Life Goes On

Chapter 3
       In the first few days, Lance's group made good progress toward land on his Dragon Pokemon.  His three Dragonite, his Charizard and Gyarados, all able to carry over seven hundred pounds, had an easy time conveying the eight trainers.  Luckily, May had stored some food in her laptop, and all were able to eat--for one day. 
       During the fourth night, a colossal storm brewed and blew the terrified trainers south for many miles.  No one got much sleep, as everyone was soaking wet and there was thunder every few seconds.  The waves crashed all around them as they were easily tossed farther and farther off course.  May's laptop was drenched, and sparks flew dangerously as the hurricane raged, and the ocean itself seemed to protest their appearance in her crystal blue depths.  The flying dragons were recalled for their own safety and all eightof the helpless wanderers clung to Gyarados, who valiantly fought the storm toward their only salvation: land.

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       Little more than twenty years ago, a man departed on a journey of escape.  His mind clouded with red rage, he set out on the cruel sea with nothing more than his Pokemon, the clothes on his back and a ten-day supply of food.  'Why does she have to be so stubborn?!  It's my life!'  He had gotten into a horrible fight with his wife of six months over something that was very important to him:  his independence.  He had climbed the tallest peaks, dived to the deepest depths, braved thunderstorms, sandstorms, and hailstorms.  He had travelled the world, defeated every known champion, and he had made the biggest mistake of his life: settling down.  He had fallen in love with a girl named Dee Williams, had married her after barely a year, and she was now carrying his child!  He couldn't bear to be held down, so he tried to talk to her about it.  She threw a fit!  Said that it was his baby too, and that she wouldn't tolerate him turning into one of those deadbeat dads who abandons his family to go 'train Pokemon.'  Well that had been too much for him.  He was leaving whether she liked it or not.  The last thing he heard before leaving the house they had bought together was the sound of the woman he loved flushing her wedding band down the toilet.
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       The blizzard was terrible.  Bitter-cold hail streaked the sky as Pryce's Glaile struggled to deflect it.  A few people of the group wore brown sweaters, extras from Wattson.  Tate was frozen, despite an extra sweater, a blanket, and Solrock's heat.  He could barely walk after the first day, so his faithful Solrock either carried him on the back of Bruno or Norman, or levetated along.  Phoebe, unused to such intense cold, had almost as hard a time, but could still walk and carry her backpack without help. 
       They had spent the night in a burrow dug by Bruno's Onix, aided by the firepower of Karen's Houndoom and Tate's Solrock.  They would have spent days there, if it hadn't caved in.  In this sort of environment, it was a miracle the Onix even managed to break the frozen, rocky tundra.
       They were forced to walk on, to the west by Tate's direction; until they could find a place he called Glitter Gorge.  The weary travellers, however, seemed no nearer than when they had started, and without food and shelter there was no telling how long they could go on.  Tate, riding on Burno's back, was too tired even to open his eyes.  He fell, on the second day, into a deep sleep.

       In the forest, two days after being separated with her brother, Liza found the ancient path with ease.  The legend said that a brave girl named Evelyn walked this path on her journeys, before dying suddenly at the age of thirteen.  Liza was thirteen now.  She shook off the idea.  it was said that Evelyn's spirit still haunted Paluz, that she had unfinished business and could not rest until it was done.  Liza knew Paluzi villagers who claimed to have seen the spirit, who made objects fly and scrawled messages into the dusty ground.  Liza ignored the nagging feeling of dread and attempted to contact her brother.  <Ta-ate, where are you?> she sent through the waves in a singsong voice.  <Not in the mood for ga-ames, send ba-ack,> she continued.  She paled.  <Tate, where are you?  I'm serious, where's your signal?  Are you all right?>  She searched before finding a mere wisp of his energy, but nothing else.  <Tate, hold on!  Don't just leave me here!>  He whispered something into the spacewaves and was gone.  <TAAAAAATE!!!!!!!!>

       Tate was in a crude igloo-type shelter, which was big enough for all eight of the trainers to sit comfortably in.  He had a splitting headache, but at least he wasn't cold anymore.  He opened one eye to find Norman and Pryce talking about him.  "There's nothing else we can do for him," Pryce said.  "What do we do now?"
       "We have to take him with us, of course.  The storm's died down some we have to go on.  Tate said there was a town this way," Norman reminded.  "They'll know what to do." 
       Pryce almost cut him off.  "There's nothing we can do, he's--"
       Norman tried to ignore him as he reached over to pick up Tate.  Tate, who had by now lifted himself up with his arms behind him, put up his hands to reach Norman's neck.
       <AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!> Tate screamed.  <I CAN SEE THEROUGH MY ARMS!!>  Norman paid no mind as his hands went through Tate's torso to pick up Tate's body behind Tate.  The body passed back through Tate as Norman lifted it onto his shoulder.  'Oh no,' Tate thought.  'Don't tell me I'm--'
       "Dead, Norman.  He's dead.  No breathing, no pulse, he didn't even warn us.  If it hadn't been for Liza, psychically screaming at the top of her lungs, we probably would've mistaken him for sleeping!  There's no way we can save him."
       "Well, we can at least bring him into town for a proper funeral.  You never had kids, Pryce, you don't know what it's like to have a life dependent on you.  If I had been paying attention, this never would've happened.  It was my fault, so I'm taking responsibility.  I'm leaving."  He crawled out into the drifting snow, the empty shell of Tate over his shoulder.  The other occupants of the igloo followed him, leaving Tate, a homeless spirit, behind.

       "I can't believe it!  He's not responding!  Oh no, oh no, oh no!"  Liza was in a state of panic.  <Sabrina, Will, try to find Tate!  He doesn't respond!>
       <I'm on it,> Will replied.
       <I'll try,> added Sabrina. 
       Five minutes later, nothing.  There was no sign he had even been alive in any of their sights.  "This is horrible!  I have to find Joyah!  Now!"  She turned toward the others and explained the situation.  "And I'm going to find Joyah.  She might be able to help.  I'll be back in a few," she confirmed and flew off into the forest.
       Roxanne and Flannery, who, until the emergency, had been playing I Spy, spoke up.  "We should help her find her friend," declared Roxanne.
       "Yeah," Flannery added.  "We can find her faster if we all help."  And so the search for the elusive Joyah began, with no one but the missing Liza to know exactly who they were looking for. 
       "Joyah!  Where are you?  Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
       "Joyah!  Hello!"  They searched high and low, left and right, here and there.  Suddenly, from far behind Liza, Roxanne emitted a high-pitched scream of terror.  'What now?' Liza thought.  'What else could go wrong?'  She tore back through the forest like a Rapidash on a rampage before arriving at a clearing.  Here Roxanne had a knife pressed to her throat, held by a brown-eyed, brown-skinned, brown-haired individual, wearing all brown and blending in almost perfectly into her forest environment.  Lt. Surge had a pistol pointed at the thing's head, and when the creature realized the gun was dangerous, she moved Roxanne's head to shield herself.  Liza ran in, babbling in another language.  After listening, the brown woman removed the knife and pushed Roxanne forward.  Liza reverted back to English long enough to inform the group that this was her friend Joyah, and told Surge to put away the gun.  She continued chattering nervously, with a stray word from Joyah every once in a while, about the situation.  Joyah understood the distressed girl perfectly.
       "And we got separated when we teleported here, and Tate won't answer, and I'm afraid he's- he's- dead!"  Liza continued.
       "What did you bring these savages here for?" Joyah hissed.  "This place is forbidden to their kind."
       "They aren't savages, they're... refugees!  The evil gang that plagued this great land has taken over their country, and they need to regroup and recover before they can reclaim their homeland."
       "If I didn't know you to be an honest little foreigner, I'd say your story is full of holes.  You can come to the village, but tell your friends they will have to be blindfolded."
       "All right."  She spoke in English again.  "She said she'll lead us to the village, but you have to be blindfolded first.  So you don't remember the way and come back later."
       "Why should we believe her?"  Lt. Surge asked angrily.  "She could have killed Roxanne back there and now she's tellin' us what to do?"
       "How do we know that she won't get some of her friends and gang up on us while we're blindfolded?"  Erika asked.  Roxanne and Flannery agreed that she shouldn't be trusted.
       "Come on guys, don't be like that!  She's my friend, she wouldn't do something like that!"
       "We really don't seem to have a choice in the matter," Morty observed.  "We know nothing about her, but her friendship seems like a logical start to a potential ally, the population of Paluz."
       "Yes," agreed Steven.  "She knows Liza.  Joyah can vouch for us.  We should just do what she says for a while."  He took an old shirt out of his backpack and tied it over his eyes, and Morty followed suit.  Liza sighed in relief as the others reluctantly did the same.  Joyah stopped her though, from blindfolding herself as she would have to guide the 'refugees' along the path.  Slowly and unsteadily, they made their way through the thick forest, with Liza shouting directions every few seconds. 
       "Steven, go to the right a little.  Flannery, there's a tree in front of you!  Roxanne, don't trip on that root!  Surge, watch your head,"  She continued her instructions until they came to a clearing.  Unable to see, the group heard suspicious whispers, harsh hisses of hate, and Joyah, speaking to someone in a loud voice, probably explaining their presence.
       The villagers listened carefully to their respected Joyah.  She had never acted this rashly before, what was she doing bringing prisoners home?  The place for prisoners was on the ground, dead.  Ever since those evil people had come and taken the life of their beloved chief, Padre, his son and grandson have carried on the tradition of making sure it never happened again.  The enemy was clearly discernable from the Paluzi force by the red-and-white spheres he carried, which contained the trapped spirit of a Pokemon.  They also wore a red mark that had now come to symbolize evil, the large R.
       "I wish to speak," Joyah began, "with the son of Delano, Imperi Micah."
       "I am here, what is the meaning of this outrage?"  A thirty something man appeared, with brown skin, black hair braided against his head, crossed arms, and a very stern look on his face.  He was obviously the town leader.
       Liza would have to explain for Joyah.  She didn't want to get her friend in trouble.  Without Joyah, she and Tate would have never lasted more than a minute on their first trip here, or seen half the towns.  "It was my fault, great Imperi Micah.  I persuaded her to refrain form killing my friends because we are merely helpless wanderers, strangers in a strange land, refugees, fleeing our country, overrun as it is by those parasites, Team Rocket."  At this, a few villagers gasped.
       "You do not speak for yourself, Liza.  You have been here many times; you do not wander.  You know this land as you know your own. You speak as we speak.  But you say that these are innocents, with no intention of acting like those savages, Team Rocket?  Where is your brother?"
       Tears welled in Liza's eyes.  "My brother... Tate is dead.  He died yesterday in the mountains of Glitter Gorge.  We were separated while coming here, and they landed in the middle of a blizzard."
       "They?  You mean to tell me there are more of your 'refugees' running around?"
       "Yes.  There are four groups of eight."
       "Thirty-two?"  Micah scratched his head.  "And that wretched Team Rocket has taken over your homeland?  Well I suppose I could allow them to stay.  But you must explain to them that I do this only because I respect the wishes of my niece Joyah."
       "Yes, thank you, gracious Imperi Micah."  Joyah bowed and brought her hands together.  "Oh, and do you approve of the refugees removing their eye coverings?"  Micah nodded, and Liza relayed the message in English.  The exhausted trainers quickly tore off the blindfolds and began whispering questions to one another, like 'what do we do now?' and 'where are we going to sleep?' and 'do we really know for sure that no one will kill us in our sleep?'  These questions were thrown by the wayside as they were informed that they would sleep in the clearing, with five guards around.  Obviously the distrust was mutual.  "But there are only five guards.  There are eight of us.  If Micah was willing to take that chance, then he must believe our story!" Liza whispered excitedly.
       "Or," replied Morty, "he realizes that you, Roxanne, Flannery, and Bugsy are only half the size of his guards.  Look."  He pointed toward the five large natives who were emerging from a treehouse in town.  Glancing around, they realized that all the hut-like houses were in trees.
       "Reminds me of Fortree City, without the city," commented Flannery dryly.  "So we're sleeping here?  With these guys watching?  Great," she finished sarcastically.
       "Liza, did you say they fight Team Rocket?" asked Erika.  "I didn't even know of this continent, and Team Rocket's already been fighting with the natives?"
       "Yeah," answered Liza.  "You see, they had a spy satellite going around the planet about ten years ago, but it was destroyed by a legendary Pokemon who got angry over it, or so the legend goes.  But they had it up long enough to find Paluz and wonder what kinds of powerful Pokemon lived here and whether they couldn't capture some to use in dominating the world or whatever it is they do."  She sighed.  "Their encounter has made them distrustful of all intruders."
       "So we'll just have to prove that we're not like that," opted Bugsy.  "First thing in the morning, maybe we should do some volunteer work around the village, and prove that we're nice guys."  Steven and Morty agreed instantly, while Flannery and Roxanne wavered and Erika remained undecided.  Lt. Surge was set against it, saying that he wouldn't trust someone whose people would strike a woman.  Eventually Liza persuaded they that it was the best course of action, at least until they could regroup.  With the five Paluzi guards watching, they drifted slowly into sleep.

A/N: How do you like my new character?  He does show up later, so keep an eye out!  And as always, REVIEW!