Theoleung@sprint.ca

The Angel, one Knight, one Dragoon, and lone Valkyrie rushed onto the deck, trying to find a quick escape to this Team Rocket ship. Ice quickly approached the side and looking down at the water below. He was a good swimmer, he knew, and had some thanks to his Lapras genes. Even so, he couldn’t possibly carry three Pokémon on his back. He sighed, shaking his head and hoping his other comrades had an idea.

"We have to find Melody…and fast!" Styx spoke quickly. Ice winced at the name, unwilling to get that Lapras involved in all this.

"I don’t think Ice would agree…" Nil spoke softly, noticing the Lapras/Human hybrid’s reaction to the name.

"No, it’s alright," he told them quickly. "My feelings don’t matter right now…"

"They always matter," Nil answered, equally as quick in her response. Silence again reined free before Ice gave his answer.

"I would like not to get Melody involved in this…" Ice muttered, just loud enough for the others. "But it seems like we have little choice in the matter." Ice sighed, placing a hand into his jacket pocket. A small pole like object that fit firmly in his hand. It was then that Ice looked back up towards the upper floors of the ship.

"At least she didn’t leave me unarmed…" Ice thought, running to catch up with the other three Pokémon who were already rushing ahead to leave this evil vessel of inhuman research.

An elbow knocked the Angel down, alerting the three ahead of him of danger. Fuge held his sword to the neck of the fallen Angel.

"Naughty boy…" he spoke, grinning. "You should know better then to try to leave this ship. It’s against regulations you know." Ice gritted his teeth, only getting the blade pressed farther against him.

"Let him go!" Nil yelled out, charging for a Thunderbolt attack. Ignite and Styx also prepared to attack the Poison/Venom Angel.

"Not so fast my pretty…" a raspy voice spoke. Nil quickly turned around, a Muk overhead. The body of poison mass grinned, engulfing the Pikachu. The Pikachu let out a shriek of panic before the engulfing Muk swallowed her body.

"Nil!!" both Pokémon cried out. Their attention was split between the two different battles now.

"Help Ice!" Styx ordered Ignite, before rushing off to save Nil. Ignite needed no more encouragement, leaping into action and running towards Fuge and Ice.

"One step and he’s dead!" Fuge threatened, his other blade still strapped to his back. The Vulpix stopped in his tracks, knowing not what to do now. "That’s a good Pokémon…" Fuge told him, smirking, and giving Ice the opening he needed.

The Ice Angel withdrew that pool like object and quickly pushed a button on it. The pole extended outwards, punching into Fuge’s stomach and against the deck. With the push against the floor, Ice quickly oriented himself with the newly formed staff in hands and pointed towards Fuge, who was staggering backwards.

"Well, I would never have known you had that in your possession…" he muttered, grinning. Ignite stood by Ice’s side, ready to battle. Fuge slowly withdrew his other sword from the scabbard, readying for battle.

"Rescue Nil…" Ice spoke softly to his Vulpix companion. The Pokémon looked up at Ice, but then knew he had no chance to compete with someone using a weapon. Ignite nodded, rushing backwards to save Nil.

"Darwen, let her go!!" Styx cried out, unleashing another Thunderbolt attack against the Muk. Ignite added to the barrage, unleashing a Flamethrower at the one who was suffocating Nil. However hard the two tried, the Muk only continued to gloat, feeling minimal pain from their attacks.

"Don’t even bo-…" Darwen spoke, however, stopped. He let out a grotesque sound, as though he was barfing up his own intestines. He fell backwards, down flat on the ground and fainted, his ‘stomach’ black as any charred object. Nil unleashed a massive amount of electricity into the air as, leftovers from what she just did to the Muk while trapped. She stopped, gasping for air.

Though what she did let the others know of the events transpiring down there. As soon as she finished electrocuting the air, sirens and klaxons went off. All three Pokémon looked up, warning and searchlights began to circle the area, alerting and identifying the threat on board.

Fuge leaped onto Ice, slashing downwards with both his blade. Ice blocked both blades, but was knocked down by the force of the attack. Just as quickly as he fell, he used the additional momentum to kick Fuge behind and off him. The sword user gracefully landed on his feet while Ice jumped back up. Both fighters remained stationary, concentration far from being disturbed by the sirens.

Fuge screamed out a war cry, rushing forward and entering a slash frenzy. Ice, however, expertly evading and blocking the attacks. Ice, as well as Fuge, knew that the staff user would not be able to hold on against the onslaught forever.

"Concentrate…use your power…" the voice touched with Ice’s mind. The voice distracted Ice for a second, and nearly cost Ice his life as Fuge’s blade was only a mere inch away from his face before it was deflected.

"My…power?" Ice thought, knocking away another swing. Unwilling to be defensive anymore, Ice attacked with a strong forehand swing, taking the sword user completely by surprise and knocking him into the wall. Ice concentrated briefly, raising his left hand towards the dazed foe.

"Concentrate…" Ice thought, realizing his own potential. In one instant, he fired an Ice Beam from his hand, against the wall and over Fuge’s chest and onto the other wall. Fuge realized what just happened and tried to break free from the ice binds, batting and kicking it, but the ice proved too thick for him to break.

"Damn you Ice Angel!!" Fuge cursed, still struggling. Ice shook his head, knowing he could do that, but still not fully determining how he could. Nevertheless, now was not the time to think about it.

Styx supported the other Pikachu with his body. Nil was about to faint from the lack of air and amount of electricity used on that last jolt of power.

"We have to get going, fast!" Ice quickly told them as he ran past. The Angel scooped up Nil in his arms, Ignite and Styx trailing behind.

* * * * * *

Melody looked up from her position out in the sea. In the distance, she could see warning sirens and searchlights lighting the area on the ship she resided on. The Lapras blinked once, then twice, trying to figure out what was going on back at the ship.

"Just what are you all up to?" Melody thought, reaching out with her Psychic abilities. She closed her eyes and slowly scanned the ship, falling into one familiar aura from all others. Her eyes snapped open, seeing what objective her friend had, and how she had to help.

"Hang on Ice…" she whispered, swimming as fast as she can back to the ship.

* * * * * * *

Ice held the weakened Nil in his left arm, his weapon held firmly in his right hand. He could hear the footsteps of guards and other trainers from the ship, despite how loud the sirens were. Ignite and Styx stayed close behind, but both began to feel the hopelessness of the situation. The first guard made his appearance in front of Ice, who was easily swatted away with a quick swing from Ice’s staff.

The guard fell with a grunt, discharging one bullet from his gun that thankfully the bullet embedded against the wall and failed to do damage. The trio of Pokémon and the Angel continued to run to the stern of the ship, for reasons unknown.

"Stop!!" another guard shouted from behind. Styx quickly turned around, stepped backwards a few steps, then did a back flip. At the peak of his flip, he unleashed an electric attack that sailed across the deck and electrocuted the guard. Styx landed on his feet and continued to run. Ignite looked over his shoulder for a brief second to witness this, admiring the spectacle despite their situation.

"Nice one," he mouthed to his companion. The Pikachu nodded, sprinting to make up for lost ground on that attack. It wasn’t long until the Pikachu was back up and beside Ignite. It also wasn’t long until the four were at the back of the ship, with no where else to run. Ice quickly turned around, retracting his weapon into the small pole like object and pocketing the item.

"Now what?" Styx asked, also turning around. He could easily make out the guards and trainers that were after them.

"We fight them?" Ignite offered as a sarcastic remark. Everyone failed to laugh for obvious reasons.

"Of course…" Ice spoke softly, stepping forward. He sill held Nil in his left arm. Both conscious Pokémon regarded their Human for a minute, wondering if he lost his mind or something. Ice raised his right arm, concentrating, trying to activate his powers again.

The beam of neon blue energy blasted out of Ice’s palm, creating a wall of ice in front of them and preventing the trainers and guards to get forward. Both Pokémon blinked, surprised at the Angel’s new talent.

"It’ll hold until they get Fire Dragoons or Valkyries to burn it down," Ice quickly told them, heading back to the edge of the boat. He looked down, and smiled lightly, relieved for some good news.

"Need a lift?" Melody shouted from down below. Ice nodded, looking left and right before finding some rope that was coincidentally nearby.

"Well, let’s not argue with fate," Ice thought, quickly grabbing the rope. Already he could feel the heat from Fire Pokémon burning down that ice wall. The trainer quickly tied the rope to the railing, then leaped over the side, gripping the rope tightly.

"Hop on!" he told his other two companions. Styx and Ignite leaped onto Ice’s shoulder while Nil still remained in his left arm. Quickly, but cautiously, he made his way down and onto the back of the Lapras. He could feel the heat, and knew they sent in some of the Dragoon’s to assist, possibly even a Crusader.

"Void comes to mind…" Ice thought, leaping down onto Melody’s back. Sky Valkyries and Knights were diving down to intercept them.

"Melody, take off, I’ll handle them!!" Styx quickly shouted out while Ignite was busy using Flamethrower to swat those flyers. "Ignite stop!" Styx shouted, leaping onto the Lapras’ head. He charged up electric energy, then leaped high up into the air, creating a sphere of electrical energy. Melody had to duck her head to avoid getting shocked. Every single flyer was knocked down and fell back to the ship. Styx landed back down on Melody’s shell with the help of her Psychic ability.

"Good job Styx…" Ice complimented. It was over, as Pokémon lined up across the stern of the ship, unleashing fire, water, grass, and assorted attacks. Most splashed around them, though some hit Melody, making her cry out in pain.

"This one if mine!" Ignite screamed out, unleashing a Fire Blast onto the stern of the ship. Most of the firing of attacks ceased with the flames flaring about. Ignite continued to unleash Fire Blasts until he was too exhausted to fire anymore. He slumped onto the back of the Lapras, but seemed to have stalled the pursuit of the ship for a bit.

"Ever heard of a Nova Barrage?" Nil spoke weakly, looking down at Ignite. He gave a confused look, albeit exhausted one too. "Just a lot of Fire Blasts in rapid succession…and much faster then that…" the female Pikachu answered, smiling a bit before fainting from exhaustion. Nevertheless, it left Ignite, as with the others, confused with her meaning.

* * * * * *

The sun was finally raising after a hectic night of events, starting with a rescue operation and ending with an insane escape. Nil was still unconscious and Ignite had fallen asleep. Melody continued to swim, though not as fast since there seemed to be no pursuers, as far as Styx and Ice could tell, who remained diligent in their lookout duties.

"Where are we heading?" Styx finally asked, sitting down beside Nil, who slept peacefully on Melody’s back. Ice shrugged, turning his head to face the back of Melody’s.

"Care to answer?" he asked his Lapras companion, the same Lapras he shared his DNA with. She turned her head back slightly, still continuing to move forward.

"We are heading in a trajectory east of the Trilands," Melody answered. "We’ll be landing on one of the island to rest up and restock on supplies, then I guess we will keep going east, until we hit Cianwood City."

"Sounds like a plan," Ice commented, sitting down. Styx nodded his agreement, exhaling.

"We’re exiles now, right?" he asked, holding Nil’s hand for no reason. Ice looked down at the pair of Pikachu.

"We’re not exiles," he answered, looking back up at the horizon where they came from. "We have our freedom now." Styx accepted the answer, definitely more positive then how he worded it.

"Freedom it is then…" Styx agreed.

* * * * * *

Alex leaned against the railing on the bow of the ship. He stared out at the distance, where Ice, Styx, Ignite, Nil, and Melody were swimming off. He felt admiration for that group, with their courage to leave this ship. He also was jealous, jealous that he couldn’t join them in their quest for freedom.

"Alex…" Dr. Sapphire spoke, approaching him. The Psychic Angel turned around, facing the doctor.

"You helped them…" Alex spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. The doctor nodded, joining the Psychic Angel in leaning against the railing.

"You’re an Angel…in more ways then one…" she told him.

"I know that…" he answered, looking down at the sea below. "I’ve known that…as I’ve known what you have done to Void…and Ice…" Dr. Sapphire was initially surprised, but then changed that look, knowing how.

"You’ve adapted to your abilities…" she spoke in her matter-of-fact tone. "But you do know how far it has gone…" Alex remained silent, continuing to stare at the ground.

"Here," she spoke, giving Alex a small floppy disk. "You wish to leave this ship…" Alex took the disk from her hand, staring at it. "I know you can leave this ship…" she spoke, placing a hand on his chest. "It’s…in your genes…"

"And if you’re reading my mind…please take those two and go…before anything else happens…" she added softly. Alex remained stationary, examining her features, then nodded.

"If they find out…" he started, but was cut off.

"They’ll find out sooner or later," she told him. "This is my way to atone for my sins. Please don’t make it anymore difficult." Alex nodded once again, heading off to fetch the other two people he needed for this journey.

<Fin>