The leader had grown weak in his old age. And that meant that he could no
longer rule over the team. Eltan’s eyes narrowed as
he walked into his room, still feeling the sting of his master’s stern rebuke.
That had been a deadly mistake, although Gertal
didn’t realize it.
Eltan closed and locked the door. He went to his
closet, and stepped inside, similarly locking the door behind himself. He
pulled out a small flashlight and turned it on to examine more closely the
environs in which he found himself. He located the hidden button and pushed it.
A panel slid back to reveal a hidden room, and quickly stepped through before
the door snapped shut noiselessly on hidden hinges.
After the door was closed, the lights came up, revealing an array of advanced
communications gear, and flashing consoles. He moved over to one that was dark,
and pushed several buttons. Within moments, lights flared to life, and the
hidden communications array was ready.
He pulled out his pocket chronometer, flipped it open, checked the time, and
adjusted the frequency. He keyed a query. If anyone saw his transmission, they
would think that it was simply a spike in the force field containment power in
the sewage part of the base.
Eltan quivered with barely controlled rage. How dare Gertal speak to him like that. If
only Gertal knew who he really was. If he did, then
he would have been pleading for his life. The only reason that Eltan hadn’t struck him down where he stood was because he
wasn’t ready to fight every single Blizzard using only his fists. Not yet. But
he had friends that would help him.
Gertal’s desire for the conquest of Nuschantz had been a key factor in his master’s plans. Now
that he didn’t want to fight them anymore, he was simply a roadblock to be
removed. Gertal had weakened him. And anything that
weakened him would be killed. It was as simple as that.
And when the time came to kill the doddering old man, Eltan
would not forget it. Words from some piece of classic literature he had heard
somewhere came back to him. “If you cut us do we not bleed,” he murmured to
himself, “If you tickle us do we not laugh?” a slow, almost devilish smile
passed across his face, “If you poison us, do we not die?” his eyes narrowed as
he began formulating plans, knowing that headquarters would confirm what he had
already decided to do.
“And if you wrong us,” he said softly, “Will we not revenge?” The last sentence
of the prose he had been reciting subconsciously echoed around the small room,
seeming to bring him energy just hearing the words.
++++++
Lorelei stared up at the Resort, not believing what she was seeing. The place
was huge. At least three quarters the size of Silph
Company’s headquarters in
The Itale Retreat, he had told her, was also the
second largest in terms of land area. Lorelei moved forward slowly, not really
believing that somehow they’d managed to bring in all the building material.
And how in the world did they bring in everything that they needed to sell?
“Teleporters,” Lukas responded to her question,
grinning, “We’ve got a massive Teleporting network over the entire country. Mainly Jynx. There are outposts
throughout the mountain that hold about thirty Jynx
at a time. They’re usually staffed by a family or two. It makes getting things
or people from one place to another really easy, since we don’t really have
roads, and it’s not very easy to travel otherwise.”
Lorelei stopped, and glared at him, “Then why,” she asked, her eyes narrowing,
“didn’t we take them here?”
Lukas grinned, “Because it’s more fun this way.” He darted in front her towards
the entrance to the Itale Lodge, and it was all
Lorelei could do to suppress the urge to strangle the little bugger. Actually,
it was more like her Smoochum freezing her feet in
place.
“Hey,” she grumbled, “Will you stop doing that?” she demanded. She needed to
get inside as quickly as possible. She knew that Sneasel
was fit to travel, but obviously not to fight, and she’d be able to pick him up
here.
“Smooch, um, um, smoochum!” her baby ice-type replied
replied, and Lorelei wished, not for the first time,
that it could talk English, or that she could speak Smoochum.
But at least it unfroze her feet with a weak Confusion. Of course, her feet
were very sore afterwards, but at least she could move around.
She stalked up towards the Lodge, and threw open the doors which had closed
behind Lukas, and stopped dead. There were stores of many kinds throughout the
first level. It looked more like a mall than a ski lodge. She walked forward,
glaring at any shopkeeper who came close to her, and finally found the room
where the skiers actually relaxed.
She peeked around, and was relieved to see that there were no shops inside. It
was a large room, probably fifty feet in length, with a Nurse Joy and a Chansey by a large fireplace. And, more importantly,
a desk with a Pokeball teleportation pad and a
Healer. Comfy seats were stationed near the fireplace and the Nurse Joy.
Lorelei hurried up to the Nurse Joy, who was deep in conversation with Lukas,
who kept pointing at her and talking excitedly. Lorelei groaned, and stepped up
her pace. When she reached the Nurse Joy, the woman stared at her, as if in
shock, “You actually want to go see Allnian?” the
nurse shook her head, “young lady, do you know how many people have died trying
to do that?” she caught sight of her Sneasel, “And
what did you do to your poor Smoochum?” she
exclaimed, jumping to her feet, and nearly knocking over her Healing machine.
Lorelei narrowed her eyes, “Look, lady,” she riposted, “Right now, I care about
one thing, and one thing only. Contact the Prito
Resort. My Sneasel’s resting there, because the Verin Retreat was too dangerous. Send it here, now!”
The Nurse Joy made a face at her but initiated a query of the Prito Ski Resort. It took five minutes before someone on the
other end responded, but finally the transportation process took place. Except,
when it was over, TWO Pokeballs were sitting on the
array.
She spotted Sneasel’s Pokeball
at once by the distinctly Altan art on it. She
grabbed Sneasel’s Pokeball
and held the other up to the Joy. “What’s this?” she demanded suspiciously.
“Yachne Prito said that
that had been at the Verin Retreat at the time of the
attack, and had been sent there to be kept safe. It’s one of Johto’s Professor Elm’s Vulithe.”
The Nurse Joy explained, glancing down at the laptop computer that was
connected to both the teleportation array and the Healer. “Apparently, he
hasn’t asked for it back yet.”
Lorelei released her Sneasel as close to the ground
as she could, and felt a wave of relief flood through her as her Sneasel leapt up, albeit missing its left arm, and hugged
her. Lorelei forgot about everything else and wrapped Sneasel
up into her arms. It felt so right to have her there. She had nearly forgotten
why she had come to Nuschantz in the first place, and
now she was reminded of her Pokemon’s predicament.
She had begun to doubt herself, but now…now she knew that she’d do it, on her
own with only her fists, if need be.
Lorelei felt tears begin to well up in her eyes, and made no effort to stop
them. If she didn’t have him, then what did she have to live for? Nothing at all. But now she was reunited with Sneasel at last, and everything would be okay. Sneasel was the only surviving link that she had to her
past. Well, that HAD been the case in Kanto, but why did it have to be so now?
Tears still rolling down her cheeks, she looked up at the Nurse Joy and asked,
“What’s the limit of Pokemon a person can have at any
one time in this country?” she asked.
The Nurse Joy smiled, obviously touched by the reunion, “Why, it’s ten, I
believe.”
Lorelei’s eyes narrowed, and she felt the old,
familiar, assertive grin begin to spread across her face. “I need to make a
long-range teleportation request. Key up Silph
Company Headquarters in Alto. I need to talk with my brother.”
+++++
Bugsy looked up from the map he’d been studying of
the layout of the country around the Verin Estate and
saw Lefar Verin himself
coming through the door. He was something of a military man, and Bugsy had nothing but respect for the man. Bugsy had, with a lot of the older man’s help, plotted out
a defense strategy.
“I have word,” Lefar said. The gray-haired man smiled
at him, and said, “It appears that after your help planning out our defense
here, the other Retreats would like your assistance in planning their defenses
as well.”
Bugsy nodded, “All right. Not like there’s a lot that
I can do here. I’ll assemble my team and get moving.”
Lefar nodded, and held out something covered in
cloth. “I thought as much. But first, I want you to have this. It used to
belong to a Johtan general back in the times of the
Reformation.” Bugsy nodded. He hadn’t learned a lot
of Nuschantian history, but he knew that the
Reformation was basically a revolution that had risen up about a thousand years
prior against a dictatorial tyrant named Tadorae, and
that Kantans and Johtans
had been instrumental in helping the Nuschantians
learn how to fight.
Bugsy nodded, “Thanks, Lefar.”
He’d learned already that refusing a gift in Nuschantz
was the equivalent of slapping the person offering the gift in the face. He
took the velvet-covered sword, and smiled, “Well,” he said, “I guess I’d better
be going.”
++++++
Lorelei grinned into the receiver, “Thanks,
The Nurse Joy made a face at her again and Lorelei took a deep breath as she
held the Pokeball that contained the Vulithe in front of her and brushed the release button.
Instantly, a beam of red light formed, and a form began to appear.
A short, almost canine figure materialized. Its strong, semi-muscular legs were
tense, it had a mane and three thick, bushy tails, long ears, and its fur was a
warm, chocolaty brown. Where it wasn’t burnt.
The creature was in bad shape. It was ripped open, bitten, burned, frozen, and
singed. Lorelei heard the nurse Joy gasp, and it was all that Lorelei herself
could do to keep from throwing up. Without thinking, she scooped up the Poekmon, and set it onto the Healing Machine.
To the horror of the Nurse Joy, she turned to the laptop and activated the
Healer. “Don’t!” The Nurse Joy cried, “That much radiation in that quantity
will kill it! Recall it first!” Lorelei hurriedly recalled it and put the Pokeball into one of the grooves that had been designed to
hold Pokeballs, but hurriedly pulled her hand back as
something seemed to scorch her hand.
As Lorelei stomped around the room yelling and shaking her hand as fast as she
could, her Sneasel, now sitting on top of a chair and
watching her with an amused expression on her face, waited patiently for the
tirade to end.
The Nurse Joy watched her with a deadpan expression on her face. “Didn’t you
learn anything in Pokemon Training Survival 101?” The
Nurse Joy demanded, “Pokemon are healed in Healing
Machines by Grenthor Radiation. If the Pokemon isn’t protected, it will be affected by the
radiation will kill it and any other living thing by breaking down the chemical
bonds that compose it.”
Lorelei glared at the Nurse. Lorelei definitely wasn’t in the mood for any
lectures. She glanced at the teleportation array, and spotted the Pokeballs. She hurried over and grabbed the Pokeballs with her left, unburned hand. Immediately, she
released them. Her original Pokemon, Haunter, Duskull, and a Sneasel appeared.
For a moment she didn’t recognize Graveller, but then
realized that he had evolved into a Golem. The four took a moment to look
around the room, and then Haunter, Duskull, and Golem
hurried to Lorelei and embraced her. Sneasel, on the
other hand, rushed over to embrace his daughter.
For the second time that day, Lorelei’s eyes filled with tears. “I’ll explain
everything,” she said to the elder Sneasel as he
glared at her accusedly, “Just give me a second.”
++++++
Eltan smiled as he shut his communications equipment
down. Headquarters had confirmed what he should do. Eliminate Gertal, and conquer Nuschantz. It
was vital that it happened.
It seemed odd, though, Eltan thought, that his
masters in the Specter Corporation would want to take over a country. He knew
that Specter Corporation’s legitimate businesses rivaled both Devon Co. and Silph Company. They were ruled by a board of directors,
which was led by two Directors.
They made all the decisions regarding the Specter Shadow Guard, which furthered
their aims by unofficially acting on behalf of their employers. And if all of
their actions weren’t necessarily on the up and up, that just meant that their
extensive training paid off.
It certainly had for Eltan. He hadn’t seen any of his
fellow Shadow Guard members for several years, but he knew that it was just
part of the job. And, right now, his job was to eliminate any and all
resistance to Team Blizzard in Nuschantz. And if people would die while he achieved his goals?
Then so be it.
+++++
“And so we just need to find Allnian,” Lorelei
finished, “And make it heal Sneasel.” Both of the Sneasel looked at her. “Er, Sneasel Junior anyway.”
She amended quickly.
The Nurse Joy rolled her eyes and shook her head sadly, “You think it’s that
simple, don’t you, young lady? That you can just waltz in and see Allnian? I’m afraid that you couldn’t be more wrong. As you
may or may not know, Nuschantz has three guardians. Auroura,
Borealis, and Austrealis. All three have to
agree that you can see Allnian before you can see Allnian, according to what we’ve been told. And once
they’ve agreed, you have to climb five thousand feet nearly straight up to Allnian’s eyrie. Men have spent
years trying to find the Guardian tigers of Nuschantz.
What makes you think that you’ll find them any easier?”
Lorelei grinned as she listened to Nurse Joy’s monologue, and replied, “Well,
I’ve always enjoyed a good challenge. I’ll find a way.”
+++++
The metaphorical figure stared at the timeline he had been supervising. He had
tried to interfere, but the woman had rebuffed him. And now things were getting
more and more out of hand, and farther and farther from the timeline. The
temporal flux was becoming more and more unstable.
The Dark One’s armies were growing too rapidly, being drawn from too many
timelines. They were gathering in the Dark Nexus Realm, and were preparing for
an attack. The Council was preparing its defense, but things were not looking
up. Nothing like this had ever happened before. The Guardians weren’t doing
their jobs, and the portals had been taken by the Dark One.
The man who had tried to intervene in the
He had to do something.
And he had to do it fast.
+++++
Lorelei walked through the stores, amazed that there was so much diversity in
everything that there was. She could probably buy everything, including the
resort, due to her family’s position in Silph
Company, but then her parents probably wouldn’t let her near the family
checking account for years afterward.
She grinned at the though, and knew that some girls that had the nearly
unlimited resources that she had would go nuts, and just buy and buy and buy.
She, on the other hand, would go slowly, and buy just what she would need. So
far, that had come up to about seven thousand dollars worth of healing
supplies. True, that actually wasn’t a lot of healing supplies, but it was
quite a bit of money.
She had it all in her backpack, and her younger Sneasel,
whom she had dubbed Junior, was watching out for anything that she might need.
If she saw something, Junior would yank on her hair and point it out to her. So
far, she’d pointed out a clothing sale, a clothing sale, a shoe sale, a hat
sale, a hair cutter’s shop, a clothing sale, and another hat sale. Lorelei
shook her head. Why wouldn’t she do anything that would help her? She ignored
every single Pokemon supplies store, and kept
pointing out shops of that manner.
Golem, Senior—The elder Sneasel,
Duskull, and Haunter were elsewhere in the massive
resort, procuring goods. The Vulithe, now fully
healed, trotted along at her side, keeping an eye on Frocarin—the
ice dog she’d caught earlier. Vulithe, who had had
many trainers before her, and would likely have many after, had trusted her instantly. However, when she’d let the Forcarin
out for the first time, it had taken nearly a half hour to get within recall
range again, let alone near it. It seemed to enjoy being by itself, but she had
made it clear to the Pokemon that it was part of her
team, and she wasn’t releasing it. It was an odd feeling, having six
battle-ready Pokemon. Only a few hours before, she
had had only one, and now, by Kantan standards, she
had a complete team. She’d called in the heavy artillery, and she was ready to
fight.
She grinned. Now she’d be able to show whoever might get into her way who was
boss. In fact, she was almost looking forward to it.
She shook her head and adjusted her backpack. She felt Junior
shift slightly to maintain his balance, and then resumed her vigil. Lorelei
grinned. She hated to admit it, but this was kind of fun.
Of course, the best part was having all the nerds in the Pokedex
store drool over new Pokedex. She grinned. It was the
simple things in life that you treasured most.
++++++
“Mike!” Lukas called out, and Lorelei glared down at him. She had
thought she had ditched the little sucker back at the Retreat’s
Lorelei glanced over at where her pseudo-guide was looking, and saw another
little kid. She groaned to herself. She couldn’t stand little kids. If she ever
married, she’d go after him with a pair of garden shears before he laid a hand
on her. Okay, so maybe she was exaggerating. She’d just use an ordinary pair of
scissors.
Her dislike of little kids made no exception for him, especially when she
spotted the Cyndaquil on the kid’s shoulder. If there
was one thing that she hated more than kids, it was fire types. The little rat
stared at her, and for some reason, it made her nervous. Fire types always had.
Ever since that Arcanine had stepped on her head in
the petting zoo while she was trying to pull its mate’s tail. Of course, the
mate had asked for it, because it had grabbed the rest of her cotton candy.
Although that may have been a reprisal for refusing to give it back one of its Growlithe. But it had started it by growling at her. She
shook her head. Why some people thought that Growlithes
and Arcanines were a good judge of character was
beyond her. They stunk at it.
“Hey, Lukas! Good to see you again!” the kid’s
energetic, buoyant tone made Lorelei want to scream.
It was one thing to put up with Lukas, but this new kid’s energy was just…just…She
couldn’t find the words to describe it. “When did you get back here?” Maybe she
could just slink away, and he wouldn’t notice her. “You said you didn’t think
you’d be back here for a couple months!”
Lukas grinned and jabbed a finger at her, and Lorelei sighed. She should have
known it was impossible to escape the kid, “She’s gonna
try to reach Allnian. I’m her guide! Wanna come see?”
Lorelei glared at him. It was one thing to have to follow the kid around, but
having to put up with his friends too? It was almost too much to bear. She
opened her mouth to say something, but the kid stuck his hand out. “Hi!” he
said in a painfully cheerful voice, “I’m Mike Gallow,
I just moved here from Blackthorne. Hey, I know you!
You’re the girl from the
Lorelei squinted as she took the kid’s hand, then
realized that she did, indeed, recognize the kid as one of the brats from the
Lorelei frowned, and turned to Lukas. “Sheer Cliff?” she demanded, feeling a
twinge of uneasiness set in.
“Oh, yeah. It’s the cliff that Allnian lives on top
of. It’s almost vertical on every side.” Lukas grinned at her, “Really
beautiful. A big tourist attraction. A hundred people
get hurt permanently trying to climb it each year. But I know that you won’t
have to worry about that.”
Lorelei swallowed. Suddenly, finding Allnian was
starting to sound harder and harder. She glanced back at Senior, her very first
Pokemon, who smiled encouragingly. Lorelei swallowed
hard and knew that very soon, she’d be tested to the end of her limits.
She turned around to leave, and bumped into someone. “Sorry,” came a familiar voice.
Lorelei frowned. She knew that voice. She looked up. “Falkner?”
she asked, not believing her eyes, “What are you doing here?”
+++++
Eltan clapped the Blizzard he had been talking to on
the back and continued on his rounds. He’d been assigned to survey the outer
defenses. He’d found that almost half the men that he asked considered Gertal unfit for command of the team. He was certain that
within hours, he could announce his takeover of the team over the entire base,
and he’d be able to come out of it alive.
Gertal would never allow him to live, of course, if
he made such a pronouncement, and would try to kill him. But if he were to kill
the old man, then he would be the uncontested ruler of Team Blizzard, and they
would be able to rule the entire country, and possibly expand its borders at
the same time. He’d heard rumors that news of the attack plan had been leaked,
and that trainers from all over the world were coming to Nuschantz,
but he wasn’t worried. If he lured them out into the wilderness, he and the
other Blizzards would have no trouble eliminating any opposition.
He had heard rumors that the Bug type Gym Leader Bugsy of Johto himself was
going to be planning the defenses of the resorters. Eltan frowned. They should have killed him when they had
the chance. He was one of the greatest Gym Leaders in the world, and the fact
that he was helping his enemies gave Eltan a slight
moment of pause. But it was nothing that he couldn’t handle.
The elder fool, Gertal, actually thought that the
troop build-up he had begun a few hours before actually had to do with finding Allnian, and asking it to help them in their war against
the Nuschantian Retreats. And it was a war, whether
the old man realized it or not.
He would find Allnian, and it would help them in
their war, but they would not ask. They would demand. They would capture the
so-called Legendary, enslave it with the newest Wipe Ball ever to come off
Specter Corporation’s assembly lines, and force it to give his men eternal
life, and a cure for any disease or injury that they might sustain.
With a broken Allnian under his control, there was
nothing that would prevent him from dominating the world. Him.
Not Specter Corporation. They were fools too, if they thought that giving him
all that money would make them loyal enough that he would give up the
opportunity to rule the world.
Of course, he was sure that they weren’t that stupid, which meant that they had
operatives within Team Blizzard. He would have to tread very carefully, or he’d
end up as nothing more than another world ruler wannabe. He would rule the
world. There was no changing that.
When he would was the issue, however.
+++++
Bugsy shoved open the simple
doors to the Prito Ski Resort Retreat and entered
quickly, closing the doors behind himself. He took off his hat and gloves, and
grinned at Yachne, the main proprietor of the resort,
he’d been told. “Hi,” he said, waving as he took off his coat, “I’m sure that Lefar got word to you that I was coming.”
The rather large woman’s face brightened, “Oh!” she exclaimed, “You’re the one
that wants to help us defend ourselves. I just baked some cookies, would you
like some?”
Bugsy chuckled, “Thanks,” he replied, “But no thanks.
I’d like to get started on my work first.” He glanced around, “Where’s Lukas? Lefar suggested that I talk to him. Said
something about him being quite the Pokémon trainer.”
Yachne smiled, “I’m sorry, but he left yesterday with
a girl called…what was her name? It was Altan, I know
that. Oh, yes!” she cried, “It was a girl named Lorelei. She’s got the insane
notion in her head that she’s going to find Allnian.”
Bugsy felt his blood run cold. It wasn’t possible. It
just wasn’t. She was dead. He’d seen her go out the door of the plane himself.
He’d heard the explosion. It HAD been her, the explosion, right?
It had to be. And even if it hadn’t been, the impact from falling from that
high up would have killed her instantly.
“Are you all right?” the woman asked, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Bugsy swallowed hard, and looked her straight in the
eye, “Actually,” he said slowly, “I think you did.”
+++++
The metaphorical figure ground his teeth. He wouldn’t be able to afford any
more delays. There was simply nothing for it, but he had to intervene in the
Physical Realm. But how? How could he do such a thing?
Then, the man formerly known as Gerahid the Liberator
smiled. He had an idea. He knew of a woman from the past that would be perfect
for the job. She was smart, cunning, strong, bullheaded, beautiful, and, at one
point, had been his second chance at true love, after his wife had died.
Unfortunately, both of them had died as well, before anything could happen. He
smiled, and began making the necessary arrangements. He smiled and prepared for
a temporal transport.
There was only one person that he’d trust this mission to. With one final
gesture, he said the woman’s name aloud, tenderly. “
Of course, it had been a constant harangue, but maybe she and this Lorelei
would get along good because they were so much alike, albeit from completely
different centuries.
Gerahid grinned, and finalized the transport. Now,
there was no reversing it, and there was no way that he’d be able to do
anything more. Once the Council found out about this, they’d have his tail in a
sling, not that he had a tail, unlike many of them, and he’d be restricted from
ever having anything to do with the Physical Realm. Aside, from maybe Passive watching under their close supervision.
He only hoped that it was worth it.