

“Yeah,” I choked out. “It’s been my choice to fight Team Rocket ever since the beginning of my journey.”

Reese looked contemplative for a second, then smiled. He reached for his gun. So much for stalling…

“Well then,” Reese said, “that journey ends today.” He pulled out the gun.

Rainer immediately lowered his cannons. Criss rushed forward. But the gun was aiming at me.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Criss screamed “NO!”

There was a loud bang.

I waited for the bullet to hit me, but after a second I realized nothing had happened.

I slowly opened my eyes.

“I would say something about a fat lady, but I am really not in the mood for clever one-liners right now.”

Tim had found us. He was standing just inside the door at the far side of the room next to a golden, mustachioed Alakazam that was pointing a spoon at Reese, who was glaring incredulously at my friend.

The pistol was torn from Reese’s grip and launched across the room in my direction. It smashed through the floor to ceiling windows with a loud crash, sending glass flying in every direction.

Before anyone, even Reese, could react, the Alakazam turned its power towards Reese directly.

Reese gave a cry of alarm as a purple glow shrouded his body and he was lifted into the air. With a flick of his wrist, the Alakazam sent him flying in the same direction as his gun, straight out the window.

I dove out of the way as he flew by, flailing desperately.

Scrambling back to my feet, I peered over the edge. Reese didn’t hesitate in pulling a Poké Ball from his belt. With a flash of light, his Skarmory appeared to catch him with plenty of room to spare. I swore, but apparently Reese decided he had had enough and rather than flying back up to us, glided down to the battle below.

This was the first time I had gotten a really good look at what was going on down in the streets. Flashes of fire and lightning flew this way and that as humans and Pokémon fought side by side. It was impossible to tell who was who this high up, but it was apparent that both Team Rocket and the police had come out in full force.

My thoughts drifted to Neil and Anna. We had left them at the Pokémon Center. Who knows what could have happened. I hoped they were alright. They could very well be down there right now.

“Hey Keith, is this…”

I turned around to look at Tim, he was looking cautiously at Rainer.

“Yeah!” I cried excitedly. “They must have been keeping him here the whole time, and he evolved! Hold on…” I looked at the Alakazam standing next to Tim. “Psyke?”

“Yep!” Tim said. “You should have seen it, the Rockets we fought were already on their heels, but when he evolved, they scattered.”

I grinned at Psyke, who was practically oozing confidence.

“You owe me big, man!” Tim laughed.

“Not so fast,” I replied. “Turn around.”

Tim turned just in time to get a face full of tongue from Gengar, who had been floating behind his head.

Gengar cackled wildly as Tim spluttered, but after they recovered, Tim was ecstatic. “This is great!”

We let our Pokémon converse, catching each other up on what had happened. Tim and I walked over to Criss, who was still holding her side and looking contemplatively out the shattered window at the battle far below.

“You okay?” Tim asked Criss.

“She got into a fight with a Nidoqueen and lost,” I joked. “I tried to stop her, but-“

Criss punched me in the arm, hard. I shut up.

We went back to looking at the fighting.

“It’s… it’s strange,” Criss said, wincing with each word. “I figured Team Rocket was… was retreating given that we’ve run into… so few of them, but… but they’re clearly fighting back… Why invest so many resources… to cover their backs?”

“Maybe they’re buying time,” Tim suggested.

“But for what?” I asked.

“That’s… that’s what we need to figure out.” Criss turned away from the window.

*****

Giovanni chuckled softly as he watched Captain Walker get thrown out of the window. Giovanni would not want to be on the receiving end of that man’s fury now.

“Keep an eye on those three,” Giovanni told the man attending the security cameras. “Notify me when they get close.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Petrel,” Giovanni said.

“Yes?” the small man behind him answered.

“Project Titan is ready to be evacuated?”

“It’ll take about another hour to get it prepped for flight,” Petrel said tentatively.

“I’m not sure we have an hour.” Giovanni stroked his chin thoughtfully. “How confident are you in its… stability?”

“If you’ll remember my progress reports, sir-“

“I don’t,” Giovanni cut him off. “It was months ago, please just give me a succinct answer.”

“Not at all confident. There’s a reason Charon flat-out refused to be anywhere near it this whole time, even under sedation. After what happened with the prototype, our safeguards probably made it even more dangerous.”

“Good, take it off of sedation. We’re leaving it behind.”

Petrel looked incredibly confused at first, but then it slowly dawned on him. “Ahh… of course, sir. Should I call for a retreat then?”

“No, we need to give it some time to wake up. Besides, Captain Walker has just joined the fight, and I’m interested to see what ground he gains.”

*****

The police hadn’t made much ground toward Silph Tower, but the Rockets finally seemed to be faltering. Spencer shouted an order to his Charizard, dispatching what looked to be the last Golbat that the Rockets had at their disposal. They no longer held the high ground, and without any air support, they would lose any advantage they had.

It wasn’t all that long before all the Rockets dispersed throughout the police’s ranks had been either killed or captured. There was now a nearly straight line of fighting between the two groups, taking place almost directly in front of the main entrance to the tower. Due to the narrowness of the street, this meant that neither side could use its full force, but it allowed the injured somewhere to fall back to, something that Spencer was very thankful for.

Not that he was injured, just frightened. A block or so behind the fighting he stood watching the police officers scurry about, storming surrounding buildings, tending their wounds, and dragging off the dead, unconscious, or handcuffed Rockets.

Spencer felt somewhat useless. He was here for business, not fighting. If it wasn’t for Charizard, he probably would have insisted on leaving with the last group of injured. But now, Charizard was worn down, tired, and hurt. By Spencer’s side, it panted heavily with its head down.

Spencer rubbed Charizard’s long neck as he looked around.

“Glad to see you’re still alive!” Harry approached.

“Likewise,” Spencer responded. “Where are your friends?”

Harry shrugged. “Somewhere around here, probably helping to clear out these buildings. The Rockets sure dug in hard.”

Spencer nodded.

“You alright?” Harry asked.

“Yeah… Just not used to this… this…” Spencer tried to find the right word.

“Carnage?” Harry suggested.

“Yeah.”

Harry laughed. “Do I look like I’m used to it?”

“Well… yeah.”

“What about him, or him?” Harry pointed at some police officers retreating from the fight. One was attempting to bandage his arm, which was badly burned, while another pulled one of his injured comrades to safety.

Spencer shrugged and looked at their hardened, grimacing faces. “Yeah, they do.”

“Well let me tell you something,” Harry said. “I’m not. They’re not.”

Spencer looked at him curiously.

“Do you want to know how I know? Because they’re still on this side of the line. The moment all the death and suffering stops affecting you, you turn in to one of them.” He pointed at a motionless body lying not far away. The dull gray of its uniform was just visible under a coating of blood. He had been one of those Skyguard. Spencer had seen him in the fighting, and not all of that blood was his own.

“We’re just quite good at looking like we’re used to it. The trick is not to dwell on it. Always in the moment… it’s easier that way.” Harry’s voice fell.

Before Spencer could answer, he was distracted by a shape falling from the tower. “What’s that?”

As he and Harry watched, the shape grew closer and closer. After a few seconds, Spencer could tell what it was. “That’s a Skarmory, and I think someone’s on its back.” It was heading right for the battle.

The Skarmory flared its wings as it approached. The fighting seemed to stop as it came in and landed with a loud clatter on the broken pavement. There was a cheer.

“If the Rockets are cheering for him, I don’t think this is good.” Harry ran off toward the fighting.

Spencer went after him. Charizard followed, half walking, half flying.

They pushed their way to the front of the group. A gap had formed between the police and Team Rocket. The fighting had stopped as everyone stopped to back away and stare at the newcomer.

The Skarmory had made a dent in the asphalt when it landed, its vicious talons sinking in to the pavement. On its back was a simple leather saddle, which a rider was now sliding out of.

He was relatively tall, muscular, but not bulky. He was wearing the traditional uniform of the Skyguard, but also had a dark trench coat. A pair of black flight goggles hung around his neck. If Spencer had to hazard a guess, he would say that this was the leader of the Skyguard. Dark eyes scanned his surroundings with a permanent glare. The eyes stopped when he saw Spencer.

The Skarmory rider looked Spencer up and down. Then, as if coming to a decision, he raised his left hand. It was covered in some kind of armored glove with all sorts of ridges and spikes. He flexed his fingers, then spoke, his words clearly directed at Spencer.

“You remind me of someone I want dead.” He began to approach.

Paralyzed by fear, Spencer just stared. But Charizard stepped forward. It gave a great roar and belched a fireball right at the man, who jumped out of the way. His Skarmory jumped in the way of the fireball and blocked it with protect.

The man sneered. “Fine, if you want to do it the old fashioned way…” He stood behind his Skarmory. The bystanders continued to stare at the exchange, fascinated.

“Fight for your life,” the man said. “Skarmory, steel wing.”

“Charizard, fire spin!”

*****

We still hadn’t left the laboratory. Tim was helping Criss with first aid while our Pokémon socialized. I wandered.

I knew if I could find some kind of hint as to what the Rockets were doing here, I could convince Criss to leave. We had come much farther than I had ever thought we would, and if ever there was a time to quit while we were ahead, it was now, before one of us got killed.

I stepped carefully through the destroyed computers and other laboratory equipment, but nothing caught my eye. Then I stepped in a puddle of water. I looked down. Rainer’s initial hydro pump had thoroughly soaked a portion of the room.

As if to apologize for the mess, Rainer walked over to me and gave a loud huff.

I looked at the Blastoise, scanning his face, his cannons, his shell. He was so much more powerful than when we had last seen each other. Then it hit me.

“Wait… how did you evolve? Were they training you or…” I recalled the placard on the door from the stairs: “POKÉMON METAMORPHOSIS” it had said.

As if to answer, Rainer looked over at the room that he had broken out of.

Curious, I walked over and went inside.

A good inch of water covered the floor, contained by a lip in the door frame. It had the same white linoleum as the rest of the floor, but that’s where the similarities ended. A small computer station stood near the door, and two lab coat clad bodies were stuffed in the corner. I recalled the voices we had heard inside. They were clearly dead.

The rest of the room was covered floor to ceiling in cages big and small. I walked down the small aisle through the middle, looking at the prisons. The big cage that Rainer must have been held in was torn open, its steel bars, bent and misshaped, were scattered across the floor.

Most of the cages were empty. The rest held dead bodies and skeletons. I threw up a little bit in my throat when I realized this. Only then did I notice the awful smell. The decaying body of an Alakazam lay in the cage next to where Rainer had been, and the skeleton of some huge winged Pokémon lay in the cage across from it.

“This is awful…”

Behind me, Rainer growled in agreement.

“Keith?” Tim’s voice called from outside. “Where are you?”

“I’m in here,” I said.

I looked in disgust at the rows of cages, but then something caught my eye.

At the very end of the room was a cage far bigger than any of the others. I approached it.

This was the only cage in the room that did not have others stacked on top of it, for it took up the whole space from the floor to the ceiling, almost thirty feet tall. Inside was a huge cylindrical tank at least ten feet in diameter. It was empty.

After a moment I realized it was not a cage at all, but was built in to the room. The bars were as big around as my arm and were stoutly attached to the floor and ceiling, each one about eight inches apart. A sign screwed into one warned “WARNING! HIGH VOLTAGE!” but I doubted the power was on, as a computer terminal stood at the wall. It looked like it was wired to the prison, and all of its standby lights were off.

The tank’s glass looked incredibly thick, and connected to it were bundles of cords, pipes, and hoses. Whatever fluid it had once held had been drained.

I heard footsteps behind me. Tim and Criss walked up.

“What the hell kind of Pokémon was this for?” Tim asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “But… that thick of a tank, what looks like sedatives, and electrified bars?”

“Someone really didn’t want it to get out,” Criss said.

“But then where is it now?” Tim asked.

I walked over to the computer and looked around. Tucked underneath the keyboard was a piece of paper. I pulled it out.

“What’s that?” Criss asked.

“Some kind of memo,” I said. I began to read it aloud.

Everyone,

PROJECT TITAN has been deemed a dead end. All research related to it should cease and all resources are to be devoted elsewhere. Containment chambers in PM Labs 4, 5, and 8 are to be dismantled, as they are unsuitable for long term stasis.

Any questions should be referred to me or Executive Petrel.

Thank you,
Charon

“That explains that, we’re in Lab 5,” I said.

Criss tore the memo from my hands and read it over again. “Project Titan?”

“Sounds pretty harmless,” Tim said with a laugh.

“A dead end? What does this mean?” Criss asked.

“It sounds like they weren’t just here for one reason,” I said. “They must have been working on a lot of projects with Silph’s facilities.”

“But with what purpose?” Criss read the memo once more.

“Money, probably.” I shrugged.

Criss shook her head. “There’s got to be more to it than that. There has to…”

*****

“Flamethrower!” Spencer shouted.

Charizard spat a line of flames at Skarmory, but it easily flew out of the way.

Spencer swore. He wasn’t sure how long they had been battling, but he didn’t think Charizard could take much more. It was tired and terribly injured. Its exhaustion had grounded it, so Skarmory’s maneuverability gave it an incredible advantage.

“Steel wing again,” the Skyguard captain commanded.

“Bite it!”

Skarmory flapped to get altitude, then dived straight down at Charizard, wings outstretched.

Waiting until the last moment, Charizard lunged forward and snapped its jaws around Skarmory’s armored grey neck. It tried to shake Skarmory back and forth, but was too fatigued to put much effort into it. Skarmory screeched loudly in pain.

“Slash,” the Skarmory’s trainer commanded.

Skarmory’s legs flailed, its sharp talons making gouges in the asphalt. Charizard twisted and turned to keep Skarmory away while still maintaining its grip, but it was merely delaying the inevitable.

Skarmory kicked forward and slashed at Charizard’s vulnerable stomach. Its talons slipped easily through Charizard’s skin, spraying blood across the ground.

Charizard released Skarmory from its mouth and roared in pain. Skarmory flew off, then turned around for another run.

Spencer’s eyes were wide. This guy was holding nothing back. If he didn’t stop now, Skarmory would kill Charizard. He immediately raised its Poké Ball and recalled the Pokémon. He knew when he was defeated. The police officers behind him began to mutter. The Rockets cheered.

But Skarmory wasn’t stopping. It came down in a steep dive, its wings outstretched as it gave a bone-chilling shriek and dove straight towards him.

Seconds before it hit him, though, it was intercepted. A flurry of red and white feathers slammed into Skarmory, sending it tumbling away and slamming into the wall of a building.

“You’ve done good so far, but I’ve got this one, partner.”

Harry stepped forward, patting Spencer on the shoulder as he passed.

“You’re that Skyguard captain, aren’t you?” Harry said.

The Skarmory trainer glared at Harry for a second. “You...” he finally said. “You’re the one from the train station.”

“That’s me!” Harry grinned.

“Victor was one of my best men.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

The Skyguard captain’s glare seemed to intensify. “You are someone I want dead.”

*****

Tim and I found some cable in a storage closet that we were using to tie up the unconscious Rockets. While we worked, Criss thoroughly searched to entire lab and must have read that memo I found a thousand times.

Tim and I each grabbed an end of the cable and pulled. The bindings around our group of prisoners tightened, making one of them elicit a low groan.

Criss came over to us. “You guys ready to keep going?”

“Keep going?” I asked.

“Of course,” Criss said. “We haven’t found anything of use, and if the boss is here, we could very well chop the head off of this organization once and for all.”

I looked at her, shocked. “We could also very well get ourselves killed! We have to turn around.”

“You knew the risks when you agreed to come along,” Criss said.

I looked at Tim for support, but he was just staring at his shoes, unwilling to offer support to either side.

“Yeah, I knew the risks,” I said. “And I took them. The only reason you’re alive is because of Deus Ex Rainer, and if Tim hadn’t shown up when he did, Reese would have shot me. Eventually our luck is going to run out. We’ve done more than could ever have been expected of us so far, and if we keep going then it’s going to catch up to us.

“Our Pokémon are tired and injured,” I continued. “We’re tired and injured. It can only get worse from here on out. One more fight like this,” I gestured at our group of prisoners, “and we’re done for.”

Criss looked me up and down, her eyes impossible to read. Her Flareon walked up to her side and rubbed against her leg. “I’m in this until the end,” she finally said. “I… I need your help. But even if you don’t come along, I’m going to keep going.”

With that, she headed for the door.

I looked at Tim, he shrugged. I looked at Rainer, as Psyke and Tesla had been returned to the safety of their Poké Balls. He just looked back expectantly.

I took a deep breath. Criss’s words had hit me deeply. I need your help… She had saved my life on multiple occasions, as I had saved hers. Regardless of her independent attitude, we had been in this together ever since Mt. Moon. I had no idea what I was getting into back then, but that was when I had made my decision. Ever since then, I had to stick with it.

I was in this until the end too.

I gestured to Tim and Rainer. “Let’s go.”

Criss turned when she reached the door. When she saw that we were following her, she smiled. She tried to hide it, but she smiled.

We climbed several more flights of stairs, checking each floor as we went. It took some time, as Rainer could only climb the stairs awkwardly, and his Poké Ball was buried deep in my backpack.

Most floors were just plain office space, with signs of recent habitation. I looked at the number next to the door we had just exited through.

“Ninety-seven,” I said as we kept climbing. “Damn, we have to be nearing the top.”

Criss nodded in agreement as she peeked through the small square window in the door to the next floor. Her eyes widened.

“What?” I asked.

The door flew open, knocking Criss back against the railing.

“They’re here! They’re here!” Two Rocket grunts burst through the door, shouting in alarm.

Criss punched one squarely in the face before they could properly react, then pushed him backwards, causing them both to stumble back through the doorway.

“RUN!” Criss shouted. She and Flareon bolted up the stairs. Tim and I followed.

As I passed the door, I saw several more grunts running towards us. Rainer paused to fire a Hydro Pump at them before continuing to clamber up the steps after me.

Criss quickly checked the window to the next floor. “Here!” she said.

We went inside. There was a long hallway with several doors. It appeared to open up into yet more office space farther down.

“Come on, we have to keep moving,” Criss said.

As if on cue, our pursuers burst through the door after us.

We took off down the hallway. Criss picked a door at random. “We’ll try to hold them off here.”

She went inside, Tim followed.

I looked over my shoulder. The Rockets weren’t far behind us, but it wasn’t like they could do anything about Rainer’s massive bulk. He just kept on hustling along.

I ran into Tim after I went through the door.

“Hey! what-“ Both Tim and Criss had stopped dead in their tracks. I looked around.

We appeared to be in some kind of lounge. A variety of leather sofas and coffee tables were spread throughout the carpeted room, and the usual big floor to ceiling windows replaced the outside walls.

We were also surrounded by Skyguard.

At least thirty big, grey-uniformed men sat and stood throughout the room, looking at us with incredulity.

“Oh no…”

Our pursuers burst into the room behind us.

The Skyguard closest to us grinned.

*****

“Alright, you’ve had your Pokémon battle.” Harry stepped towards the Skyguard captain and raised his fists. “Now let’s do us a little hand to hand.”

The man glanced at Harry’s brass knuckles and smiled. He raised his fists as well. Chatter broke out between the ranks on both sides.

Harry threw the first punch, but the Skyguard easily sidestepped it.

There was a screech from Skarmory that distracted some attention away from the fight. It was still battling against Harry’s Braviary. Blood and feathers flew everywhere as the two Pokémon squawked and screeched, slashing and pecking with their talons and beaks. They never got more than a few feet in the air before slamming together and falling back down. The people nearest gave them a wide berth.

When Spencer’s attention returned to the fistfight, it had picked up in intensity. It was like watching a professional boxing match. Both men threw fast and hard punches left and right, but also expertly dodged and blocked.

Harry’s forearm began to visibly bleed from where he blocked the Skyguard’s armored left fist. It looked like it hurt, but every body blow that Harry landed made the Skyguard visibly wince. They were on equal grounds, but this fight couldn’t last long.

Harry jabbed forward with his left fist, but the Skyguard bounced backwards so the blow couldn’t connect. He then immediately shot forward again and brought his left fist around in a deadly hook aimed at Harry’s head.

Caught somewhat off guard, Harry just barely managed to get an arm up in front of his face and turn to take the hit. The spiked gauntlet tore through the skin of his arm, spraying blood. The force of the blow made Harry stagger and turn, somewhat delirious after all of the hits he had taken.

The Skyguard took advantage of this by leaping forward and wrapping his right arm around Harry’s neck, choking him. He pulled Harry up, squeezing his throat.

Harry’s fingers scrabbled desperately at the Skyguard’s arm. With his free arm, the Skyguard punched him in the side.

Harry grunted and strained, his face turning purple. Spencer could only watch in horror.

But when the Skyguard tried to punch Harry in the side again, Harry changed tactics. He reached his hands down and grabbed onto the Skyguard’s left wrist. With a shout of effort, the last breath in his lungs, he pulled.

The Skyguard was caught by surprise. He lost his grip on Harry, spinning him around as he tumbled to the ground.

Harry gasped for breath as the Skyguard scrambled to get back to his feet, his trench coat flapping wildly. He was seething with anger.

As the Skyguard regained his feet, Harry put his fists back up, ready to continue fighting.

The Skyguard went at him. Harry threw out a strong jab, but the Skyguard ducked under it and came up with a devastating left uppercut. His gauntlet left gashes in Harry’s chin and throat.

Harry staggered, his arms out as he tried to keep his balance.

Then, out of nowhere, a dagger appeared in the Skyguard’s hand. He plunged it into Harry’s stomach.

The police force gave a collective intake of breath.

Harry’s hands went to the knife in his stomach. Blood was beginning to pour out.

“That’s cheating…” Harry gasped.

The Skyguard snarled and pulled the knife free. “That’s what I do.”

Harry panted, his hands desperately clutching his stomach as he vainly tried to hold back the flow of blood.

The Skyguard sneered at him and swung another left jab aimed at his stomach.

But Harry moved as if he was uninjured. He hit the Skyguard’s wrist with his left hand with an almost karate chop type blow. He then came up with his right hand, striking the Skyguard’s armored fist at a sharp upward angle, but stopping it from going very far with his left hand.

There was an audible snap as the Skyguard’s wrist broke. He screamed in pain and immediately drew his left arm back to his body. He took several steps backwards towards his troops, his eyes alight with pain and anger.

Harry staggered back towards the police line.

The Skyguard turned to face the Rockets and shouted a command “Kill them!”

Fighting broke out instantaneously, both sides rushing forward.

Spencer jumped forward to support Harry, who leaned against him heavily. Spencer pulled the man back through the battle to safety behind the police forces. Harry was covered in blood.

“Medic, doctor! Someone help!” Spencer shouted, but those scattered nearby were too busy to deal with the man who had fought as their champion.

“Eh,” Harry said as Spencer laid him down against a broken piece of asphalt. “I don’t think a doctor could do much to keep my guts from spilling out anyway, partner.”

“But, Harry… you’re… you’re…” words failed Spencer, who knelt down next to him.

They looked down at Harry’s stomach, where blood was flowing freely, despite Harry’s efforts at applying pressure. Spencer covered Harry’s hands with his own and pressed down, trying his best to help in the vain attempt to keep Harry’s blood from draining away.

“I’m mortal.” Harry’s voice came in short gasps. “Unfortunately…”

Spencer looked at his face. He was deathly pale, and crying.

Harry pulled his blood soaked hands away from his stomach and took off his fedora. From the band inside, he pulled out the photograph Spencer had seen him looking at earlier that day.

“I’m sorry, Sophie…” he muttered. “I’m so, so sorry.” He kissed the photograph.

Spencer was in shock. There was no way… Harry was too strong, too confident, too knowledgeable. If he died, how could they possibly win? “You can’t die…” He felt tears welling up in his eyes, but they were nothing compared to those in Harry’s.

Harry ignored him. His teary eyes never left the picture. “Show this to Elizabeth… and ask about her husband… she’ll understand.”

“I can’t…” Spencer whispered.

“Please…” Harry tore his eyes from the picture and looked into Spencer’s. They were red, a stark contrast from the pallor of his face.

Spencer just nodded.

Harry looked back at the picture, kissed it once more, and then closed his eyes. The hand holding the photograph fell to his chest, and his body went slack.

Spencer took the photograph from Harry’s clammy grasp. He had only met this man today, but still he ignored the sounds of battle, knelt at his deathbed, and wept.

*****

Plot relevant responses in spoilers please

NEXT: The final battle (for real this time)

 

[Flaze]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Sorry I took so long to read this ;-;

But. BEST.CHAPTER.EVER at least in this fic xD my whole comment's going to be in spoilers otherwsie so I'll just say this now. On a technical sense I think the chapter was perfect, there weren't any mistakes and the description had just the right amount of grab. The actions flowed nicely and at least for me were easy to imagine in my head to the point that I'm actually feel winded as if all of that had just happened in my head, it just made it all the better. The dialogue was quick but very easy to follow at the same time and it was easy to get a grasp of the emotion that each character wanted to reflect.

Now for the plot stuff

Spoiler

I really liked the fights in this chapter, both the Pokemon and the physical fights. I also think that this chapter had a lot to show in regards to character developtment for all characters and how they each dealt with their respective situation. I can't believe Harry died ;-; and I liked him a lot too, that was really surprising considering I thought he would last longer. I do want to see how his death will help in regards to Spencer's development.

Something I like about this fic is that while Spencer is older than Keith and has had more experience as a trainer, after everything Keith's gone through Spencer actually seems like the least capable of the brothers, not that he can't hold his own but he lacks the confidence and combat experience to stand in the line of battle. This sort of little thing is something that I really enjoy about this fic.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Re: "Unpredictable"

So I just read through the first arc, up to the end of Chapter 2.5. I don't like to do things by half-measures though, so I will read and review the other arcs when I have the time! First impressions first - well it was very readable. I didn't have trouble getting into the flow of the plot. Switching back and forth across different times and perspectives works quite well in the first arc. I found the business of getting to Pewter City and the first Badge a bit pacey but I get the feeling that the Badge quest is really background so it's not much of a gripe.

Characters are fine, though I'm not grabbed yet. I did enjoy Keith's discipline of his Butterfree - more trainers should be sterner with misbehaving pokémon! His motives in general are believable enough, though I'll be interested to see if he really has shrugged off the death in Mt Moon. As for Criss, she is interesting enough in her own way. I've got to say that her dialogue is the strongest part of her character.

I'd like to see more world building as I keep reading. You can obviously invent and expand places in the world - the offhand references to the geography in Viridian Forest show that - but Pewter City felt a bit empty to me. The gym was described nicely, but the rest of the city almost read as if it were three buildings standing next to one another.

The whole Mt Moon sequence was well done - particularly moving about the caves, which was clear as to what was going on. Nothing in the battles made me go "Really?" so that's a bonus. The battles were nice and tight, and an improvement on the Pewter Gym battle. Best praise I can give is that you didn't get melodramatic, which for me would have killed the tenser mood.

That's about all I can think of for the moment. As I say, I intend to read further and comment when I do

 

[Beth Pavell]

Re: "Unpredictable"

It occurs to me now that reviewing each arc as I intended wouldn't be all that useful unless you were going to reboot, so instead here's a few general comments on the story and a review of Chapter 40:

Spoiler

Two things did consistently bug me while reading. One was that, until quite late on, there's not a lot in the way of explanation for what Team Rocket is up to. They've essentially declared open war, so their end game must be something big. It wouldn't be fair to judge whether their plan makes a lot of sense yet, since I don't know their goal, so I suppose this is a bit of a "wait and see" moment for me

The other boils down to this - I think the psychic powers were a mistake. Until the Spring Tournament there really isn't any indication that Keith won't breeze through every battle. With the exception of Erika (And I appreciated Erika's moment in the sun, since she always seems to be the Gym Leader that's curbstomped), the only time it felt like Keith could fail was when someone was also trying to kill him.

Those things being said, I could see a consistent improvement in your writing. The battles and action scenes flowed well and there are plenty of imaginative ideas in the battle sequences. As for the characters, I think on the whole they serve their purpose. This story being very much an action fic I can understand why the softer moments are few and far, but it does mean that I am rather more interested in the plot than in what happens to the characters

Aaaand, for the Chapter 40 review

Spoiler

It's about time someone gave Criss a good telling-off. I know, she's badass and all that, but it's obvious Keith and Tim both care about her and I can't help but feel it's time they told her to heed her own advice and slow down on the suicidal rampage. Anyway, some of the Rocket's plans are finally being peeled back, that's good, and I'm hoping it continues. The battle outside of Silph was actually ... quite fun to read, and I don't think I expected it to be. Maybe I just like to see mooks get a day in the, er, dusk! After such a long slew of battles maybe I was expecting to become a little tired of the action.

It's worth mentioning at this point that I'm not much of a fan of high-octane action - it's just personal preference. Somme of my comments may come off as criticism of the story, when in fairness, I'm simply not going to enjoy reading some scenes as much as someone who does like that kind of thing.

 

[Safe]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Hi there You probably don't remember me, but I used to be active around here reading and reviewing, though I never really got the chance to read your story. Until now.

So, I started with the prologue and the first chapter, which you mention in the first post to be severely edited and revised, which is why my first impressions with your story might not be as I had expected, or a maybe they're better because of that... anyway let's get to it. I'll be giving you my thoughts on the first chapter for now, and will continue reviewing the story as I progress (probably two or three chapter a piece).

The first thing I noticed, and is probably the first thing anyone reading would is that you use first person narrative, which I don't prefer personally, so I'm wondering if you continue with it through out the story. Another thing I found to be annoying personally is the amount of inaccuracies with types and attack effects. For example, when you go to battle Brock you mention Pidgey being weak against rock so you decide to use Butterfree who is Bug/Flying meaning it's 4x weak against rock, also stun spore works on ground types, it's electric attacks that don't. Ground types can still be paralyzed by the secondary effect of Body Slam for instance. Anyway, that's just me with my technicalities. It doesn't really matter in the end. My only other problem was how long it was, it took a while to read so I had to stop midway to start my review or I would have forgot about most of it.

Your description is vivid, and your characters have potential. I can already see why Criss would win the best supporting role twice. I look forward to continue reading this, so look forward to my reviews.

EDIT: So I finished reading chapters 2 through 4 and I gotta say, it's getting really good. The second chapter was particularity good. The action sequences and your portrayal of Criss, who appears to want some kind of revenge from the rockets. I can't wait to learn more about her past. I also really like the shorts with the Flygon and mystery character. You do a really good description when it comes to action scenes, your pokemon battles are great too; I like how you take advantage the environment, it really gives a sense of realism to the battles. I already like Criss and can't wait until she returns to the story. Keith seems like an average kid, which means he has a lot of potential for development, so I look forward to see what becomes of him as the story progresses. I know this is a journey-fic, but I appreciate the way you manage to incorporate the more grim elements into it, it really makes the story stand out.

Oh, and it's great that the chapters are now a more readable length, so I might catch up soon.

 

[havoc_oblivion]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Damn i got to the end and i want more!!!

Great Work keep it up!

What about adding something like this to help us keep track of the journey, I gotta admit i get kinda confused keeping track of all the trainers and there pokemon.

http://unpredictablefanfic.weebly.com/untitled.html

This is just a very very rough draft u could add alot more info including gym badges,items and short summary etc etc.

Fav trainer-Nolan
Fav Pokemon personality-Tesla!/Nolan's Flygon
Fav Gym Battle-Ericka

 

[Beth Pavell]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Here for a Awards review I think it's my last now. I had Keith as my character judging for Best Protagonist. On the whole, there are a lot of things done right with Keith, and he is by no means a bad character. There's enough of a character to invest in, enough of a backstory to give him texture. A lot of what I would be tempted to call problems really are down to the genre - Unpredictable is an action story, when all's said and done.

I still think that the psychic powers were a mistake. The logic behind them and how they're handled in battle is fine, but it does mean that Keith rarely faces a challenge unless someone is actually trying to kill him. It does bug me a little how law enforcement end up as mooks in this story, outclassed by Keith and his mates - but, given that I believe this is broadly gameverse I'm prepared to put up with it.

So late in the story it's hard for me to offer constructive criticism for moving forward. I think that maybe if you're going to write an epilogue of some kind it might be nice to focus on Keith rather than the plot, to tie it off emotionally when you bring the story to an end

 

[AetherX]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Responses:

Spoiler

@Flaze; I'm glad you caught onto the Spencer thing. That is exactly what I'm trying to do with his character: show that even adults are just kind of stumbling through it all. Spencer doesn't have a ton of experience when it comes to this kind of thing so he's out of his element and understandably afraid. Thanks for the review!

@Pavell; Very very helpful reviews, thank you so much. This fic is turning out to be a lot more action packed than I meant it to be. I am planning on a sequel (in fact, I came up with the sequel first) that focuses much more on Keith as a character and development and stuff besides action. There's only a couple more chapters of action here before we get to the nitty gritty of character development and exposition, which should address most of the issues you had.

@Lance; I am familiar with type effectiveness, thanks xD I just take a more realistic look at it. Yes, Butterfree was 4x weak to rock defensively, but who would you have chosen? A Pidgey or a Butterfree with Confusion? The Stun Spore thing was more head canon. I like to think that rock-types don't have nice big pores and absorbent skin to absorb the powder in quite the same way as other types. A larger amount of stun spore would have done the trick, but Keith didn't know that. Not terribly well explained, sorry. I'm afraid things don't really get better on the chapter length front, I'm not a very concise writer when it comes to fiction. Hopefully you can manage Thanks for the review!

Really sorry about how long this took again. I was stubborn and wanted to just write the whole final battle and get it over with, but that ended up being waaaaaay too long so I broke it up (I've had this half done for ages). Expect the last bit before long!

This time: The battle for Saffron draws to a close, but what's this? A new challenger approaches!

Chapter 41

Spencer shivered. It wasn’t that cold, despite the fact that the sun would be setting soon, but he hugged himself.

The Skyguard Captain’s defeat of Harry had been a huge victory for Team Rocket. Now, inch by inch, the police forces were beginning to lose ground.

A few minutes before, Harry’s friends Elizabeth and Zachary had rejoined them. Spencer had told them what happened before leaving them alone.

He was now standing in the middle of the road some distance away and staring at the sky, trying not to think about all of the fighting that was a stone’s throw away from him. Spencer knew he would have to rejoin the battle, but he was not looking forward to it. He was trying very hard not to cry, but it seemed impossible.

Harry was dead. God knows where the Vermillion and Lavender police forces were. They very well could have been killed given how badly things were now going. The amount of dead and injured lying around him gave him the chills.

But at the same time, it incensed him. All of this senseless killing, he just couldn’t understand. What was Team Rocket after? Why were they doing this? Why would anyone do this?

Harry’s words from earlier came floating back to him.

The moment all the death and suffering stops affecting you, you turn in to one of them.

They just didn’t care.

But he cared. Harry had cared. That was why Spencer was still here, and hadn’t fled home. He had to keep going, because there was no way in hell he was letting Team Rocket get their way.

Blinking away tears, Spencer pulled a Poké Ball from his belt. If he sent out Charizard, he didn’t think it would survive, but he had plenty of other Pokémon. He summoned Jolteon before him.

Spencer looked down at the yellow, feline Pokémon. It looked back up at him, confidence apparent in its big black eyes.

But what about that Skyguard? He was still alive, even if Harry had injured him. Was he still in the fight?

As if to answer his question, there was a chorus of shouting from the fight. A cheer came audibly from the Rocket side. Spencer’s eyes widened.

“What now?” He rushed towards the battle and pushed his way to the front line, Jolteon hot on his heels.

The Skyguard that had killed Harry was still at the front of his forces. His uninjured hand was wrapped around the throat of a beaten and bruised Chief Blackston, lifting him onto his tiptoes. Spencer gasped.

The Police Chief spoke in a raspy, strained voice. “You son of a bitch… we’re retaking Saffron, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The Skyguard laughed a cruel and heartless laugh. “On the contrary, I can make you pay dearly for it.”

With that, the Skyguard threw Blackston aside. His head smacked against the asphalt as he fell, and he didn’t get up.

Spencer looked on in horror.

The Skyguard laughed again as he surveyed the terrified policemen gathered in front of him. His laugh eventually trailed off, leaving nothing but the sound of scuffling off to the side. Everyone looked over.

Somehow, Harry’s Braviary was still holding on against the Skyguard’s Skarmory. But not for long.

Everyone watched in stunned silence as Skarmory found an opening in Braviary’s flailing defenses and dove in for its throat. Braviary gave a screech of pain as Skarmory’s beak fixed itself on its throat. Skarmory shook Braviary back and forth, then threw it aside just like how the Skyguard had thrown aside Blackston. Braviary lay in an unmoving, crumpled heap.

Skarmory gave a screech of victory as it hopped back to its trainer.

The Skyguard’s eyes found Spencer’s. He tilted his head and smiled in amusement at Spencer’s terror.

“Who… who are you?” Spencer stammered.

The Skyguard laughed once more before answering. “To those who respect me, I am the Skyguard Captain Reese Walker. To those who fear me…” he raised a hand and stroked the armored neck of his Pokémon, “I am known as Ironwing.”

Whatever impact the Skyguard Captain had meant that statement to have was broken by sound of shattering glass from behind the Rocket forces. It sounded like someone had smashed in the doors to Silph tower. Or, as the case turned out to be, smashed them out.

Shouting came from the Rocket forces as someone or something pushed its way to the front.

The Skyguard Captain turned in time to see a blue armored, man-sized Pokémon barrel through the gathered Rockets with a roar, throwing men aside. Spencer recognized it as one of the rare fossil Pokémon, Armaldo.

Following in the path the Armaldo had created through the Rockets was its trainer. It was Nolan, and he looked angrier than anyone Spencer had ever seen before.

Red in the face and with a glare that could kill a man, Nolan shouted at the Skyguard Captain. “YEAH! AND TO THOSE WHO KNOW YOU, YOU’RE A TREACHEROUS, MURDERING PIECE OF SHIT!”

Spencer was surprised to see that the Skyguard Captain took a step backwards before regaining his cool and replying.

“Nolan Weiss, ever the soldier. I heard you were dead.” He smirked.

“You son of a bitch,” Nolan said through gritted teeth. “I’m going to make you wish I was.”

Without any further ado, Nolan leaped at the Skyguard Captain, a fist pulled back.

But this was not going the same way as the fights between the Skyguard Captain and Harry and Chief Blackston. The police were apparently tired of watching the Skyguard Captain beat down one contestant after another, giving more and more confidence to the Rockets.

Some enterprising officers took advantage of Nolan’s distraction to send their Pokémon forward and attack the inattentive Rockets. Full-fledged fighting broke out again immediately.

Spencer sent Jolteon into the fray, but kept one eye on Nolan and the Skyguard Captain’s fight.

Nolan got several hard punches in before the Skyguard Captain could even react. He stumbled backwards and managed to dodge a jab, but Nolan was relentless.

It was Skarmory that came to its trainer’s rescue. With a great flap of its wings, it unleashed a blast of air that made Nolan lose his balance.

But the Skyguard Captain had had enough. Tucking his injured hand gingerly to his chest, he pulled himself into the saddle on Skarmory’s back and took off. They headed straight upwards, towards the top of Silph Tower.

Seething, Nolan scrambled at his belt. He pulled out one Poké Ball and recalled Armaldo. When he pulled out a Luxury Ball, though, Spencer moved forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

Nolan whipped around to face Spencer. “What are you-?”

Spencer interrupted him. “You can’t go after him, we need you here!”

Nolan glared, then looked up at Skarmory high above. “This isn’t my fight.”

“We need a leader.”

“THAT’S NOT MY PROBLEM!” Nolan screamed.

Spencer grabbed him by both shoulders. “Look around you! If you have any kind of heart then it is your problem. You can either stay here and save lives or go up there and take one.”

That stopped him. Nolan stared at Spencer for a second, the anger fading from his eyes.

“I… you’re right.” He returned the Luxury ball to his belt and pulled off a Poké Ball. He threw it down, releasing his green lizard-like Pokémon with leaf blades on its arms.

“Sceptile, let’s do this.”

Spencer grinned.

*****
When Reese entered the penthouse office on the top floor of the tower, Giovanni noticed that he was gingerly holding his wrist across his chest.

“Encounter some problems, Captain?”

“Just one. Nolan Weiss is here.”

“Hmm…” Giovanni nodded and looked out the window. Far below, it was just barely possible to make out the fighting. “It was only a matter of time.”

Reese’s nostrils flared.

“You’re quite sure he’s that much of a threat?” Giovanni asked.

“Let’s just say I’m deeply regretting not ending all of this years ago.”

“Is he cause, then? Or effect?”

“Both. He’s the center of a web of hatred and vengeance.”

“Some would call it justice.”

Reese snarled. “Justice is just a fancy word for vengeance.”

Giovanni looked at him. “That’s an interesting perspective.”

“It’s not perspective, it’s observation,” Reese said. “What? What’s justice to you?”

“Shared revenge,” Giovanni replied. “With a chance… a chance of redemption.” He turned back to the window.

That made Reese laugh. “Redemption requires forgiveness.”

Giovanni looked at him again and raised an eyebrow.

“Forgiveness is just giving up on revenge,” Reese said. “That’s something that some people will never do. Some things will never be forgiven.”

Giovanni sighed as he looked out the window again. “And yet… some things must be forgiven.”

The two men stood in silence for a moment before Giovanni spoke again.

“You’re in no shape to fight anymore, Captain. We’re leaving.”

“And the men still here?”

“I gave the rest of the Skyguard permission to evacuate, but they seemed keen on catching our intruders. As for the men below… they know they are being left to their own devices.”

Reese nodded.

“Head on up to the roof, Captain. Make sure that my helicopter is ready to go. I will go fetch Petrel and ensure our departing gift is ready to be unwrapped.”

Reese laughed.

*****

“We’re dead,” I whispered.

We were trapped. A room full of Skyguard on one side, and a trio of regular grunts on the other. I was regretting not fighting the grunts when we had the chance. As it stood, they would have no problem holding us there long enough for the Skyguard to kill us.

Beside me, Rainer grunted and lowered his cannons, looking around for a good first target. At least he wouldn’t be going down without a fight.

Criss whipped around, looking back and forth for a way out, but it was hopeless. Hiding between her legs, Flareon growled at the lead Skyguard.

I saw Tim begin to reach for a Poké Ball on his belt, but there was nothing he could do.

The Skyguard closest to us was a tall, lanky man. With a sadistic smile, he pulled a pistol out of the holster on his belt and aimed it at us. Several other armed Skyguard did the same.

I looked at Criss. We made eye contact. Her eyes were wide and full of fear. I felt like she was trying to tell me something, but I didn’t know what it was.

Then I heard a sound.

It was a sound I had longed to hear since I was a little kid, and one that had made me want to set out on this journey in the first place. The only reason we could hear it was because everyone was so quiet, as it came from outside: an ethereal and bone chilling yet beautiful and songlike howl.

It was muffled through the large windows on the other side of the room, but I knew exactly what it was: the call of a Dragonite.

The Skyguard all turned to look outside. A pair of shapes were flying straight toward us at breakneck speed. I couldn’t tell for sure what the two Pokémon were as they flew over the city heading for our floor, but I had a hunch as to what one of them was, as well as who may be riding it.

Within seconds, the two winged Pokémon crashed through the window. The glass exploded everywhere, making most of the room duck and cover. The Pokémon made a hasty landing about ten feet in front of us, their mighty wings knocking away Skyguard left and right as they tried to stop.

The Dragonite and Fearow landed back to back. Their trainers quickly dismounted, but it was impossible to tell who they were, as the wings of their Pokémon were still spread out, covering them.

The Skyguard were quick to recover, and immediately opened fire on the newcomers. A cacophony of bullets rang out as each armed Skyguard unloaded their magazines. It was no use, though. A translucent spherical shield surrounded the Pokémon and their trainers, protecting them.

After the Skyguard one by one ran out of ammo, the shield flickered and disappeared. Once it was gone, there was the unmistakable popping and flashing of ten separate Poké Balls releasing their Pokémon.

As soon as the Fearow and Dragonite had landed, Criss had leapt into action. She charged at the three men behind us, kicking the feet out from under one of them. I pulled myself away from the spectacle before us and followed her lead, pulling out my stun rod and swinging it at the face of a shocked Rocket.

Between Criss and I, we managed to dispatch the three grunts behind us in short order. Meanwhile, Tim had set his Cubone upon a nearby Skyguard and Rainer and Flareon had begun firing off spurts of water and fire. They weren’t the only ones.

Over a dozen Pokémon were now battling around the room, some belonging to the Rockets and the rest belonging to our saviors.

Tim, Criss, and I slowly backed out of the room into the hallway, unsure of whether to run or join in the fight.

A Skyguard nearby pulled out a knife and ran at us, but a vine came out from somewhere in the crowd of people and Pokémon and wrapped around his chest. It picked him up and threw him, screaming, out of the broken window.

“Nice one, Venusaur!”

I knew that voice…

“Dragonite, this way!” another voice shouted.

Out from the bustling battle came the Pokémon of my dreams. At least eight feet tall, with dark yellow skin and a pale belly, the Dragonite was utterly beautiful. It spread its wings to knock Rockets aside as it charged out of the fight towards us, clearing a path for the two trainers, who were also running towards us.

“Dragonite, safeguard us as we talk.”

The first trainer to reach us cut a striking figure. He was tall, and wearing somewhat… flamboyant clothing. He wore a black cape with a crimson underside that matched his spiky, red dyed hair. Everyone in Kanto knew who this was: Lance, of the Elite Four.

The second trainer was none other than David, childhood friend and now Champion of the Indigo League. He was wearing jeans and a raincoat, which was much more casual than the collared shirt he always wore back home, but I suppose the circumstances weren’t exactly conducive to that kind of clothing.

David nearly fainted from surprise when he saw us. “Keith? Tim? What in the hell are you two doing here?”

I laughed, the excitement of seeing my friend overwhelming all previous fear. “Nice to see you too.”

“Hey Dave,” Tim said.

I looked him up and down. David was taller than I remembered, and seemed to have let his dark hair grow out a bit, but was still neat and clean-shaven as ever.

“Sabrina sent us,” said Lance in a cool, commanding voice. “She said you would probably be in the tower.”

“She mentioned a few trainers,” David said, “but I didn’t think they would be you! How did you get mixed up in all of this?”

Tim looked at Criss, but I waved it off. “We’ll explain later. Are the rest of the Elite Four here as well?”

David nodded. “Yeah, and some of the gym leaders too, but they didn’t come in with us.”

“Do you think you two can handle this?” Criss asked.

Lance looked at her oddly.

“We need to head up the tower,” she continued.

I sighed. I had kind of hoped that we would help fight the Skyguard and then leave. I desperately wanted to be done with this, but Criss was having none of it.

Lance nodded. “Yes. We saw a helicopter on the roof preparing for takeoff as we approached. I trust Team Rocket’s leader is aboard.”

“That’s what I think, too,” Criss said.

“We can handle ourselves,” said David. “But I expect an explanation when this is all over.” He pointed a finger at Tim and me.

“Take care of yourself, man,” Tim said.

“You too,” David replied.

With that, David and Lance reentered the fight while Tim, Criss, I, and our Pokémon ran back down the hallway and up the staircase.

*****

With Nolan’s help, the police were beginning to turn the tide.

He and his Pokémon fought like they were possessed. His Armlado and the green Pokémon he called Sceptile each fought and easily defeated Rocket-Pokémon duos all on their own.

Spencer, meanwhile, was playing it safe a little ways from the front lines, using his Jolteon’s thunderbolts to keep Rockets away from him. He kept thinking about Harry. If only Nolan had shown up sooner… if only Spencer had had the guts to intervene and save Harry…

He balled up his fists. “I don’t belong here…” Spencer whispered to himself.

But Spencer didn’t have long to mope, as a warbling cry pierced the sky.

He jumped and looked up. A pair of Pokémon were flying overhead, darting between the buildings and heading straight for Silph Tower.

It couldn’t be more Skyguard, could it? Spencer looked at Nolan.

Nolan, along with most of the fighters, were looking at the flying Pokémon. He said something, but Spencer was too far away to hear him.

A Rocket took advantage of Nolan’s distraction to sneak up behind him.

Spencer pointed. “Look out!” he shouted. “Jolteon, thunderbolt!”

Jolteon zapped the Rocket with a bolt of lightning that made him crumple to the ground.

Nolan jumped around, but seeing what happened, just gave Spencer a thankful smile. Fighting immediately resumed, but only for a second.

A rumbling shook the street. Spencer immediately thought it was a last ditch earthquake from that Dugtrio from earlier, but it wasn’t quite as intense. The already fractured asphalt shifted and cracked. The shaking seemed to be centralized in the very middle of the fighting, right under Nolan’s feet.

It didn’t take long for Nolan and the rest of the combatants to realize this. Each side quickly retreated, clearing a space in the middle. The cracks grew wider and more numerous until they bulged upwards, then came back down. The shaking stopped for a second.

Then an Onyx exploded out from the street, sending chunks of asphalt flying in every direction. It gave a mighty roar. Bits of the street caved in around it. As its roar died away, it leveled its head and glared at the Rockets.

Spencer began to realize what was happening. His theories were confirmed when a man clambered out of the hole on the far side.

The man was about six and a half feet tall, rippling with muscles, and for God knows what reason, wasn’t wearing a shirt. He gave a roar of his own to equal that of his Onyx.

Recognizing the man as Bruno of the Elite Four, the Rockets seemed to know what was happening. As one, they turned to flee.

As they did so, there was a flash of blue light from the darkness of the hole. A cold breeze blew down the street, making Spencer shiver. There was a crackling sound, and Spencer watched in amazement as the street on the other side of the hole began to freeze over, the ice spreading until it reached the retreating Rockets. When it caught up to them, they slipped up and some even froze to the ground.

All around Spencer, the police began to cheer and Bruno’s Onyx roared again. Spencer couldn’t help but join them and laugh as he watched the Rockets slip and scramble as they tried to get away. The Skyguard who weren’t frozen sent out their flying types and flew away. Some of the rest of the grunts fled into the Tower, but most of the ones that weren’t stuck ran randomly into various alleyways or down the street.

But the ones that ran straight down the street didn’t make it far, as around the corner came a huge group of Police and their Pokémon.

“That’s got to be Vermillion and Lavender!” a nearby officer exclaimed. They cheered even louder.

As the newcomers trapped and defeated Rocket after Rocket, Spencer watched as two more people came out of the hole in the street.

With a flap of wings, a Crobat flew out with a little old lady hanging onto the fingerlike protrusions under its body. The Crobat deposited her not far in front of where Spencer stood. She turned and watched the fleeing Rockets with a sneer.

“I told you!” She said in a loud raspy voice. “I knew we should have been more subtle!”

“It’s no big deal,” a soft voice responded. A pretty redhead climbed out of the hole. She seemed very out of place with her neat skirt and sweater.

Agatha and Lorelei. Spencer smiled. The Elite Four had come to their rescue.

Lorelei dusted herself off and walked over to Agatha. “Lapras’s ice got most of them,” she said.

Agatha leaned on her cane and watched as Onyx crawled the rest of the way out of the hole and followed its trainer down the street in pursuit of Team Rocket. “Hmph.”

“Regardless, I would suggest one of you lead some of these officers in pursuit.” A calm voice came from directly behind Spencer, making him jump.

He whipped around and saw Sabrina, the Saffron gym leader, standing with her Alakazam.

Agatha nodded. “You all!” She pointed at a group of relatively healthy looking officers nearby. “After them!”

They immediately took off down the street after Team Rocket.

“Crobat,” Agatha said, “take me one block down.” Her Crobat flapped over her head and she grabbed ahold of it. The Crobat flew her down the street.

“I will join,” Sabrina said and grabbed on to her Alakazam’s arm. There was a soft pop as she teleported away.

“Who’s in charge here?” Lorelei asked. She looked at Spencer.

Spencer blushed. “Umm…”

“I am,” a haggard voice said from nearby.

Spencer and Lorelei turned to see Chief Blackston. Spencer breathed a sigh of relief that the Celadon Police Chief was still alive. He was definitely injured, though.

Blackston held his ribcage with one hand while the other dangled loosely at his side. He limped up to them. “We’re treating our wounded before we do anything else. We need to regroup before we enter the Tower. Don’t know if we’ll find much more in terms of defenses though.”

Lorelei nodded. “Sounds okay to me.”

“I’m going in right now.” Nolan strode up and joined the conversation.

“I remember you… When did you get here?” Blackston asked as Lorelei appraised Nolan.

“Just in time,” Spencer answered.

“Well I can’t stop you from going in on your own, I suppose,” Blackston said. “Although I wouldn’t suggest it.”

“Too much is at stake here, I’m doing it.”

“Whatever,” Blackston said. “I’ll send some people in after you as soon as I can.” He shuffled off. Lorelei followed him.

*****

I was exhausted. All I could do is look down at my feet and watch as they somehow, miraculously, went up step after step.

“I am going to sleep for so long once this is all over,” I whispered to myself.

“This is as far as these stairs go,” Criss said.

I looked up. We had indeed reached the end of the stairway.

“Finally, the top,” Tim panted.

“Not yet. This isn’t the roof, but I imagine we can get there from somewhere on this floor.”

“Criss,” I said, “this is our last chance. We can still turn around to go help Lance and David. They need us…”

Criss ignored me. She gently pushed the door open and walked inside with Flareon. Tim and I followed her, with Rainer and Cubone taking up the rear.

We entered into an open space, some kind of lobby. An empty receptionist’s desk sat in the corner, among some potted plants that looked like they had seen better days. As with all the other floors we had visited, there were more windows than walls. The slowly setting sun provided the only light. It was completely silent.

A trio of elevator doors stood along the wall that we had come through. A set of elegant double doors stood across from us, I assumed leading to the President’s office. At the end of the short hallway to our right was a door marked “Roof Access”.

I pointed at the door. “There.”

But before any of us could move, the double doors swung open. Out stepped a pair of Skyguard flanking a man that had haunted me ever since Mt. Moon. He was tall and broad shouldered, with lightly tanned skin and a receding hairline. In any other circumstance, his impeccable black suit and tie would have fooled me into thinking he was an average businessman. But this was no Silph Co. executive; this was the leader of Team Rocket, the infamous Giovanni.

When he saw us, he looked more amused than shocked. The same could not be said for his bodyguards. The two gray-uniformed Rockets immediately reached for their belts to grab Poké Balls or some kind of weapon, but Giovanni raised a hand to stop them.

At my side, Tim stiffened and Criss let out a low growl.

Giovanni spoke first, his voice slow and calm. “Captain Walker has told me all about you.” He was talking solely to Criss.

“Has he told you what I’m going to do to you and your organization?” Criss snapped.

Giovanni sighed. “Please. You are a child. Regardless of what you’ve learned and the things you are capable of, you do not belong here.”

Criss growled again. “What were you doing with the moon stones from Mt. Moon? What are you doing here? Tell me!” she shouted at him. I would have crumbled before her, but Giovanni didn’t flinch.

“We used the moon stones to procure Nidoqueen and Nidoking for the defense of this city, as well as our own research. As for what we are doing here, it’s none of your business.” Giovanni paused for a second to let Criss seethe before continuing. “This is all way over your heads. You have caused me much trouble in the past and if Captain Walker had his way, you would be dead right now. But I am forgiving, for you are just children, regardless of the Pokémon you carry with you. I am giving you this one last chance to turn around. Give up. We will let you leave unscathed.”

“Like hell!” Criss screamed.

“That’s what I thought.” Giovanni turned to me. “Keith Anders.”

I was somewhat surprised that he knew my name, but it made sense. He must have looked me up after Mt. Moon.

“I extend the same offer to you. Though I know why you are here.”

Just Giovanni saying that reminded me exactly of why I was here. It relit that fire that had kept me following Criss all this time. I glared daggers at him.

“I apologize for your father’s death, but it was necessary.”

“Necessary?! Necessary?! When the hell is the murder of innocent men necessary?!” I shouted.

Giovanni remained calm. “If I were to explain it to you, you wouldn’t understand.”

I didn’t even bother responding to that cop out answer. “What about all the people you and your goons tortured and killed in this city over the past six months? Was that necessary too?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know exactly what my answer is.” I spat at him.

Giovanni looked at me for a second, a glimpse of disappointment just barely visible on his emotionless visage. Then he finally turned to Tim.

“Timothy Skeevich.”

I heard Tim stifle a gasp. This guy really had done his homework.

“Criss’s newest recruit. You’re an admirable trainer. You should be traveling the regions, challenging gyms and training your Pokémon, not fighting in some damn fool idealistic crusade. I know for a fact you have no reason to be here.”

For a second, I almost thought Tim would take Giovanni’s offer. Images of his scared and unsure face over the past few hours flashed through my mind.

“You’re wrong,” Tim said after a moment to gather his courage. “I do have a reason to be here. You’ve hurt people that I love, too. You’re evil and someone has to stand up to you so I’m staying here with my friends.”

Giovanni smiled dryly. “Cute.”

Without another word, he motioned his bodyguards to follow and they began walking towards the roof access door. As they went, Giovanni pulled a Poké Ball out of his pocket and dropped on the floor behind them.

Criss made to run after them, but the Poké Ball burst open and a Rhydon blocked the hallway. Rainer growled and Criss jumped back, but it was Tim who was the first to react.

“Cubone, Bone Rush. Like we practiced.”

Cubone rushed forward at the Rhydon, who gave a roar of defiance and swung its tail at Cubone.

Cubone jumped up as the Rhydon’s tail came around and landed on top of it. The Rhydon growled fiercely and swung its tail back and forth in an effort to throw Cubone off, but to no avail. Cubone scampered up the Rhydon’s tail and began to climb up the scaly spikes on its back.

The Rhydon roared again and tried to pull Cubone off of its back, but its stubby arms were too short. By the time it tried smashing its back into a wall to crush Cubone, Cubone had already reached the Rhydon’s head.

The ridges on the Rhydon’s back tore through the drywall as Cubone began to beat ferociously on Rhydon’s skull with its bone club. The Rhydon roared in anger and shook its head, arms flailing in an attempt to unseat Cubone, who held on to the Rhydon’s horn and continued beating away.

Each blow hit with a resounding smack that just sounded painful. I was surprised at the little Pokémon’s strength and determination.

It wasn’t long before the Rhydon had had enough. Its eyes rolled back into its head and it keeled over. Cubone neatly jumped off of its head.

“Nice one, Cubone,” said Tim.

Criss and I stared at him. “Where the hell did that come from?” I said.

Tim shrugged. “I’ve been training.”

Criss didn’t say anything. She just jumped over the fallen Rhydon and headed towards the roof access door with Flareon hot on her heels. Tim and I were quick to follow, Rainer lumbering slowly after us and Cubone darting ahead.

We hustled up a short metal staircase and burst out of a door onto the roof of the tower.

The wind blew fiercely, stealing away my body heat in a matter of seconds. I zipped up my jacket as I looked around for where Criss had gone.

We were higher in the air than I had ever even flown on Baron. A few neighboring skyscrapers attempted to block the spectacular view of the cityscape, but they were dwarfed by the building on which we stood.

In the slowly dying sunlight I could see a massive cylindrical spire coming out of the center of the roof. It was hard to tell how tall it was as it pierced through the clouds, a hundred or so feet farther up. Despite the spire and its hefty supports, the roof was surprisingly open. It had to be at least 10,000 square feet, if not more. The sheer size of it all awed me.

But most importantly, on one of the corners adjacent to the one with the stairs we had just exited was a raised helipad on which sat a large, black, tandem rotor helicopter with its blades beginning to spin. Criss was sprinting towards it. We took off after her.

I could see Giovanni standing walking up the ramp into the helicopter’s cargo bay. Already inside were Reese and his Skarmory.

The Skyguard captain pointed at us. One of his arms seemed to be wrapped in a makeshift cast. I smiled.

Giovanni turned around, a deep frown on his face. Reese began to make his way down the ramp towards us, but Giovanni grabbed his shoulder. Reese turned and they seemed to argue for a second, but I couldn’t hear anything over the wind and the increasing speed of the helicopter’s blades.

Finally, when we were almost there, Giovanni pushed Reese away. The Skyguard Captain and his Skarmory jumped off of the ramp onto the helipad as the ramp began to rise up.

“No!” I shouted against the wind. We had come so far, the Rocket boss couldn’t get away now!

Reese’s coat flapped wildly in the wind of helicopter as it rose off of the cement. Criss was nearly at the helipad now. She stopped before going up the stairs when Reese shouted something down to her. Tim and I quickly joined her side.

Reese was laughing as he continued to shout. “I just wish it was me! See you in hell, children.” With that, he hopped into the saddle on Skarmory’s back and they took off after the helicopter.

“What?” I was sure Reese had convinced Giovanni to let him fight us, but off he went.

Criss pulled a Poké Ball from her sash and released Aerodactyl. But before she could climb aboard, a resounding roar split through the air, drowning out even the wind.

It was like nothing I had ever heard before, a screeching, shouting, booming, roar. Like an amalgamation of every Pokémon cry I had ever heard.

We all turned to the source. Something was in the shadows between the spire’s supports. Rainer stopped where he had been trying to catch up to us and lowered himself, pointing his water cannons at whatever was in there.

There was a massive crash that shook the whole building, a burst of flame from the shadows, scratching and screeching, and then finally a CRACK followed by screams of metal bending and rubbing. The spire leaned, and then fell.

The huge metal spike cut an arc across the sky, its tip emerging from the clouds as it fell. Reese’s Skarmory just barely careened out of the way of being smacked out of the sky. The spire hit the roof with a BOOM that shook the building once more, then tipped and fell over the edge. I could hear it clanging and smashing into things on its way down until finally there was another BOOM from far below, and then no noise but the wind.

Simultaneously, the three of us and our Pokémon slowly looked back to the beast that had done this, now standing in the yellowing light of the setting sun. It roared its terrible roar again.

I had no idea what it was I was looking at. It definitely wasn’t any Pokémon I had ever seen before.

The creature’s two short, tree-trunk sized legs were immersed in the wreckage of what had at one point clearly been another one of those containment chambers like the one we had seen below.

My first thought was that it was some kind of mutated Blastoise, but it had just as many features of a Rhydon. A round, spiky armored body rose up at least eight feet, where a squat, wide-jawed head sat on its broad shoulders. Perhaps the most frightening thing about it was the hole in its chest showing off its oddly shaped ribs. Inside was not a heart, but fire. This thing had some kind of furnace in its chest.

“What in the hell…?” I couldn’t do anything but blink.

It began to step out of the debris with slow, heavy steps. Its two muscular arms outstretched, at first I thought for balance, but then I saw the challenge that those giant, evil eyes were screaming to Rainer.

Stretching its claws and baring its massive teeth, it looked up, pointing the drill-like horn on its head nearly completely backwards. It roared at the sky and stretched out a massive pair of wings.

This creature did not look like it could fly, but the wings were very similar to those of a Charizard, only so much more huge. They reached nearly ten feet in either direction.

Rainer slowly edged his way closer to us.

“What kind of P-Pokémon…?” I stuttered.

“I don’t think that is a Pokémon. At least… not…” Criss responded in a barely audible voice.

“Project Titan…” Tim and I said at once.

*****

NEXT: What will it take to beat Project Titan?

 

[Beth Pavell]

Re: "Unpredictable"

My standard reviewing style's probably not all that useful for an ongoing story, so I'll post thoughts as they occur to me.

Well, the chapter was shorter than I expected it to be. The action is easier to follow in Part 2 and I found that made a huge difference to readability. It's definitely good to see the forces of Kanto start to properly bring the hammer down on Team Rocket. Team Rocket has got away with a lot so far and I would have considered it a major problem if they weren't pursued.

I think the real decider for this chapter will actually come later. Taken by itself there's nothing to complain about. In fact this line:

Spencer grabbed him by both shoulders. “Look around you! If you have any kind of heart then it is your problem. You can either stay here and save lives or go up there and take one.”

Was pitched just right. As far as the battle for Saffron and Team Rocket's plan in general is concerned, I suspect the proof will be in the pudding

 

[Flaze]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Well I actually have to say I can see the ending approaching, I was a bit sad that Giovanni ended up getting away, but I guess since there's gonna be a sequel it does make sense in and of itself. I think that again the chapter really showed quite a bit of character developtment in regards to Spencer as well as showing how different he is from the rest of the characters we've come to know.

I like the fact that the Elite 4 intervined, I thought it was a nice touch rather than to keep them out of there cause it was starting to not make sense as to why they hadn't entered yet. I did want to see a bit more in regards to David but I assume we'll be seeing more of him in the next chapter hopefully.

Lastly there's Project Titan, which actually took me by surprise because I was actually expecting Mewtwo xD hell after it came out I was trying to see if it was any pokemon that was actually known but the fact that you created a completely original Pokemon was a nice twist to it.

 

[AetherX]

Re: "Unpredictable"

@Beth Pavell; I've been working my ass off on writing action scenes, since as you can tell they're kind of important to the fic. I'm happy that you think I've done at least somewhat well in that regard. And I'm glad you liked that line. There were a couple points in that chapter (that line included) where I felt the dialogue was a bit overdramatic, but it's nice ot hear I pulled it off anyway. Thanks muchly for the review!
@Flaze; Whose to say that Giovanni and Reese have gotten away? A certain Flygon-riding trainer probably isn't going to take that lying down. Unfortunately, we won't be seeing much more of Spencer in the future, although I've had thoughts about a one-shot about Spencer dealing with the aftermath of all this that would actually be a follow-up to Unsung Heroes. And as far as the Elite 4 goes, the concept of them intervening is one of the ideas that kickstarted this fic in the first place. If I recall correctly, there's an NPC in Saffron City who says something that basically amounts to "Why the hell doesn't the Elite 4 just pop by and give the Rockets what-for?"

Anyway, here's the next chapter right on time! The next one shouldn't be too far away, as it won't be terribly long (hopefully).

This time: The final fight! Keith, Criss, and Tim take on Team Rocket's mighty Project Titan!

Chapter 42

I had thought of the beast’s roar as an amalgamation of every Pokémon cry I had ever heard. It turns out that was a perfect description, for this looked for all the world like some kind of Frankenstein’s monster of Pokémon.

When its roar died down, leaving us once more with only the chilling wind, it lowered its head and glared in our direction.

Out of curiosity, I reached out with my mind. I had never made psychic contact with a wild Pokémon before, but I couldn’t help myself. What was this thing?

All minds have a flurry of emotions and thoughts that go every which way, but when connecting to a Pokémon, Sabrina had taught me to sort through it all and look for the one straight line: consciousness. It was what gives minds a purposeful line of thought, and what dissolved when we fell asleep, resulting in dreams. But this Pokémon… this creature… this beast… Project Titan… it was only chaos.

Raw, untargeted fury was all that filled this thing’s thoughts. The sheer strength of it threw me out of its mind. My attempt had only served to enrage it even more.

Project Titan roared once more as it began to charge towards us. Every lumbering step shook the roof under my feet and vibrated in my chest. My eyes widened.

Valiantly, Rainer ran forward to meet it. He only came up to the flaming hole in its chest, but he stuck out his stubby little arms and attempted to stop it. Immediately before collision, the clever Blastoise released a powerful Hydro Pump at Project Titan in an attempt to slow it down.

But it was not enough. There was a resounding CRACK and Rainer was thrown backwards, water spraying everywhere.

“Up onto the helipad, go!” Criss shouted. She pulled on my arm.

We rushed up the short stairs onto the platform as Project Titan roared at us and beat its wings once.

The single flap resulted in a burst of wind so powerful that I had to grab onto the helipad stairs’ railing in order not to be blown over.

“CUBONE!” Tim screamed.

The gust had sent the little Pokémon flying through the railing and over the edge.

Just in time, Aerodactyl took off and swooped to Cubone’s rescue, grabbing onto its bone club. Cubone held on for dear life as Aerodactyl flung it onto the helipad.

With the exception of Rainer, we were all up on the helipad at that point, just barely above Project Titan’s eye level.

Shakily, Rainer pushed itself back onto its feet and squared off with Project Titan once more.

“Now what?” Tim asked.

We both looked to Criss. She was holding her side where the Nidoqueen had slammed her earlier.

She looked back and forth between us, eyes wide. For perhaps the first time since I had met her, she was really, truly, terrified. “I… we…” She bit her lip and looked at me.

She was afraid, and that made three of us. Giovanni and Reese had escaped. Vengeance and anger could drive us no further. And now this thing was between us and the exit. With these winds, I wasn’t sure our flying Pokémon could carry us to safety, and who knew if Project Titan could or would follow?

“We have to fight it…” I said shakily.

“But how?” Tim looked at me too.

As the only one who had said anything closely resembling an idea since this thing had appeared, it looked like I was in charge.

“Umm…” I bit my lip, clearly a habit I had picked up from Criss.

We watched as Rainer and Project Titan collided once more. Without momentum on its side, Project Titan could not throw away Rainer so easily, but my starter’s strength was failing him. Rainer pushed the creature away and jumped back, firing a jet of water at the fiery hole in its chest, but Project Titan covered itself in its wings.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think despite my terror. “Strategy… strategy…” I muttered.

It was always what I had prided myself on: coming up with just the right tactics to defeat my enemy. Up until now, though, I had also always had the advantage of a team of powerful Pokémon. But nothing in any of the six Poké Balls on my belt could stand up against this thing.

I tried to remember what Sabrina had taught me about battling. It all came down to strengths and weaknesses… but what was this things weakness? I grabbed my head with both hands, trying to think as I heard Project Titan roar once more and Rainer shoot off another blast of water.

What did I even know about this thing? Nothing… besides the past minute since it had appeared.

“Okay,” I said, attempting to stop the quavering in my voice. I opened my eyes and looked at Criss.

“You know what you said about only one Pokémon out at a time?”

She nodded. “I’d say that doesn’t really matter anymore.”

“Agreed, put out all of your Pokémon,” I said. I looked at Tim, who nodded.

There was pops and flashes one after the other as we released our Pokémon.

Project Titan seemed to take notice of this commotion. It stopped slashing at Rainer’s face with its claws and looked towards us. Rainer jumped up to punch it in the nose and then retreated.

“We’ll have to work together,” I said. My eyes never left Project Titan’s rage-filled glare, but my voice began to steady.

I looked at Criss. “Be sure to call out all commands, so we know what each other are doing.” I looked at Tim. “Flying Pokémon should circle the tower to catch anyone that goes over, and only big Pokémon should engage it directly.”

They both nodded, and with a few shouted orders we began to get organized. Nidoqueen and Nidoking met up with Rainer and charged at the monster. It slowed them with another blast of wind from its wings, then revealed yet another of its tricks.

Vines burst from its back and flew at the attacking Pokémon.

“Where the hell did those come from?” Criss yelled.

The vines tangled themselves in the feet of Nidoking and Nidoqueen and wrapped Rainer up. Project Titan turned slightly in its effort to push Rainer over with its vines, revealing for the first time what was on its back.

My mutant-Blastoise observation had been somewhat accurate, as it definitely looked like this thing had some kind of shell. But it was peppered with spikes, and at the very middle was another hole in which sat the bases of its vines. It looked almost like a Tangela had embedded itself in this thing’s back.

With Rainer and the Nidos preoccupied, Project Titan once more looked at us and the rest of our Pokémon up on the helipad. It threw its head back, sticking its chest out, and roared again.

As it roared, I could see the fireball behind its exposed ribs glowing brighter. Then a burst of flame shot from the hole in its chest. The flamethrower billowed through the wind straight at us. Tim’s quick thinking saved the day.

He threw forward another Poké Ball that he had not already opened, and his Gyarados appeared in the way of the flames.

“Protect!” Tim commanded.

The giant water-dragon acquiesced, and a huge shimmering field appeared in front of it, shielding us all from the fire.

“Tim!” I shouted. “Get Gyarados out of the way now, I can’t see the battle!”

Tim quickly withdrew Gyarados to its Poké Ball. “What type even is this thing?” he shouted.

“I don’t think it has a type,” Criss answered. “It looks like it’s been genetically engineered by the Rockets.”

Meanwhile, Project Titan had mostly managed to get away from Rainer and the Nidos. It was now charging right for us. Tim’s Charizard came to the rescue.

Spitting a line of flame at the vines that attempted to grab it, Charizard dove towards Project Titan and slammed into it. The creature was knocked a step back. Wings flailing, it attempted to engage Charizard on the ground, but Charizard quickly flew away, dodging the vines that chased after it.

“Okay, better plan,” I said. “Big Pokémon stay at the base of the helipad to protect us. Special attackers try to barrage it, and fast Pokémon try to distract it.” I looked at Criss and Tim. They nodded in understanding.

“We should probably spread out a bit,” Tim said. “Rainer can protect you, I’ll go over there with Nidoqueen and my Pokémon, and Criss can head that way with Nidoking.” Tim pointed along the edge of the roof in either direction.

In response, Criss took off, jumping lightly down off of the helipad. Nidoking and the rest of her Pokémon followed her. Tim went the other direction, leaving me on the helipad with Tesla, Gideon, Dragonair, Psyke and Flareth. I moved closer to the edge, just above where Rainer stood.

I saw Tim release Gyarados again once he was in position. The huge Pokémon sprayed a powerful Hydro Pump at Project Titan, who took the blast full on.

Water splashed everywhere, drenching the roof. “Tesla, zap him now! You too, Dragonair.”

My Magneton hovered forward, magnets spinning. There was a loud crackling of electricity, then a bolt shot from its body to the puddle that Project Titan was now standing in. Dragonair joined in with a Thunderbolt from her horn.

Sparks flew and lightning bolts flashed along the surface of the puddle Gyarados had created. Project Titan roared in pain.

“Good, electricity does something at least,” I said to myself.

I could faintly hear Criss and Tim calling out orders to their Pokémon over the sound of the wind.

“Tesla and Dragonair, keep trying to shock it. Flareth and Gideon, move in and try to keep it busy. Do not let it hit you, whatever happens.”

My Pokémon made various cries of consent before fulfilling my commands.

Psyke looked at me curiously.

“Use your psychic abilities to keep everyone out of harm’s way,” I told him. “This thing won’t pull its punches.”

Flareth ran forward with Gideon Aqua Jetting along beside him as Criss’s Flareon and Arbok, and Tim’s Cubone, Gengar, and Beedrill did the same.

Project Titan, having just fought off a dive bomb from Criss’s Aerodactyl, seemed a little overwhelmed by the smaller Pokémon that had begun to swarm it. It attempted to swat at them with its wings and vines, as well as firing jets of flame from its chest, but to no avail. Our Pokémon were too fast.

They darted this way and that, avoiding Project Titan’s attacks as best as possible while still getting it a spit of acid here and a Night Shade there.

The barrage of water, electricity, Razor Leaves, and fire from our special attackers slowed considerably out of fear of hitting a teammate.

I was reminded of my battle with Erika, where her Tangela had dominated the battlefield in a storm of vines. That was exactly what our Pokémon were facing, except there was also a mutant behemoth at the center of those vines.

“Try to aim fire attacks at the vines on its back and water attacks at its chest!” I shouted above the wind. Maybe there was something we could with type effectiveness after all…

I watched Gideon dart around, attempting to slash apart any vines that he encountered.

“Gideon!” I shouted. “Get a bit closer and use Aqua Jet!”

But as Gideon was sometimes wont to do, he ignored me. As Project Titan attempted to slash Tim’s Beedrill with its claws, it sent a pair of vines towards Gideon. My fossil Pokémon danced back and forth, waving its sword arms about and attempting to cut the vines.

“Gideon!” I shouted again. “You have to strike while he’s distracted, then get away!”

He ignored me, rolling forward and slicing off the buds of the two vines with his sword arms. The vines retracted in pain that Project Titan clearly felt.

“You can’t draw attention to yourself like that!” I shouted to Gideon.

Another vine shot out to swat at Gideon’s legs, but he managed to jump over it. He then tried to decapitate this vine as well, but failed to notice that Project Titan had squared itself with him and was taking in breath.

A searing fireball shot from its chest and enveloped Gideon. He cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Given his resistance to fire, it must have been incredibly hot. The vine he had been attempting to fight wrapped itself around his ankles and yanked him into the air.

Project Titan went back to fighting the other Pokémon as the vine with Gideon proceeded to slam him repeatedly against the cement.

“No!” I shouted.

Gideon gave a shriek of pain with each impact. The vine slammed him three… four… five times, then threw him away.

Gideon’s body flew through the air like a ragdoll.

“Psyke!” I said, but he was already on it.

Psyke pointed a spoon at Gideon, gently slowing his trajectory and pulling him towards us. He deposited Gideon’s unmoving body at my side.

I knelt down beside him. “Please be alive…” I reached out with my mind.

Gideon was unconscious and badly injured, but alive. I breathed a sigh of relief and returned him to his Poké Ball.

“That… is why you LISTEN TO ME!” I shouted at the ball, before returning it to its place on my belt.

One down, and who knew how many more would fall? Who knew how many would survive? I knew I had gotten lucky.

“Keith!” I heard Criss shout. I looked towards her.

She continued shouting but I couldn’t hear well over the wind.

“What?” I called back.

She shouted again, but I only could make out a few words. “Decoy… Hydro… chest!”

It was enough to get the gist what she was thinking. I waved to signal my understanding.

At a command from its trainer, Criss’s Arbok got down on its belly and began slithering to a position between Rainer and Project Titan. Ahead of it ran Flareon, who blew flames left and right, charring any vines that came near them.

Project Titan took notice. With a flap of its wings, a blast of air sent Tim’s Beedrill tumbling away, leaving it free to turn towards me and my Pokémon. Tim’s frail little bug-type had been doing a great job of harassing our hulking opponent, but now fell to the ground, unmoving. Tim recalled it to its Poké Ball.

This thing really was powerful…

Flareon kept running, moving out of range of Project Titan’s vines, but Arbok stopped and spat a gob of purple acid that arced through the air towards the beast.

It attempted its usual blocking technique of covering itself with its wings, but fortunately Tim was on top of things. Or at least, his Charizard was. It dove down and grabbed ahold of Project Titan’s right wing. Following suit, Baron dove and grappled with its left wing. The purple goo hit Project Titan square in the face.

It gave a terrifying roar of pain as the acid did its work. Its wings flared out, sending both Baron and Charizard rolling away. They both quickly took flight again.

Project Titan clawed at its face in an almost comical fashion, but being temporarily blinded wasn’t going to stop it. The fire in its chest glowed brightly as it turned in the general direction of Arbok.

“Now! Hydro Pump!” I shouted to Rainer.

Rainer spread his legs for balance and lowered his water cannons. There was a loud rushing noise and a great torrent of water sped through the air. There was a hissing, shortly drowned out by another pained roar from Project Titan as steam filled the air. It was a direct hit.

The impact of the water sent Project Titan stumbling about. Criss’s Omastar blasted it with a Hydro Pump of its own, which was enough to make the monster fall over onto its back. Our Pokémon closed in. I could tell that the fire in the monster’s chest was considerably dimmer than before.

Arbok was the first to get there, much to its own misfortune. Project Titan must have been nimbler than it looked, for when Arbok got close, it rolled over and grabbed ahold of the Pokémon’s tail. Arbok gave a hiss of shock as Project Titan got back to its feet and pulled Arbok closer.

Arbok flailed wildly in an attempt to escape. Project Titan slapped it against the ground, prompting a loud, terrible screech of pain.

“Psyke, try to free it!” I said.

Psyke pointed its spoon and closed its eyes. I could see a faint blue glow around Project Titan’s hand as Psyke attempted to pry its claws apart enough so that Arbok could escape, but Project Titan just grabbed ahold with its other hand as well and swung Arbok around. Our nearby Pokémon jumped out of the way of Project Titan’s living flail, but Tim’s Cubone was too slow.

Arbok’s head smashed into the little Pokémon, sending it flying away. It didn’t get up. I noticed that Arbok had stopped thrashing about. Project Titan slammed it into the ground twice, letting it go the second time. The snake lay completely still.

“Quickly, pull it away!” I ordered Psyke. But it was too late.

Project Titan raised a stumpy leg and brought its foot down on Arbok’s skull. There was a sickening crunch just barely audible over the wind and blood spattered across the cement. I grimaced and averted my eyes, looking at Criss instead.

She stood completely still, one arm clutching her side, and the other dangling uselessly. Her face was blank and emotionless.

I made a quick count. Four Pokémon had already fallen, leaving us with fifteen. Not bad odds, but given how Project Titan did not seem to be tiring, I was frightened.

Flareth was the first to recover from Arbok’s gruesome death. He dashed forward, flames gathering around him, and launched himself square into Project Titan’s spiky shell-like back, right where the vines were all connected. Project Titan gave a roar of surprise.

Flareth bit and slashed, fiery claws and flaming teeth tearing into the bushel of vines. The vines that had been keeping the smaller Pokémon at bay convulsed wildly. Many of them burned off and fell uselessly to the ground.

Project Titan’s immediate response was to simply shake back and forth. It was enough. Flareth came loose, his shoulder slamming directly onto one of the many spines on Project Titan’s back, drawing a yelp. Flareth fell, and when he tried to get back up again, his bleeding shoulder gave way. I quickly grabbed his Poké Ball from my belt and recalled him before Project Titan could do anything else.

Fourteen…

Project Titan stared for a second at where its prey had been lying then followed the line of the Poké Ball’s laser back towards me. With a roar of fury, it began to charge in my direction.

“Uh oh…”

As it ran, Project Titan shrugged off first a Thunderbolt from Tesla, then a Solar Beam from Tim’s Victreebel, and finally a Hydro Pump from Criss’s Omastar. Psyke attempted to throw up a Barrier, but the only thing that really slowed it down was Rainer.

I was still up on the helipad and Rainer wasn’t, but I could hear the crunch as Project Titan slammed into him. The impact pushed him backwards, slamming him into the helipad’s supports with a loud crack.

Rainer roared in pain as Project Titan immediately pulled back and clawed him twice across the face. The few surviving vines on its back flailed about, keeping any other Pokémon from intervening.

“No!” I shouted.

Mind racing, I quickly tore off my backpack unzipped it. I tried to ignore the sounds of Rainer getting beaten and the other Pokémon trying in vain to help him. I ruffled through the pack, pulling out clothes and food and supplies until finally I found what I was looking for: a worn Poké Ball, unmarked except for a small blue jewel embedded in its top half. Rainer’s Poké Ball had sat, nearly forgotten, at the bottom of my pack ever since I had repacked it in Pallet, and I was glad that I had kept it.

Praying that it still worked after all this time, I pointed it at my bloodied starter and squeezed. Sure enough, the familiar red laser shot out and enveloped Rainer, returning him to the safety of the capsule.

Not really thinking, I removed the first ball on my belt, Psyke’s Ultra Ball, to make room for it. I tossed the Ultra Ball into my pack, but before I could put it on, Project Titan had jumped up onto the helipad with the help of a flap of its massive wings.

It was even bigger up close. I gulped.

With a songlike cry, Dragonair slithered forward horn first, but the monster just swatted her away. Project Titan gave a furious growl and a single vine wended its way forward, wrapping around my leg before I could even think to run.

It pulled my leg out from under me, smashing my face into the cement in the process. I shouted in pain as the cuts Reese had given me reopened. My hands scrambled reflexively at the cement, but there was nothing to grab on to. The vine yanked me into the air like a blood soaked piñata. I was briefly amused by the gruesome thought of the monster blindfolded and attempting to hit me with a baseball bat.

Great, blood loss was making me delirious. Just great.

I couldn’t really tell what was going on from my upside down vantage point with blood rushing up my face, but I could hear commotion. I was swung side to side for a second, giving me a brief glance of Psyke slashing the air with his spoon. The Psycho Cut severed the vine holding me right as Baron arrived to grab me by my leg and carry me away.

Baron’s talons dug into my calf, drawing blood, but I was at least glad that he wouldn’t drop me.

He dumped me unceremoniously on the ground near Criss, who ran over to help me up.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

I attempted to wipe the blood out of my eyes with my hand, but only succeeded in smearing it around. “Probably not,” I said. “I’m really sorry about Arbok.”

Criss shook her head and didn’t respond.

“How’re you?” I pointed at her ribs. She was slightly hunched over.

“Not good, the painkillers are wearing off.”

“Already? Where… ow!” It hurt to move any muscles in my face, making talking painful. “Where did you even get painkillers that could dull a broken rib?”

“Not now, we have to concentrate if we’re going to win, only thirteen Pokémon are left.” She looked over my shoulder at the fighting and grimaced. “Twelve…”

I spun around. Charizard had attempted to come to my rescue and now had a vine around its throat. It was being repeatedly slashed by Project Titan’s vicious claws and slammed into the helipad.

It was Gyarados that came to the rescue. Showing remarkably quick thinking, Tim recalled Gyarados, then threw the Poké Ball as far as he could towards the fighting in an attempt at a stealth attack. It worked.

Gyarados’s Hydro Pump slammed into Project Titan like a train, causing it to lose its grip on Charizard, who Dragonair quickly pulled to safety. Tim recalled his starter.

“How the hell are we supposed to kill this thing?” Criss said.

“Well, it’s definitely hurt… if we could just hit it with all we’ve got, all at once.”

“Tim!” Criss shouted, waving him over.

I closed my eyes and tried to connect to Psyke without falling asleep, which was surprisingly difficult. Psyke, we need you. Get out of there.

Tim dashed towards us. On his way, he recalled Gyarados and his other immobile Pokémon and sent Criss’s Nidoqueen charging at Project Titan in a bid to buy us some time. Baron and Aerodactyl circled wearily, only occasionally diving in for brief slashes at the monster’s face.

Psyke touched a hand to Tesla’s topmost orb and they both disappeared from the helipad, teleporting to a short distance behind Criss and me.

Tim rushed up to us breathlessly. Gengar and Dragonair were at his side. “What’s the plan?” he panted.

I thought for a second. “Okay, what if we... Ah! Damn, this hurts!” I wiped some more blood from my face. I could barely see out of my left eye at this point due to the swelling. I bet I looked like a wreck.

I spat out some blood before continuing. “We need to get it to stand still and keep it from blocking.”

Tim’s face lit up. “I’ve been working with Gyarados to do a kind of controlled Surf, Whirlpool thing that puts a shield of water around the enemy, that might help!”

Criss nodded. “But how can we be sure it won’t burst through?”

Tim shrugged. “Also, it needs an external water source and I don’t think there’s enough on the ground yet, maybe Omastar could spray some more?”

“That would work,” I said. “I could also have Tesla electrify the shield to prevent it from escaping.”

“Then what?” Criss asked.

I looked at Psyke. “Do you think… ouch.” I wiped some more blood away and winced. “Do you think you could open a hole in the shield just big enough for everyone else to use their most powerful attacks? Just a bubble of air in the way of the shield?”

Psyke nodded.

“Hit it with all we’ve got…” Criss said.

“Yep,” I said.

We were interrupted by a cry of pain from Nidoqueen. Project Titan had thrown her from the helipad to the ground below. She didn’t get up.

Criss promptly recalled her Pokémon from a distance.

Project Titan looked at us for a moment, its body heaving with each breath it took. The grotesque hole in its chest held only the dimmest of flames, and its vines now all hung uselessly behind it.

It must have lacked the energy to even roar, for it didn’t make a noise before jumping down off of the helipad and making its way towards us.

“Go,” I said, just loud enough for Criss to hear.

At Criss’s command, Omastar blasted Project Titan with water, but didn’t let up. Tim released his remaining Pokémon from their Poké Ball and gave his orders. Gyarados glared down at the spluttering Project Titan, the tendrils on its chin waving erratically.

The quickly forming puddle around Project Titan’s feet back to spin and then rise up off of the ground. It formed a dome over the monster’s head. The swirling water reflecting the setting sun threw off beautiful oranges and purples, but it was still possible to see the huge shadowy blob inside that was Project Titan. Immediately, a huge wing poked through the barrier.

But right before I gave Tesla the order to shock it, I realized something.

“Wait, this will hurt Omastar,” I told Criss.

“Just do it!”

But my hesitation had already cost us. Apparently the monster’s remaining vines weren’t as useless as they looked. A pair of them shot out of the dome of water and wrapped around Gyarados.

Gyarados roared in anger and reflexively pulled back, yanking Project Titan out of the dome of water, which immediately collapsed as Gyarados’s concentration broke.

Project Titan used the momentum of Gyarados’s pull to carry forwards, running at the huge Pokémon without any kind of hesitation. Before Gyarados could block or retreat, Project Titan lowered its head and bored its drill-like horn straight into Gyarados’s underbelly. Gyarados’s scaly armor cracked and gave way, prompting an even louder roar of pain and anger.

“Tim! Recall him now!” I shouted. “Everyone, use your strongest attacks now! NOW!”

It wasn’t perfectly coordinated, but the rainbow of beam-like attacks shot through the air, slamming in to Project Titan right as Gyarados disappeared in a flash of red.

The impact of so many attacks launched Project Titan backwards. The monster slid along the ground for several yards.

Project Titan was shaking violently. It managed to get its feet back under itself, but could barely stand, even with the help of its wings for support.

We stared at it for a moment. It looked up; its terrible eyes making contact with mine once more. It gave another roar, this one weaker than the rest. But then it took a step towards us. And another.

I looked around at our Pokémon. They were panting from overexertion. That final blast had cost them every last remnant of their energy. Except for one…

Baron let out a screeching war-cry as he flew over us and bore down on Project Titan.

“Finish it, Baron!” I cried, ignoring the pain in my face. “Hurricane!”

Baron pulled up just out of reach of Project Titan and hovered for a second, but then began beating his wings faster and faster, buffeting the monster with gusts of air. He shrieked again as the winds grew faster and faster, pummeling the monster.

Project Titan struggled to keep its wings in close, but it began to slide backwards ever so slowly. Finally the gale force winds caught its wings, snapping them open and sent the monster flying backwards, smashing into the helipad with a grating crash. Baron swept around landed back at my side.

I smiled, and then when Project Titan’s body failed to move, I began to laugh. Tim followed shortly after, and Criss even managed a slight grin. I pulled them both into a hug. Criss groaned in pain, but I could tell she didn’t really mind.

Too tired for real congratulations, we wordlessly began recalling our Pokémon. When only Psyke and Flareon were left, we approached the helipad to retrieve my pack. But when we passed Project Titan’s body lying in a pile of debris, Criss stopped us.

“Wait!” she said. “I just saw it twitch!”

We stared for a second. One crumpled wing finally twitched ever so slightly, making us all jump. But then something very odd happened.

“Is it… glowing?” Tim asked.

Criss inched closer to inspect it. Flareon growled.

Indeed, the monster’s body had begun to take on an eerie blueish-purple glow. For a terrifying second I thought it might be evolving, but then the light began to coalesce and flicker, like fire.

The blue fire began to come to life all over Project Titan’s body. I watched in confusion as it began to slowly consume the monster starting from the tips of its wings.

“But it’s not burning…” I said.

“It’s disintegrating?” Tim suggested.

The fire grew even brighter, and we could actually feel its prickly, strange heat. If heat can be strange… It made an odd fizzing noise, scaring us into taking a step back.

The monster moved again, pushing itself up ever so slightly. It raised its squat head and opened a single eye. It was staring directly at me. Psyke stepped forward defensively.

Out of curiosity, I tried once again to touch its mind. I knew it was a stupid idea, but I couldn’t help it. Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I reached out.

Once again, I saw the chaos, but there was something different this time. There was no fury, only a relieved kind of exhaustion, like a great burden had been lifted. Then, to my surprise, I found it. I found this creature’s orderly line of thought, or maybe it found me? It emerged from the chaos and grabbed ahold of my mind. Out of panic, I tried to withdraw, but it held on, like it was controlling me. Maybe if I could signal Psyke for help… but I couldn’t move. My eyes stayed shut.

Then I realized what it was doing. It was pressing emotions against me. Disconcerting, but harmless nonetheless. I opened up and let the emotions flow. Warm, exhausted relief… I recognized it as gratitude. Gratitude? For what? Killing it?

The emotions changed. The warmth stayed, but the relief changed to… empathy? Companionship? Family? What the hell could I have in common with this thing?

The emotions were suddenly cut off and my eyes jerked open. “What the hell?” I repeated, this time out loud.

I expected some kind of question from either Criss or Tim, but they were still staring at Project Titan’s body. Its eye had closed and its head fallen. The blue and purple fire consuming its body glowed brighter and hotter.

“What’s going on?” Tim said.

We all took another step back as the fizzing noise grew louder. The monster’s body was glowing bright blue now, so brightly that I almost couldn’t bear to look at it.

Then it exploded. Project Titan exploded.

I could vaguely make out Psyke calling up an impromptu psychic barrier, but the force of the blast was still enough to lift me off of my feet and throw me backwards. Searing heat burned my skin and a powerful metallic odor filled my nostrils.

I covered my face with my arms and tried to scream, but I couldn’t hear or see. The cement beneath us was cracking and giving way. My brain and heart pounded wildly and my stomach felt like it was turning cartwheels. I couldn’t even tell if I was standing or in the air. Then I felt something slam into my head. It was more than enough to knock me out.

*****

NEXT: Nolan vs Reese!

^That will be the final action chapter for a little while.

And so ends my 1000th post on this wonderful forum! Unpredictable is the reason I joined up in the first place and one of the main reasons I've stuck around so long. I want to thank all the lovely people who have helped me get this far, but I'll save my more eloquent appreciation for when I finally finish this damn thing.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Beth Pavell]

Re: "Unpredictable"

You're learning, Aether Slick battle, and considering how many pokémon you had to keep track of, that must have been a devil to write. A good length, I think. If it had been much longer I would have started to get bored. Pity that Project Titan rather reminded me of Venustoise from The Ghost of Maiden's Peak, but oh well. I think it was a good call to be vague about Project Titan's exact capabilities - that would have required a mass of exposition that wouldn't have been all that relevant anyway

 

[Life]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Wow. Just wow.

I started reading this Sunday afternoon, and finished up tonight. I haven't stopped reading it all day, and had my phone out most of my day at school. There's not a lot of stories I've come across that get me into that 'zone', per say, so kudos to you. I've thoroughly enjoyed all the chapters you have, and to be honest I was a bit sad to find out it wasn't completely finished yet. I really love Criss' character, and I can clearly see why she won two awards. You've also done a phenomenal job with the plot and foreshadowing it so it doesn't come off as- dare I say- unpredictable, yet completely obvious either. I've also noticed a lot of growth from chapter one all the way up to chapter forty-two, which is always a good thing.

Sorry to leave such a generic review, but after plowing through this I had to leave something! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Jimmy95]

Re: "Unpredictable"

I think this is very great fanfiction. My favorite is Cris.

 

[Flaze]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Well, I know it took a while but I was able to actually catch up to Unpredictable xD sorry it took so long, life got kind of busy and I had a lot of other fics on my plate too.

Anyways I thought the fight was pretty good. It never felt boring to me honestly and the way it was paced as well as the way it flowed was really well done. I was sad that Arbok got killed, other than that nothing much really went on in the chapter, though I'm still interested on what the story is behind Project Titan and why it felt connected to Keith.

 

[AetherX]

Re: "Unpredictable"

@Beth Pavell; I'm glad you liked it! Protip: when writing a mass Pokemon battle like that, keep a list of each Pokemon in the battle and cross them off as they get knocked out. Part of the revision process should be making sure each one is mentioned where necessary. It's taken me a while to wrap my head around writing huge battles like that and I'm always nervous posting them, but I'm pretty proud of how that one turned out. I actually really liked Venustoise's design, so although I completely forgot about its existence until after the fact, it probably subconsciously influenced my design of Project Titan.
@Life; I know exactly the zone that you are talking about, and if I managed to get you there then my job as a writer is done. That might be the best compliment I've ever received. Welcome to the painstakingly slow ride of waiting for me to upload!
@Flaze; Unfortunately the whole story behind Project Titan's connection with Keith won't properly resolve until a couple arcs in to the sequel, but be assured that everything is coming together. Thanks for the review!

Criss has taken Best Supporting character once more in the Summer 2014 awards! A huge thanks for all of your support! In celebration, she won't be appearing in this chapter.

The usual apologies about how long this has taken... It's longer than I expected it to be, but I think it's worth it. Hopefully you agree. Enjoy!

This time: Nolan vs Reese!

Chapter 42.5

“What’s so important?” Spencer asked Nolan. “What do you want in Silph Tower? Why are you even here?”

The two men stood in the street outside of Silph Tower. Police, medical crews, and Pokémon scurried around them, tending to the wounded and chasing after the fleeing Team Rocket.

Nolan sighed. “I’m looking for a girl named Criss. I saw that she was at the tournament in Viridian and I have reason to believe that she came here and entered the tower. Now if you’ll excuse me…“

“Hold on,” Spencer said. “My brother was traveling with a girl named Criss.”

Nolan stopped. “She’s got a couple companions. Which one’s your brother?”

“His name’s Keith,” Spencer began to panic. “He’s tall, light brown hair, kind of quiet… you don’t think...?”

“Yeah, I’ve met him before.” Nolan nodded. “I like him. I bet he’s in there too.”

“What?” Spencer shouted. “What would he be… why?”

Nolan just shrugged. “He’s with Criss, as far as I know. I guess he’s got something against Team Rocket too. Not surprising, given what they’ve done here.”

Spencer stared. “Dad… But Keith couldn’t have… He can’t have… and Tim too?”

Nolan shrugged again and nodded.

Spencer looked down at Jolteon, who was loyally standing by his legs. “Then I guess… I guess I should come too.”

“That’s fine with me,” Nolan said.

“But what about the Skyguard Captain? He’s still in there somewhere.”

Nolan squeezed his hands into fists and looked up the tower. “I’m going in to find Criss… but I’m not leaving until I kill Walker. Now let’s go.” He stormed off towards the tower.

Spencer hurried after him.

Nolan stepped straight in to the tower’s lobby, his feet crunching on the remnants of the once ornate glass doors. His eyes scanned the room for threats, but it was deserted. Behind him, Spencer swore.

“This is going to be awful,” Nolan heard Spencer say to himself. “We need to make sure to get any prisoners to safety,” he added out loud.

Nolan whipped around to glare at him. “I’m here for two reasons: find Criss, and kill Reese Walker.” Without waiting for a response, he made his way around the dry marble fountain that was the centerpiece of the lobby and pressed the up arrow by the series of elevators on the other side of the room. Nothing happened.

Nolan swore. “Stairs, then.”

“Aren’t you going to let out a Pokémon?” Spencer asked.

Nolan watched Spencer’s Jolteon sniff the air as he opened the door to the stairwell. “I’ll let out a Pokémon when I need it.”

The stairwell was fairly minimal, just some concrete steps surrounded by white painted brick walls ascending up the middle of the tower. Nolan began to climb. “Try to keep up.”

They hurried up the stairs.

“Walker flew up to somewhere near the top,” Nolan said.

“Then how come we don’t just fly up there and work our way down?” Spencer asked between breaths.

“Because I have no idea where Criss is going to be. The elevators are out, so they must have taken the stairs as well. I’m sure we’ll find some evidence that they were here before long.” He stopped and looked at the sign on the door they were passing: floor five.

Nolan gave an angry growl. “How tall is this place anyway?”

“Just over… a hundred stories… I think,” Spencer replied, already out of breath.

Nolan swore loudly and hit the staircase’s railing with his hand. It rang out with a dull gong. He looked up the stairwell, spiraling forever upwards. He began to think. The staircase was too small for Flygon to fly, but if they went outside they would miss any clues as to where Criss and Walker might be.

“You have any grass-types?” he asked Spencer.

Spencer nodded as he caught his breath. “Yeah, a Tangela.”

“Perfect. Do you think its vines could pull us up? Just a few floors at a time.”

Spencer nodded and recalled Jolteon, who had been following along this whole time, replacing it with a ball of noodle-like green vines standing on a cartoonish pair of red shoes. On its trainer’s instructions, Tangela threw a pair of vines far upwards, where they wrapped around the railing several floors above them. Tangela jumped over the railing and reeled itself up. Once it got to the top, it turned around and threw another pair of vines back down. Nolan reached out and tugged on one of them.

“Alright, let’s give this a shot.”

Somewhat hesitantly, Spencer grabbed ahold of the other vine with both hands and told his Tangela to begin hauling them up.

It wasn’t easy to hold on as Tangela began to jerkily pull them up, but Nolan found that he could ease the burden on his arms by clamping the vine with his feet. Once they had scrambled over the railing, Nolan looked at the placard on the door at this floor: eleven.

“That’s more like it.”

*****

Even with Tangela’s assistance, climbing up the tower was slow going. Despite that, it wasn’t long before they found evidence of fighting. Sections of the stairs and railing were missing in places and scorch marks blotted the walls at regular intervals. They made quick searches of each floor that seemed like it had seen a lot of action.

Somewhere in the mid-sixties they found a research lab that was completely trashed. Computers and other scientific equipment was shattered and overturned. A Nidoqueen and a Rhydon lay in a heap in the corner, by a section of window that had been smashed out. A shallow pool of water flooded the ground. The sound of grunts and swearing led them to a group of Rockets that had been tied together in the corner of the room.

The Rockets shouted obscenities at them, but Nolan and Spencer decided it was best to leave them for the police. Once ensuring that their bindings were sufficiently secure, they continued upward.

“Glad to see they’re doing good work, at least,” Nolan commented.

Spencer only nodded. He looked worried, but Nolan could tell that he was at least a little bit proud of his younger brother.

A few vine-trips later they could hear dull crashes coming from one of the floors above.

Without a word to Spencer, Nolan rushed up the stairs. He was excited, but also worried. He would be able to see Criss soon, for the first time in years. Potential scenarios began running through his head. The one that seemed most appealing was if Criss was currently fighting Walker. He would be able to join the battle and end everything once and for all.

Nolan burst through the door on the floor that the sounds were clearly coming from. Spencer followed him down a short hallway to an open door where they could hear shouting and the indiscernible cries of various Pokémon. Nolan peeked inside.

The room looked like a lounge of some kind, but the various couches and potted plants had been thrown about in the brawl that was currently happening. At the middle of it, Nolan recognized Lance of the Kanto Elite Four and the boy that had recently been crowned Kanto champion. The only Pokémon they seemed to have left were a Dragonite, a Golem, and a Scyther. They were surrounded by at least thirty Skyguard. Much to Nolan’s chagrin, none of them were the Skyguard captain.

As he watched, Lance’s Dragonite jumped back so that it was next to its trainer. Flashes of fire and ice from the surrounding enemies chased after it, but at a call from Lance, a golden bubble spread outwards from Dragonite, encasing the outnumbered trainers and their Pokémon.

“What do we do?” Spencer whispered from behind him.

Nolan clenched his teeth. “You should stay out here. I’m going in.”

Plucking Flygon’s Luxury Ball from his belt, Nolan stepped in to the room. No one noticed him until the green bug-like dragon appeared in their midst.

“Better keep that shield up, Lance,” Nolan said. The Skyguard all looked at him, some raising weapons. Nolan responded by grabbing the red-tinted flight goggles that hung around his neck and pulling them over his eyes.

“Flygon, give them a sandstorm. A proper one.” Nolan stepped back into the little alcove by the door to keep out of the way.

Flygon gave an eerie howl and began to flap her wings, which started to glow a dull green.

In from the shattered window came a gust of wind so strong that it nearly knocked the Skyguard off of their feet. Lance and the Kanto Champion watched in awe from the safety of their protective shield.

The wind whipped around the room, spiraling in a tornado and picking up every piece of debris it washed over. In most outdoor environments this would have already turned into a deadly abrasive sandstorm. But indoors the debris that it swept away was of a different variety.

One potted plant, then another, was picked up off the ground and crashed into unsuspecting Skyguard, shattering. The dirt and shards flew around the room, blinding and injuring the Rockets.

Nolan watched in grim satisfaction as the wind picked up even more. It seemed to have little effect on Flygon, but the Skyguards’ smaller Pokémon had already been picked up and were being swept around the room like ragdolls. With another howl, Flygon’s wings glowed even brighter and the wind’s speed doubled. Her wings beat faster and faster until they were nothing more than a green blur, producing a songlike buzz. The Rockets shouted in fear as they were swept off of their feet alongside their Pokémon.

Nolan grinned. These men had committed uncountable acts of evil in the past six months, no, their entire lives. They deserved what they were getting.

The wind picked up even more, making Nolan’s jacket snap wildly even in his protected alcove. One Skyguard was smashed into a couch and then sent screaming out of the broken window. Flygon twisted her long neck around to look at her trainer. Nolan motioned her to continue.

A few lucky Skyguard were only smashed into the walls and furniture, but many followed the first out of the window. Their Pokémon met similar fates.

When the swearing and scrambling and attempts to grab ahold of something solid and fight back finally ceased, not many Skyguard were left being thrown around the room, broken and bloodied. Nolan raised his hand and ordered Flygon to stop.

The winds died as suddenly as they had come, and the spiraling debris fell to the floor. Lance’s Dragonite dropped its protective bubble. Arms crossed, Lance looked around the room, his face unreadable. He was a tall man with a charismatic black cloak and dark clothes. His hair was dyed red and slicked back. Although Lance had a public reputation for a certain breed of eccentricity, he now stood completely silent.

“You killed them.”

Nolan turned to look at Spencer, who stood in the doorway. Nolan removed his flight goggles and let them dangle around his neck. “Yep.”

He turned back to talk to Lance and the Champion, but Spencer entered the room, grabbed his shoulder, and spun him around.

“What?” Nolan was kind of getting tired of this guy. He was clearly an experienced trainer, but that could only get you so far in these kinds of fights.

“You didn’t give them a chance to surrender, you didn’t debilitate them, you just threw them out the window, like they were nothing,” Spencer spat, a look of disgust on his face.

“Because they are nothing!” Nolan retorted. Spencer was at least a foot taller than Nolan, but Nolan wasn’t intimidated. “What, did you think I could just walk in here and show off Flygon and they would raise their arms in surrender? No! They would have done the same to us!”

Lance’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two of them, but he didn’t say anything or intervene. The Champion had walked over to a wall and was now leaning against it, clearly shaken up by the whole situation. The Golem and Scyther followed him.

“But that’s just it!” Spencer shouted. “If all you do is what they would do then what’s the difference between you and them?”

His voice was more than just angry. It was passionate. Something about his words bit into Nolan, but after the shit-storm of a day he’d been having, Nolan wasn’t about to be preached to by some upstart trainer who thought he knew everything just because he’d earned a few badges.

“The difference? What would you know about the difference? I’ve been fighting these bastards since their inception!” Nolan stopped himself before his speech degenerated into incoherent swearing and shouts. Instead he turned away with a growl, seething.

“Regardless of your methodology, we are thankful for your rescue,” Lance said.

Nolan didn’t respond. He desperately wanted to punch something. Part of him hoped one of the few unconscious Rockets still lying in the corners would get up and charge him.

“David! Have you seen Keith and Tim?” Spencer asked.

The Champion, David, seemed to recognize Spencer, but looked confused to see him here. “Uh… yeah. They uh… went upstairs. What the hell’s going on here? Why are they here? And who was that girl?”

The mention of Criss brought little comfort to Nolan.

“I’m not entirely sure what they think they’re doing here, but I’m here for Silph. Were they okay?”

Lance and David both nodded. “They appeared somewhat torn up, but they still had plenty of fight in them,” Lance said.

A look of worry flashed across Spencer’s face. “Okay, then let’s-“

He was cut off by a sound like an explosion from somewhere above them in the building. The whole tower shook, and there was a loud shrieking sound. Flygon jumped towards Nolan, ready to help her trainer escape should the need arise.

Grinding and crashing became louder as something outside the tower grew closer. Then, moments later, a giant shape fell past the broken window. Nolan hurried over and looked down in time to see the steel spire from the top of the tower crash into the street far below.

“What the hell is going on up there?” Spencer asked.

Nolan didn’t respond. He carefully leaned out and looked upwards. A glint of metal flying away from the tower caught his eye. Walker was escaping. Nolan let out a low growl.

His temper still flared from his shouting match with Spencer, Nolan stalked back to Flygon as he put his flying goggles back on. No way in hell was Walker getting away this time. Nolan was going to catch him. He was going to fight him. And he was going to win. He climbed into the saddle on Flygon’s back.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Spencer asked.

Nolan just pointed out the broken window. “Come on Flygon, let’s finish this.”

“You can’t go now!” Spencer said insistently. “What if they need our help?”

Nolan ignored him as Flygon bounded forward, wings beginning to flap, and jumped out the broken window into the open air.

As he slipped his feet into the stirrups, Nolan hoped that the saddle would be beneficial in air to air combat. He’d had friends who extolled their virtues, and obviously the Skyguard preferred them, but bareback riding felt so much more natural to Nolan. Maybe it would just take some getting used to.

Nolan tightened the straps around his legs, binding himself to Flygon, and gripped the saddle horn. Everything was colored red by the polarization of his goggles, but his eyes never left the metallic glint in the darkening sky.

They picked up speed and altitude, racing past skyscrapers until they were finally out in the open sky above the city. Nolan grinned as it became clear that they would soon catch up to the Skarmory.

“Alright Flygon,” Nolan shouted over the roar of wind and buzzing of Flygon’s wings, “remember everything we’ve learned about air battles. Altitude is key, and remember to use Flamethrower, not Dragon Breath.” He had taught Flygon the fire-type move specifically to combat Walker’s Skarmory.

Flygon responded only by ascending even further.

They had almost reached the outskirts of the city when they finally caught up to the Skyguard captain. Nolan could see his leather jacket flapping in the wind about a hundred feet below them. On his back, Nolan could just make out the straps of a packed parachute. That would make this harder.

Neither Walker nor his Skarmory had any idea that they were there. Some distance ahead of them, Nolan could see a cargo helicopter flying away. It could very well contain the Rocket boss, but Nolan’s blood boiled and he wanted a proper fight, so he ordered Flygon to dive.

It was a difficult maneuver. Flygon had to breathe her flames right as they began to pull back up, otherwise they would fly right through them and roast themselves. Flygon silenced her wings, pulling them back across her body. Her tail pointed straight back like an arrow, the featherlike flaps on the end becoming the only thing that kept them on course. Wind whistled in Nolan’s ears, which began to sting with the cold.

Moments before they would have collided into Skarmory, Flygon howled and released a ball of fire at their opponent before immediately pulling up. Nolan swore when the fire missed its mark, billowing just behind Skarmory’s left wing. The sneak attack was over, and now the real fight would begin.

Flygon had begun climbing back upwards right after the Flamethrower, so Nolan had to twist in his saddle to see what Walker was doing. Skarmory had pulled up and was right behind them in hot pursuit.

Nolan knew Walker had trained Skarmory primarily as a physical fighter, but it could still pull off a wicked Air Slash. He doubted that would do much at this speed, but Flygon had to be facing her enemy anyway. Confident in his Pokémon’s superior maneuverability, Nolan tapped the center of Flygon’s neck twice, their predetermined signal for a sharp U-turn, then held on to the saddle horn for dear life.

Flygon’s wings changed their beating pattern almost imperceptibly, and they suddenly veered upward. As they hit vertical, Flygon twisted in a barrel roll, so that when their turn continued to face them completely backwards, they were still right side up.

A less experienced flyer would have slammed on the brakes to avoid a collision, but Walker’s Skarmory was no novice. It continued to speed forward underneath Flygon, hurrying to get out of their line of fire. Flygon spat a flamethrower in the split second they had, but missed once more.

Nolan turned to see that Walker had pulled a U-turn of his own. They had switched places now. Walker and Skarmory were the now the ones tailing and had the advantage of altitude. Nolan swore and double tapped the back of Flygon’s neck once more.

But this time when they came around, Skarmory did not barrel through like before. Eager to maintain altitude superiority, Skarmory began to climb straight upwards. It was a risky maneuver, since Flygon now had a clear shot at the steel-type’s belly, which she took advantage of. This time, the Flamethrower hit square on.

Skarmory shrieked in pain, and Nolan was surprised to see Walker slip from its back and fall speedily past them. Was that it, then? Nolan turned to watch the Skyguard captain’s fall.

But it was not that easy. There was a flash of red, and Walker alighted on the back of another Pokémon.

Nolan swore again. He had never seen that trick before. Most trainers did not have multiple Pokémon that they felt comfortable flying on, let alone the balls to jump off of one.

Flygon hadn’t noticed, and instead slammed into the wounded Skarmory, slashing at it with her empowered claws. Nolan lurched uncomfortably in his saddle at the sudden change in speed.

“Flygon! Disengage! Now! Walker’s below us!” he shouted.

Flygon pushed Skarmory away, at the sacrifice of a nasty scratch from one of Skarmory’s talons along her leg.

Flygon reoriented herself so that she was facing downwards, where Walker appeared to be flying in slow circles. With a squint, Nolan identified the Pokémon he was riding as a Xatu, a dual flying and psychic-type native to Johto and Hoenn. It was mostly green, with white wings and a pair of antennae-like red feathers sprouting from the back of its head. It was a relatively small creature, and only able to bear a rider with the assistance of its powerful psychic abilities.

Flygon sped straight for the Xatu and its rider, but in the blink of an eye they were gone. Flygon immediately pulled up in confusion, stopping completely, and Nolan looked around wildly, finally seeing his quarry diving towards them about a hundred feet away.

“Shit. It knows teleport,” Nolan whispered to himself.

Teleportation was risky business. Nolan knew from training his Gardevoir that teleportation came with a choice: it was either immensely exhausting, or immensely inaccurate. Given the strategic positioning that Xatu’s teleport had placed it in, Nolan bet that Walker had chosen the accurate option. That was good, it meant that it likely couldn’t teleport again and still be able to carry its trainer. For now, though…

Nolan looked back at Skarmory, who was diving down at them from the other direction. They were surrounded. His mind raced. Xatu was not a physical fighter like Skarmory, so Walker was clearly just trying to trap them where Skarmory could unleash the strength of its razor sharp claws and beak.

Nolan nodded. “So let’s charge Xatu. Go!”

Flygon’s buzzing wings changed angle and they shot off straight at the rapidly approaching Xatu. Nolan was shocked when, moments before impact, Xatu disappeared once more.

Flygon, unaware of the limits of teleportation, did not hesitate in pulling a U-turn to face the now more immediate threat of Skarmory, who had angled its flight to intercept them. Nolan quickly saw what Walker had done when a riderless Xatu flew away from behind Skarmory. Walker had switched mounts once more. Flygon breathed a line of flames at Skarmory, making it veer away and fly past them. Xatu came in close behind, but Nolan did not feel threatened. They had an answer to this.

“Flygon, Feint Attack!” Knowing the complex maneuvers necessary for the move, Nolan leaned low over Flygon’s back so his head lay between where her wings joined her body, closed his eyes, and held on. Memories of battling a pair of Fearow above Mt. Moon gave him a brief pang of nostalgia before he remembered how poorly that fight had ended. Nolan had confidence this one would go differently.

Nolan felt Flygon twist and turn before opening his eyes in time to see her slam her forehead directly in to Xatu’s spine. The green feathered psychic-type squawked in pain and surprise as it fell out of the sky.

A red laser intercepted it, summoning the Pokémon to its Poké Ball. Nolan followed the light back to where Walker sat aboard his Skarmory, some distance away and below them. After securing the Poké Ball at his belt, Walker veered Skarmory around and took off back towards the city below. At Nolan’s command, Flygon pursued.

They followed Skarmory down below the tallest of the skyscrapers, where the chase began in earnest. Weaving between buildings and looping about this way and that, who was leading and who was following changed several times. Nolan wasn’t sure how long they were racing through the city, but the setting sun had turned the sky brilliant hues of purple and orange when he finally decided to end it.

Nolan and Flygon were leading at this point, with Walker and Skarmory not far behind. Nolan had tried every maneuver he had ever learned, without getting a single hit on Skarmory. Walker had caught on to most of his tricks at this point, and could counter each. Most, being all but one.

It was a stupid trick. Fanciful at best, his mentors had called it. It required too much luck. But Nolan had noticed Walker’s leg straps flapping about wildly. He had neglected to strap back in after his stunt with Xatu. And that meant luck was on Nolan’s side.

“Flygon, head up. Straight up,” Nolan shouted.

Flygon acquiesced, immediately veering upwards. Nolan turned to see Walker and Skarmory following them a short distance behind. Keeping a tight grip on the saddle horn with one hand to prevent from flopping backwards, Nolan reached down with the other and began to undo his leg straps. They had climbed well past the height of the buildings when he switched hands and began to do the same with his other leg.

What he was about to do was very, very stupid, but the rage bubbling inside of Nolan stomped out his common sense. Both hands clutching the saddle horn, he looked over his shoulder one more time. Walker and Skarmory were about thirty feet below them. It was a perfect distance; far enough to adjust and close enough that they couldn’t react.

“Alright Flygon, please don’t hate me.” Nolan leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on the back of his Pokémon’s neck.

With that, he let go of the saddle horn and let himself fall backwards. Without the leg straps, his feet came right out of the stirrups and he fell straight down, head first. His stomach lurched at the sudden change in direction. He gently caressed Flygon’s tail as he passed to let her know what he’d done, and focused his attention on his target.

They were perfectly lined up. The original plan was to tackle Walker out of his saddle, but Nolan couldn’t resist hauling his left arm back and planting a devastating punch right in Walker’s shocked face. It had a similar effect.

Nolan felt Walker’s nose crunch under his fist, and as his hands reached instinctively for his face, Walker fell right off of Skarmory.

Nolan grabbed Walker around the chest in a tight hug, as he knew what the Skyguard captain was going to do next. Upon realizing what had happened, Walker let the blood flow freely from his nose and grabbed ahold of the release for his parachute and tugged it. The high speed parachute unfolded quickly, and the lurch of it catching the air spun the two of them upright and nearly broke Nolan’s hold. Instead, Nolan slid down to merely hugging Walker’s ankles.

Walker swore at him and attempted to kick him loose, but Nolan held on for dear life.

“C’mon, girl,” he whispered to himself, realizing he probably should have thought this out more. As if on cue, a warbling cry came from above them. Nolan looked up to see the fabric of the parachute tear and then burn as Skarmory was thrown through, immediately ahead of a blast of fire. Skarmory shrieked in terror and anger as its wings tangled in the cords. It flailed wildly, sending its trainer and Nolan thrashing about.

A green blur speeding past told him it was time to let go, so he did, trusting Flygon to catch him. With some clever air acrobatics, she managed to do just that, barely sweeping underneath him and pulling up so that he came down hard, backwards in the saddle. Nolan gripped tightly with his knees and struggled to find something to hold on to as Flygon rapidly slowed their flight, but as they descended to just above the rooftop of a building, he slipped off.

Nolan cried out in pain as he slammed against the cement and rolled along, finally coming to a stop. He pushed himself up on his hands and knees and blinked several times to clear the stars in his eyes. It didn’t feel like anything was broken, so he hauled himself to his feet and looked around.

They had “landed” on the nondescript rooftop of a skyscraper somewhere in the middle of the city. The wind still tore at him.

Flygon was several feet away, her head down and panting heavily. Exhaustion was about to take Nolan too, but the struggling mass of burnt parachute that had crashed on the same rooftop taunted him.

Nolan limped in that direction as a flash of red light showed Walker recalling Skarmory. With the thrashing subsided, Walker managed to push himself out of the bundle. He was burnt and bloodied. One arm was kept close to his chest while the other pushed him to his unsteady feet. Blood poured from his nose and his trademark leather duster was ruined.

When he saw Nolan, Walker looked at him with a glare of utter hatred. “You will die for this.”

“Good,” Nolan replied through clenched teeth, “then nothing’s changed.”

Walker smirked. “Indeed.” His eyes glanced at something over Nolan’s shoulder.

Nolan was almost within punching distance of Walker when a massive blast echoed throughout the city. It was like a crack of thunder, but louder. Nolan whipped around.

The top of Silph Tower, a black, glass obelisk that dominated the skyline, was shrouded in a strange explosion of purple fire, raining debris on the city below.

“Criss…” Nolan muttered, staring transfixed.

A popping sound from behind him brought him back to the situation at hand. He spun back around.

Walker had released Xatu from its Poké Ball, and now the bird was embracing him in its white wings.

“No, you don’t!” Nolan shouted, diving wildly at them.

But with a rush of wind, they had disappeared.

Nolan screamed as he hit the empty ground where the Skyguard captain had been standing only a moment before. It was a scream of primal rage, beyond cursing, beyond words. He beat his fist on the cement, hard.

They couldn’t have gone far, Xatu was tired and injured. Nolan scrambled to his feet and started towards Flygon, then stopped when he saw her.

Flygon sat on her haunches, softly licking the scratch on her leg. She stopped when he stood up and stared at him, a look of wariness in her eyes. She turned slightly to face Nolan head on, denying him access to her back. She was saying no. Enough.

Nolan’s anger began to bubble up again at his Pokémon’s insolence.

Insolence?

Nolan looked at Flygon, blood slowly trickling from her wound, breathing quickly and loudly. And he deflated as the truth of it all hit him. He pulled off his flight goggles.

“What am I even doing here?” Nolan said, trying hard not to cry as his anger turned to sorrow. He took the last few steps towards Flygon and sat down cross-legged beside her, facing the spectacular setting sun. He put his arm around his Pokémon’s shoulder and leaned in to her, feeling the dragon’s soft warmth and rapidly beating heart.

He had come here for Criss. That’s what he had kept telling himself. He had come here to save Criss. He wanted to save her from herself. But who was he to intervene? Here he was, at the end of it all, exactly like her.

When he had begun fighting Team Aqua and Team Magma nearly five years before, he had been a hero. “The Soldier,” they had called him. Not the champion or the police, but a one man army fighting for the people. Walker’s use of his old nickname back when they were fighting on the street made him realize how much he had changed since the last time he had been called that.

Nolan was a hero no more. He fought now out of anger and revenge. Though his actions helped the general good, that wasn’t why he did it.

He had followed Criss for so long, unsure of whether to contact her, because he was afraid of what she had become. She was a ruthless killer, full of rage, with ultimately selfish goals. Despite all the good she had done for Kanto, that was all she was. And now, that’s all Nolan was too.

What Spencer had said was true. How different was he from those he fought?

Nolan closed his eyes and breathed in the comforting musky scent of his Pokémon.

Team Rocket was beaten, but not destroyed. As long as stragglers lingered, they threatened the people of Kanto. As long as Team Rocket lingered, with whatever nefarious plans they were hiding, they threatened the greater good of the whole world.

From now on, that’s who would come first. The everyday people who couldn’t protect themselves from the threats Team Rocket presented.

“There are bound to be a lot of remaining Rockets harassing the refugees and aid going in and out of the city,” Nolan said softly to Flygon, without opening his eyes. “The surrounding routes are going to need some extra rangers to protect them.”

Flygon huffed in response.

“That’s where we’ll head… after a good rest.”

Flygon hummed and leaned against him.

Nolan opened his eyes to see the smoke rising from the top of Silph Tower. He didn’t know what had caused the strangely colored explosion, and frankly, he didn’t care. In his heart, he knew Criss would make it out alive. She always did. There were plenty others better suited to go to her rescue.

Nolan wasn’t fit to save her. First he had to save himself.

*****


I apologize to you for leaving a cliffhanger like the one from Chapter 42 still dangling, especially since I know that Keith and friends are the real reason you're here, but I think this is an important part of the story. Although Nolan will show up a couple more times in the story, this is meant to be the conclusion of his character for the rest of the fic. Between fighter plane combat and saddle design, I did more research for this chapter then I usually do. I really worked my butt off on this one until I thought that it was the best that I could make it. So even the smallest corrections and criticisms are welcome.

Thanks for reading!

NEXT: The aftermath of The Battle for Saffron

 

[Beth Pavell]

Re: "Unpredictable"

I can't let kintsugi outdo me just because she's been crazy enough to judge so much this time round

Technical Accuracy/Style
Keeping it up after the Project Titan battle, which is good stuff. I think that research paid off - the pace is generally nice and quick without being confusing. It seems like a fair few environments fly by on the way to the battle, and I wonder whether the climbing-the-tower section could be pruned a bit

Story
I think this was a much-needed chapter. I know I appreciate some closure after a long extended action arc, though to be honest I'm in two minds about whether Reese getting away is a good idea. It seems that if you're a named Rocket in this story, the plot will save you, and I just feel that Nolan's epiphany could have worked with Reese's death

Characters
Bit of an interesting one - after Jack Walkering his way through the story it's a bit of a surprise to see Nolan deconstructed. Perhaps it was a bit quick and neat (I may be forgetting some hints of it in previous chapters, I'll admit), but I'd rather quick and neat than not there at all.

Final Thoughts
More closure please! I don't necessarily mean an end, but tying some threads off and handing round a few victories would not be premature at this point!

 

[Persephone]

Re: "Unpredictable"

Really late awards review post. Sorry, been out of the state/country for most of the last month and have been busy when I was at home.

I want to preface this by saying that Unpredictable gets much, much better from the first to the most recent chapters. The later chapters form a very nice action-adventure story that starts to play with the tropes of the first part. But the early parts man... they could use some cleaning up and editing. I get that it's not exactly convenient or fun to do when you're almost finished with a story, but it could really improve the quality of the whole thing and attract more readers to do so. There are a myriad of technical errors that still mar the first fifteen or so chapters that still haven't been cleaned up, very little gets any real description in the early stages, Kieth doesn't really get a personality until somewhere in the second half, and at points you even go out of your way to embrace some Sue archetypes (protagonist invincibility and the entire Misty arc come to mind).

Don't get me wrong, even in the early phases there are some things that signify a higher level of ability than the average ff.net journey, such as the decision to skip most of Pallet, Viridian, and Viridian Forest. But the first fifteen or so chapters are only slightly above average in a genera where average is pretty bad. This is not the case for the last fifteen or so chapters.

To start with, bringing back Criss was very nice for reasons I will elaborate upon later in her part of the review. Portions of the plot and details of the setting start to get, if not really original, at least creatively done. All of this begins to culminate into a series of well-written battles and action sequences and some development for Kieth and character exploration for Criss. I really enjoy the fic as a whole. But some parts of it could use cleaning up.

Now onto greatly summarized versions of the five categories.

Plot: I can't tell whether or not I enjoy Heroic Invincibility being played completely straight more or less than partially straight. Kieth almost never being seriously challenged holds the plot back a little, though. This is less of a problem starting with about the Erika arc (which was objectively less close than you portrayed it as if I remember correctly), and the second half in general where he has to question what he's doing, loses, almost gets killed, and gets his ass kicked by a Mirage Mewtwo type thing within a relatively short period of time. In short, it gets better. I'm also not entirely sure what the point of the psychic arc is yet. It allows for more Pokemon character development, which isn't really the focus of the story, and makes Kieth more invincible than he would otherwise be. That's about it as far as I can tell. If you're going to reboot the story or make a sequel, I would either remove it or give it more of a reason for being there.

Characters: Saving Criss until her own section and Kieth until style. I'll start with Tim as the remaining character with the most screen time. In short, I like him and his role in the story. In a story told by a borderline-Sue with a plot driven by a borderline-Sue, it is very nice to have a character who is powerful in a more normal sense. As demonstrated by his placement and advancement in Viridian, he is quite capable of holding his own in battle. (Random nitpick: In normal seeding, Criss and Kieth would have played each other round one in the Viridian tournament if one was #1 and the other #32.) However, he can be defeated more easily than the other two protagonists and never really seems to get quite as dark or superhuman as Criss and Kieth do towards the end of the story. Nolan is interesting and is the first character in the story who genuinely felt human. He battles well enough, which is expected from what is ultimately a form of an action story, but he can lose. He does lose. A lot. And he still comes off as a badass. That takes skill. I haven't read the last chapter yet, so I'll refrain from giving notes on depth here. Reese and Giovanni are classically evil, which isn't exactly terrible given the nature of the story. Not a whole lot of depth as of the last chapter I read, but they're action villains. Depth is a bonus, not a necessity.

Style: To be totally blunt, I don't see why this is first person. We don't really get a whole lot of insight into Kieth's thought process for the vast majority of the story, he seems to be a reliable narrator from the third person parts, and towards the end almost half of the story is third person anyway. Kieth might have the depth of a decent third person narrator, but he doesn't really tell enough about himself or have a unique enough voice or thought process to make an exceptional first person narrator. More than anything that part of the style bugged me. On balance, it does allow for an outside observation of Criss later on to keep an aura of mystery around her and begin to explore her character as a somewhat sane outsider would.

Technical: Clean up the first part. Really, at least consider doing it...

General: Once again, I think the second part of Unpredictable was capable of ranking among the winning journey fics. But the first part and some odd plot and style choices held it back for me. It might be too late to fix some of the more persistent problems, but editing or even rewriting some early chapters would go a long way towards improving the quality of the story.


Criss:

You might mistakenly believe from the later judging threads that I don't like Criss. That is most certainly not the case. I'm just going to c/p my thoughts from one of the later threads here to start:


I think that Criss is an excellent example of how to introduce a supporting and static character to a story. She's there and she drives the plot and provides entertainment well. While her personality is a bit one-note, it's subtly deconstructed towards the end when the extremity of her actions and relative brutality lead to her getting hurt, almost getting her 'friends' killed, and leaving her only vaguely better morally than the people she's fighting. In short, she doesn't change and probably should, which for once is actually part of the character's depth and a character flaw rather than a flaw in designing the character.

By which I mostly mean that the rooftop scene and the last climb through Silph Tower were almost tragic in their execution and really added some much needed complexity to her character. She's also generally good for some badass statement or joke, which kept the story entertaining as it began to slide to the edge of Dark Fic territory. And arguably at the end she drives the plot more than any other single character, Kieth included. At some point I think the story almost takes on a Great Gatsby dynamic where a relatively uninteresting narrator relates the unfolding tragedy of a more dynamic character's plan and life.

I will, surprise surprise, be away from home for the next few days. But if you have any questions/clarifications, I should be able to answer when I get back.

 

[Flaze]

Re: "Unpredictable"

All right first of all, thanks xD because now that you metioned the air combat bit I know exactly what to research for what I have planned for my new fic (yay)

But onto a more serious review here. This chapter (or...extra chapter or is it stil 42....whatever) wasn't too bad actually.

Technical/Style:

Grammar wise the chapter was pretty good, there were a few instances were a thought some sentences sounded weird but it was just me not reading them right it seems. The pacing of the chapter itself was good, however, I fee like this applies only to the second half and onwards. The start of the chapter prior to the dog fight was kind of basic and just a little slow, it did give us some necessary insight on Nolan that would make the events of the second half easier to swallow and seeing the contrast between him and Spencer was good. On that note part of me felt that that specific part of the chapter both went slowly and at the same time felt like it was rushing a little in an attempt to get to the action faster, doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the insight on Nolan's character though.

After that the pacing was so quick but it didn't throw me off at all, like I could imagine everything happening in my head and it was pretty great, it was easy to follow and it was gripping enough to get me to read the chapter pretty quickly.

Story:

In regards to story this chapter focused on expanding more on Nolan's character as well as finish off a few more plotlines, I do have to agree with Pavell though that it was a bit annoying to have to see Reese get away. I mean yeah it does make for some good plot developtment for the second fic but it is kind of tiresome considering he was finally cornered.

Character:

Like I mentioned before the main focus for this chapter was Nolan and it showed. Now, I myself aren't his biggest fan, not cause I dislike him but rather cause I never really felt connected to him, his character's a badass yes, but personality wise I felt like he lackd a lot. But this chapter proved me wrong, I mean his last few appearances have been proving my wrong but this chapter gave me something to actually connect with him in a way and it made his character a lot interesting. I kind of wonder where Nolan's journey will take him at this point though.

Overall I think he chapter was good and I'll wait to see what kind of closure the next one will give.