Team StormRiders [PG-13+] - Chapter 39; Tactician

[Chibi Altaria]

Chapter 1;
.............jirachi's wish

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The sun hangs low in the sky, like a shining orb full of despair. But… it wasn’t always like this. I can still remember when the land was rich and full of prosperity. When pokemon stood side-by-side, like comrades in arms. We were so peaceful, I guess… we never thought we would fall.

But we could fall. Now, the land is dimming. And with it, the hopes of all those around me. I fear I am too late, but I must try…I will try! For that is the first step towards success. Suddenly, Jirachi lost his train of thought. A small sound had erupted from his mind.

But it was a voice, a voice he remembered. The voice of a wise pokemon. One who’s thoughts reached beyond understanding. A calm, but stern voice.
“Xatu…,” Jirachi answered, straining his mind to the pokemon. “Xatu, I cannot do this. We have failed. I, have failed.”

Jirachi’s voice faltered and he found he could say no more. But Xatu was renowned for his courage and wisdom. He, at least would not give up on him.
“With every failure, comes a new chance to succeed.” Replied Xatu simply. His voice was strong, as if a burning fire raged from within.

Did Jirachi dare to believe? His eyes shimmered, like faith renew.
“You’re right, Xatu! Though we’ve had many failures before, we can do it this time. I can feel it!” Jirachi’s voice strengthened with every word he spoke, as if just saying something could give him hope.

Xatu let out a short laugh. “That’s it my friend! If we stand together, anything is possible.” But Xatu’s following words were that of concern. And perhaps…fear. “Jirachi, I need your help. You know this?” Jirachi nodded solemnly.

“With the last of my strength, I will help you. What is needed to be done?” Xatu seemed to be thinking. There was a long pause before he replied.

“I…need you to go away for a bit.” That was it. Jirachi lost his spark.

“Where to?” He replied gravely. In his mind, Jirachi had an image of Xatu lifting up his head. But it looked different somehow. Like that of a ghost, fading away.

“Watch and listen. Only then will you know what to do.” An image like a video flashed through Jirachi’s mind. The place where he was to go. He was racing over sand dunes in a desert, only to be replaced seconds later by a huge city, roaring with life.

The video slowed as an image of a school came into view. Jirachi watched silently, intimidated by a world he didn’t know. The video swung round from the school towards a park. It was then he realised he was following a girl, A human girl. She had long, brown hair, blue eyes and a quirky smile.

She wore a blue skirt and a light pink t-shirt, embossed with a logo of some kind. The girl halted in front of a tall oak tree. It was then that she climbed it, hair tangling in the branches. She did not notice a large crow alight on a nearby branch. She turned and saw the bird, but merely started reading to it.

The crow became enraged by what she said and tried to make the girl fall, constantly diving at her. Jirachi noticed her eyes. The look of determination was gone, replaced by that of fear. Then the girl slipped and hurtled towards the ground, screaming. Jirachi could do nothing but watch, stricken.

The images slowly subsided and when he came to, Jirachi found he was sweating uncontrollably. Jirachi panted, gathering his voice from within. “Is…is this where I must go?” He asked weakly.

“With my help, you will be transported safely to the land above,” Xatu answered gently. “Now, it is time.” Jirachi felt himself begin to tingle, as an orb of white light surrounded him. The pokemon gave a short gasp, then was gone.



The darkness swallowing Jirachi was dimming. “Where am I?” He said, wincing slightly. Tall buildings surrounded him on either side. Humans lined the streets, some even in metal monsters. Jirachi’s memory was then jolted, coming back almost instantly. The transportation had drained most of his energy.

But he had a bigger concern. “Can these humans see me!?” He wondered out loud. Looking around, he saw they could not. Kneeling weakly, he looked down at himself. The sun danced off his body, although it wasn’t much of a body anymore. He was transparent and shimmering.

A mere spirit in this world. But he had no time to contemplate his concerns, for at that moment he saw the girl. Without exactly knowing why, he followed her, floating silently In the cool breeze. It was as if everything had rewound itself. He was watching the whole thing all over again.

Only this time, he was in it. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the crow. Jirachi’s brow furrowed. Time may be repeating itself, but the fall will not. Jirachi quickly meditated to regain his strength and whizzed off in pursuit of the crow. However, he found out the hard way that the crow could see him.

It dive-bombed Jirachi, trying to shake him off, but how could he let this beast hurt the girl? The crow slammed into him from the side, knocking his breath away. Jirachi’s eyes fluttered. For a fleeting moment, he considered just leaving the girl behind in order to save himself.

Xatu’s words rang through his mind: “With every failure, comes a new chance to succeed.” No! He could not run this time. He’d already done that too many times in the past. No, now was the time to stand and fight. A white hot fever pulsed through his body, giving him the feeling on invincibility.

Jirachi used his agility to speed up and gain advantage of the battle. The crow reeled, as Jirachi slammed a blasting ball of energy against it. He was expecting the creature to fall, but was stunned when it did not. If anything, he just enraged it even more, causing a new flash of energy to flow through the crow.

Jirachi paused in mid-air. A strange and peculiar thought surged through his mind. Somewhere, he was sure he had battled this creature before. It used movements familiar to him. But even though he strained his mind till it hurt, he could not remember. Jirachi whizzed around the crow, every moment gaining more speed.

The two kept colliding with each other, each time using more force than the last. Jirachi backed off, panting. No matter how strong he was, he could not keep this up forever. A new tactic was needed. A diversion. He flew up high into the air looking down upon the crow.

Jirachi could see it was tiring too, the wing-beats much slower than before. Jirachi sighed and mustering all his courage, stuck his fingers in his mouth and poked out his tongue, taunting the crow. The crow shrieked and hurtled towards him. Well, at least it had worked.

Jirachi eased in and out of the trees, begging the crow to follow him, but he needed a rest and soon. Hands glowing, Jirachi whirled around to face the crow, pointing them at him. The crow chortled, laughing at him.

Fine, we’ll see how you laugh now! As Jirachi’s hands came forward, a dozen stars flew out from his body, engulfing the crow brutally. Seizing the chance, Jirachi bounded off to find the girl. She sat alone in the tree, reading her lines. At least now she’d be safe.

He crept slowly towards the branches, hiding among them. He sat silently, watching her read and relief empowered him. Jirachi turned to go and froze almost immediately. Unbelievable! The crow was tattered, but still it stood above him, glaring at the girl. “Leave her alone!,” Jirachi called out to the crow.

“Your battle is with me!” The crow ignored him, advancing along the branch towards the girl. Jirachi cursed silently. “I said leave her!” He bellowed. The sound must have startled the crow, who’s wings flapped wildly, which caused the girl to stumble and fall. Jirachi flew off the branch and glared at the crow.

Jirachi met it’s eyes and knew then who it was. Deoxys grinned, then spoke for the first time since he had encountered it. “I told you that you always ruin everything.” He sneered and transformed back to his normal form, the crow disappearing. The whipping arms reached out and caught Jirachi around the throat.

He struggled, gasping for air. “Let me go, you brute!” Jirachi spat.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” Deoxys said, flicking an arm about. “Someone could get hurt.” Deoxys forced Jirachi’s head to turn round so he was looking at the girl. But she was no longer falling, time itself had stopped!

Jirachi felt faint. “Take me, but leave the girl.” He said weakly.

“Now, where’s the fun in that?,” Deoxys replied, hissing. “I prefer a hunt!” As the words rang across the park, he disappeared in a bright light, leaving Jirachi spluttering for breath. Time slowly lurched into action again.

No! I can’t let her go like this! Jirachi grew hot again, that same fever pulsing through him. He closed his eyes and began glowing. “Oh, world heed my wish. Deliver safely this girl, so that she may be reborn somewhere untouched by evil.” The light surrounding him entered the girl’s body, then suddenly she was gone.

Jirachi smiled meekly, then ran out of energy and began to plummet. But still he smiled, the deed was done. “Oh, world. Please hear my wish.”…

[Chibi Altaria]

Chapter 2;
.............caught in a trap

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A crackly sound entered my ears as I began to wake up. I groaned and rolled onto my back opening my eyes. Everything was still a bit hazy-I must have knocked myself out pretty good. As my vision cleared, I became aware of a bright orange face in front of me.

“Ah, so the hero finally decides to wake up.” A kind voice said to me. I sat up and noticed I was in a bed of some kind. It was made of soft down and a blanket for a pillow. A small chicken was peering down at me. It had bright blue eyes, small feet, a yellow crest and wings and a small beak in the middle of it’s face.

A Torchic, I thought without exactly knowing how. Though the eyes seemed a little out of place. “Hero?” I muttered back. I still felt groggy and weird.

“Well, either that or someone very silly.” He said frowning at me.

“How did I get here?” I asked, looking at him inquisitively.

“I found you outside, obviously unconscious, then-”

“No,” I said, thinking hard. “How did I get here. In this world.” The Torchic didn’t reply-He looked rather confused in fact. “I, I have this weird feeling,” I said slowly. “But I don’t think I’m from here.” I racked my memory, but it was all a blur.

“You can’t be from somewhere else,” The Torchic said, looking at me like I was crazy. “You’re a Pikachu.”

“Huh? A…Pikachu?” I said cocking my head to one side.

“Yeah. I guess you must have hit your head really hard.” Come, look at this.” He said, tilting his head towards a small pool of water.

I walked over to the pool and looked down. A startling cry emitted from my mouth. I was small and yellow, with long, pointy ears that formed a black tip at the end. Two red, electric sockets were on my cheeks, next to a small nose, bright black eyes and a little, curving mouth.

I twisted round and saw a pair of brown stripes that hovered just above a lightning shaped tail. Somehow, I knew this wasn’t what I was supposed to look like. I touched my soft cheeks with my paws, and felt the outline of the electric sockets rub against them. I stood bending over the pool, staring at my reflection.

“I’m…a Pikachu…” I muttered to myself.

“Well you look like a normal Pikachu,” The Torchic said softly. “Except for that.” He pointed to my tail where I saw a strange, white glowing circle. I had no idea how that got there. I wanted to change the subject.

“What’s your name?” I asked the Torchic cautiously.

He stared back solemnly. “You do know that it’s impolite to ask for someone’s name, when you haven’t given yours?”

“Oh,” I said, I didn’t know that. It must be a custom here, I thought. “My name’s…Zanna.” The Torchic smiled fondly at me, eyes sparkling.

“Well met, Zanna. I’m Jarre.”

I smiled for the first time since I’d woken up. “Jarre…”

“Are you alright now?” Jarre asked, looking at me with concern.

“Yes, I think so.” I replied, turning away from him. Jarre seemed to guess my actions.

“What!? Are you leaving already?” He exclaimed, looking somewhat downtrodden.

“Yes, I should go and-” I stopped abruptly. It just occurred to me that I had no idea where I was. I explained my situation to Jarre, who just grinned at me.

“Why don’t I show you around then?,” He offered. “I’m sure I’ll be of some help.”

“That’s okay. I’m more of an independent type.” I answered him, walking towards the doorway.

“Oh, if you’re sure…” He said looking remotely downcast.

“Positive.” I replied. Was that a hint of steel in my voice? I shook my head.

I stopped at the door, turning back one last time to see Jarre smiling at me half-heartedly. I went with a sinking feeling in my gut, but I couldn’t trust anyone.

Not at the moment, anyway. Instead, I focused on the beautiful scenery around me. A small town stood in front of me, surrounded by a lush forest that seemed t stretch back as far as I could see. I stared wide-eyed at Likera Town. To some pokemon, it would probably be no more than a scratch on the map, but to the inhabitants of Likera, it was just perfect.

Looking around, I saw pokemon everywhere! A Swellow, hastily delivering mail, Squirtle and Mudkip playing in a nearby pond, and a strange looking Elekid doing-hang on. What was it doing? The Elekid shuffled about nervously, then took a small piece of paper off a wooden board. It looked about shiftily until it spotted me.

Eyes narrowing, it backed away slowly into the bushed behind the board. I frowned. What was an Elekid doing that was so secretive? I didn’t know, but you could bet I was going to find out! I raced off on all fours to the bulletin board, for that was what it was, peering closer at the papers pinned there.

They were rescue requests! But why would the Elekid want to hide it? Rescuing pokemon was a good thing. I bent down and sniffed the ground on impulse, finding the Elekid’s scent. I decided it might be a good idea to tail him. I jumped into the bushes where the Elekid had disappeared, and wove in and out of the trees following it’s scent.

A moment later the trees thinned out and I found myself in a canyon as large as a big lake. It was nearing sunset now, and from the top of the canyon it looked magnificent. If you’ve ever seen a rose begin to flower, than you’ll kind of know what I mean. A small river flowed at the bottom of the canyon, snaking it’s way through the forest.

A tall mountain of rock rose from the centre of the canyon, like a tall spire disappearing into the clouds. Mostly though, the canyon was just filled with jagged edges and large crevices. Just at that moment, I lost the Elekid’s scent. It was like it had vanished, but who could hide in a place like this?

Out of the corner of my eye, something caught my attention. It sparkled from behind a couple of berry bushes. I walked up to them cautiously, and slowly parted the prickly branches. A badge glinted back at me. It shone in the fading sunlight, the wings on either side like those of an angel. A rescue badge.

I reached down to pick it up and ran my paw over the smooth, metal surface. Even though it was warm, I felt a small shiver flow into me. Suddenly my ears pricked up. Something was watching me. I closed my eyes, trying to lock onto a scent or sound. I picked up a small rustling noise not far away, near a few crowded trees.

I felt scared-something was wrong. I turned to run but was immediately thrown backwards, the rough ground skinning my fur. I was pinned in place by the strong arms of a pokemon. An Elekid. It stood over me, smirking in that same way I’d seen it do in Likera Town.

But right now I only had one question. “Who are you?” I asked it, my eyes narrowing. The Elekid let off a surprised look.

“Don’t you know that-”

“Yeah, I know. I’m Zanna.” I answered quickly, struggling under the Elekid’s weight. It was a boy, probably no older than I was. The Elekid shifted to the left, lightening my load a bit.

“I go by many names around here.” He said to me, holding my gaze. “But you, you may call me Rye.” My tail dug into my back and I squirmed uncomfortably.

“Well met, Rye.” I said, mimicking Jarre’s words. Rye seemed to notice my discomfort and let me stand up, though he never took his eye off me.

“I’d say we could have met under better circumstances.” Rye said slyly, then decided the conversation was heading the wrong was and quickly changed the subject. “You’re not from around here are you?” He asked me suspiciously. I tore my eyes away, shaking the dirt from my fur.

“I’m…from out of town.” I replied honestly.

Rye knew there was more to it, but he didn’t press me. He walked over to a tree and ran his claws over the rough bark, then turned to look at me. “We don’t get many pokemon from out of town around here.” He said. His face held no expression, so it was hard to tell whether he was sad or angry. I took a step towards him.

I wasn’t so scared anymore. “I like this town.” I ventured. Rye stared back coolly, then smiled. His face didn‘t look mean anymore, though something told me he didn‘t smile very often.

“You’re a good sort then,” He said back to me. “We also don’t get many of those." I smiled, then chose to ask a question I knew would be risky.

“What were you doing at the bulletin board, back there?” Rye’s smile faded. He walked up to me so that I could feel his warm breath on my face.

“Don’t ask me about my business.” Rye said coldly, sparks flying from his ears. I sensed he was guarded again so I backed off a bit.

Rye stared at me for a second longer before walking away again. I didn’t stop him. I watched him go, still wondering what he was up to. At the last turn before the forest started again, he turned back towards me. “You might want to look around a bit before you leave.” He said.

I had a feeling he as hinting at something. He may not have told me what he was up to, but he wasn’t exactly hiding it either. Rye smiled one last time, then disappeared around the corner from sight. He is an odd pokemon, I thought, but he’s not bad. Inside me I knew we’d meet again.

I was sure of it. I took Rye’s advice and looked around the canyon. It wasn’t hard to find what he’d left for me. He had it pinned to a small shrub, close to where I came in. I took out the pin and picked up a piece of paper that was sparkling in the sunset, just like the badge.

I read the note out loud quietly, staring intently at the words written on the page. A huge heading jumped out at me.

“Pokemon Rescuers! The PRA (Pokemon Rescue Association) needs your help! As you all know, pokemon everywhere are being affected by recent natural disasters occurring all over the world. We need as many pokemon as we can to help us during this difficult time.

If you’re able to help your town, we urge you to think about this: Is any life, a life worth living? Have pride in who you are and help those in need. For more information, contact the PRA at your nearest town today. And remember, you’re braver than you think.

~PRA”

Was Rye thinking about joining? I sighed. I didn’t think I’d make a good rescuer, but it was about helping pokemon, and Rye obviously believed in me. Maybe- “Aaagghhhh!” A loud shriek snapped me out of my thoughts. I took a step backwards. A clump of dirt gave way and I fell, tumbling into a small pit.

I lay on the ground, dazed by the fall. I was covered from head-to-toe in dirt and it made me look like an odd-shaped rock. I stood up carefully and shook myself, shaking the dust from my fur. The bright starlit sky looked down upon me, almost mockingly. “Help!” I called up, my voice echoing off the jagged walls.

I sighed and sat down, blowing a clump of fur from my face. A murky shadow towered above me, and, for a second I was too afraid to look up. When I did, I noticed it wasn’t anything bad. Quite the opposite actually. Jarre peered down into the darkness of the pit, grinning widely, a long rope slung over his back.

“Need some help?” He called down to me. I instantly regretted how I’d treated him. Despite all I’d done, he was still willing to help. Maybe I can trust him.

“Only if you’re willing to give it.” I replied half-heartedly. I looked up at him and to my surprise, he was still grinning.

“Would I want it any other way?” He answered softly. My mouth began to twitch and I found myself smiling. Looks like I’ve finally found a friend.