The Trial of Juno Saga [PG-13]

[Neo Emolga]

Chapter 21
Crossing the Threshold

I had realized that in order to find Randy and Alex, I was going to have to go through cell by cell, and since I couldn’t see into them, I didn’t know whose cell I was going to open, and I was a little bit wary thinking about it. There was no telling who or what was going to be behind the door, and the chance of someone lunging for my throat was always a possibility. I was hoping anyone here would be happy I was giving them their freedom, so I couldn't see too much harm coming out of it.

I didn’t really know what the Silver Rebellion was or who was in it, but I could already assume this place was loaded with them from all the prison guards I had to take out. I hated these sick-minded Crimson Stars, but for all I knew, the Silver Rebellion could be just as bad.

I had gone over to the first cell along the left wall, all the way at the end. It read, “V17” on a metal plaque by the keyhole, and I had looked at the key ring and found the corresponding key. The whole metal bar-coded key took a little getting used to, but once I figured out how it worked, I put the key in, turned, and slowly opened the heavy metal door.

Inside, the cell was exactly like mine, only by the bedside, I had seen a Cubone, a Chespin, and a Buneary lying against the metal bunk beds. They had been wearing gray and white armored uniforms, although the Cubone was still wearing the skull helmet. The Chespin was sleeping on the bunk bed near the window, but I could tell from his scarred brown face and some of the missing and shredded leaves on his head that he had seen plenty of fighting. Meanwhile, the Buneary was soiled and her brown fur was dirty. Meanwhile, she was wearing a black eye-patch over her left eye.

They looked exhausted, but when they saw me open the door, they looked up.

“Who are you?” The Cubone asked me, suddenly surprised to see the door open for once.

Good question. I wasn't even sure myself anymore.

"I'm nobody, let's just bail out of here," I told him, knowing there wasn't too much time to do this. "We don't have a whole lot of time."

I figured I was going to need some help getting out of here anyway.

In an excited ecstasy, they had gotten up, and scrambled to the door. The Chespin and the Buneary had run out the door and prepared to keep a lookout, but the Cubone had stopped in the doorway, and looked at me curiously for a moment. I could see past the skull he was wearing to look directly into his black eye.

“That’s funny, I don’t recognize you from the Silver Rebellion…” The Cubone told me, looking me over strangely. "Did they rip off your uniform? Wouldn't be the first time they've done that."

“No, I'm not from the Silver Rebellion,” I told him with a casual but polite smile, hoping to avoid being caught up in this war.

“Heh, well, you should be!” The Cubone replied in a somewhat amused tone. “Leading the charge on breaking open a Crimson Stars military prison? That takes guts!”

I admired his support, but I was no soldier. I had been nearly shot, pummeled, bitten, and shredded to death and had it not been for Juno's special powers, I would have been long-dead.

I had turned around, headed to the next cell, and found the key that corresponded with the door. I was really hoping I wasn’t making a serious mistake by doing this, but so far, the few Silver Rebels that I had met didn’t seem to be so bad. I put the key in the keyhole, and turned it clockwise until it stopped. After I heard the release pulled in, I opened the cold, metal door. Again, it was the same setup as before, only now I found a Meinshao and a Marill inside the cell, both looking like they’ve been in there for way too long. The white and purple weasel-like Pokémon looked like he had seen far too much fighting and the scars on his body proved it. Meanwhile, the round-shaped, aquatic mouse looked terribly malnourished and in dismay.

“Am I seeing things?” The Meinshao asked, looking at me, “You’re not one of them, are you?”

“Nope,” I told them quickly. “Come on, let’s go before someone catches us.”

They both dashed for the door with sudden, lifted spirits, and after the cell was empty, we then shut the door. I quickly moved to the third cell from the wall, and found the key I needed. Now, I felt like I needed to move faster and faster.

"There might be more coming," The Cubone warned me, urging me to go faster. "We don't have a whole lot of time."

"I'm trying..." I told him, feeling the urgency as well. "Not used to dealing with keys like these."

Once I unlocked the door, I handed the keys to the Cubone to take care of the rest.

Inside was a solitary Pachirisu, sitting on the bed with his eyes staring at the floor, his ears drooping downward, and his giant, fluffy tail laying by his side. I was surprised for a moment. His white and cyan-colored fur was relatively clean unlike the others. He didn’t seem to be in such bad shape like the others had been, like he had just gotten here. That, and unlike the Silver Rebellion soldiers, this electric squirrel wasn't wearing armor either. I walked over to him, and he still looked down, not willing to face me, even though he had been aware of my presence.

“I don’t know who you are, but I don’t belong here,” The Pachirishu said to me, just trying to push me away so he could be by himself. "I don't know why they did this to me or why I'm here."

“That’s why I’m taking you out of here.” I replied, trying to comfort him.

“You don’t understand, this isn’t the real me,” He said sadly, shaking his head in disbelief as he looked away. “I’m…”

I couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he had been here way too long…

“I’m…” He stuttered, trying to continue, but finding it really hard to, “not… actually… a Pachirisu…”

Was this what I thought it was?

"Is that... you, Randy?" I asked.

He then immediately looked up, and I instantly knew my hunch was right. Instantly, he recognized me as Juno the Pikachu, but I didn't understand... why would Zander have Randy get turned into a Pachirisu?

"No... way..." He muttered.

"Seems it... happened to me also," I told him, still trying to wrap my head around this strange situation we were in. "Something really is weird. I... don't think there are any humans here."

"Jake..." Randy muttered, looking oddly at me. "You... you look really awesome as Juno. But... do you know where we are?"

"It's a military prison of some sort," I told him, not knowing much about the situation either. "I had to fight off some armored Pokémon with guns from some group called the Crimsons Stars."

He just seemed overwhelmed by it all, and I could tell that as he got up from his bed and tried to move around, he was definitely not used to walking as a Pachirisu. I knew the others would think it might have been either injury or weakness, but they didn't know what was really going on here. Still, if Zander turned Randy into a Pachirisu, I was quite sure he had probably turned Alex into a Pokémon as well, wherever he was.

Randy had looked at me, unable to believe. He then shook his head, unable to understand. But then, he looked at me closer and seemed to recognize me much more easily.

Just then, Cubone had poked his head out from behind the door and peered in.

“Hey, what’s taking you so long in there!?” He shouted out. “We’ve got to get out of here as soon as possible!”

“Come on,” I told Randy, knowing we could sort this out later. “We'll figure this all out once we're some place safe.”

Randy just hopped off the metal bunk bed and landed on his feet. I then began to head out of the room, and he began to follow me.

I then continued to unlock door by door, releasing what seemed to be practically a small army of Pokémon. I hadn’t been faced with resistance for quite a few minutes now, but even if someone had come to stop us, they wouldn’t stand much of a chance with all this united effort. Almost all of them were obviously Silver Rebellion soldiers judging from the silver-gray and white armored uniforms they were wearing.

“Come on!” Cubone shouted, “I know where the exit is!”

I tried to look among the crowd for a Pokémon that might be Alex, but there was no way of telling. There were at least three dozen other Pokémon and while most of them were wearing armor, I didn't get an opportunity the unarmored ones if they were Alex.

"Is there anyone named Alex here!?" Randy asked the whole group.

They looked at him strangely, and then at each other. It definitely looked like they had never heard that name before.

“Where is he?” He asked me, knowing we didn’t find him in any of the cells. "None of these guys look like they know him.

“We have to go find him…” I told Randy, heading in the opposite direction that the rest of the Pokémon were heading.

“Where do you think you’re going!?” The Cubone asked me in shock, seeing I was running in the other direction. "The way out is the other way!"

I had stopped and turned back for a moment. I had noticed Randy was following me.

“There’s someone I know that should still be here!” I shouted back. “We need to go find him!”

“There can’t be…” He shouted back. “I've unlocked all the other cells in the whole prison. He would have to be held somewhere else…”

That didn’t make sense. If Alex wasn’t here, then where was he? I was just about to turn around and follow Cubone when Randy had got my attention, lightly tapping me on the back with his white paw.

“Do you know where are they hiding my Pokémon?” Randy asked me, looking up.

I felt sick at that moment and had to back against the wall to avoid fainting as I felt so light-headed from stress and despair. I had no clue how I was going to explain this with the little amount of time we had. I tried to look into his eyes, but I couldn't, and the best I could do to share this horrible news was just look down at my own two yellow feet.

"Randy, they..." I told him, taking a hard breath as I was struggling with the words, "...they threw all of our human stuff into an incinerator. Pokédexes, medicine, PokéNavs, and... and the Poké Balls..."

"No... no... nooo, why would they do that!?" Randy suddenly cried, sobbing into my shoulder. "No, please, those were my Pokémon! Didn't they know there were living Pokémon inside them!?"

"I don't think they would have cared even if they did..." I replied to him, putting my paw on his back to try and comfort him.

It was brutal to see him so emotionally wrecked, and I felt like such a horrible person for all the times I heartlessly beat up his Pokémon and insulted them. I shut my eyes and despite Juno's power, there was nothing I could do to revive them and take back all the horrible things I did to them.

"I... I don't get it..." Randy sobbed with tears in his Pachirisu eyes. "Why them...? Why did it have to be them...!?"

I felt the same burn in my heart as he did. Even beyond the battles, I grew up with Raichu, Ariados, Jolteon, and Weavile, and to know they were dead and I never got the chance to say goodbye...

"I just want to wake up already..." Randy cried with tears burning in his eyes. "I hate this dream. I hate everything about it."

I could only wish it was one, though. But the pain was far too real for it to be one.

"Let's go, we need to hurry!” The Cubone shouted to the two of us from down the hall. “We don’t have much longer. Once they initiate the lockdown of the whole prison, there will be no way out of here!”

"We gotta go," I told Randy, knowing there was nothing we could do about it. "I'm sorry, Randy, I... lost all my Pokémon save for one."

"Save for one?" He asked.

"For some reason, they couldn't incinerate the Poké Ball that held Latias," I told him, showing him the one Poké Ball I had left. "I think it's because... they're made from your dreams."

Randy was a bit shocked, unable to understand it completely, but it surprised him also.

"This is all so... weird," Randy replied, still unable to believe this was all really happening.

"We'll try to figure it all out later," I told him, knowing we were still in dangerous territory here. "Right now, we've got to go follow that Cubone. I don't know about these Silver Rebellion soldiers, but I'm sure if they wanted to kill us, they would have done it already."

He nodded, and got up on his own two white furry feet. He was slowly getting the hang of traveling as a Pachirisu, which I could imagine wasn't easy for him considering he spent the last decade and a half as a human.

Already, everyone else but Cubone had already left the building, and we quickly rushed to follow him. Just past the second metal door of the jail room, there was a metal exit leading out. Randy and I quickly made our way outside. I could only hope Alex wasn’t still in there, and I was willing to take the Cubone’s word for it, but if that wasn’t the case, we would never be able to get to him now…

Outside, I got a full view of just how ravaged and torn apart this strange and foreign alien world was. As Randy and I looked upon the fields, the black ruins of a massive city had lied before us with the dark thunder still raging on overhead. The land was charred black in various places, and the fragments of tall buildings lay around us like twisted, jagged thorns. All that was left was a field of twisted, empty shells. Above it all was the fiery colored sky with its occasional flashes of thunder endlessly clashing in the air, the same nightmare I had seen from my cell window…

I was wondering what caused all this, and I was just about to ask the Cubone about it before stopping myself. I then figured it might be a good idea to not so quickly reveal Randy and I were former humans by showing ignorance. For all we knew, this could be new, or it could be something these Pokémon have always had to deal with.

And then, the Marill had emerged from the group, mounted upon a fierce-looking Pidgeot. I had no idea where he had gotten that massive bird from, but he was now equipped with all kinds of riding gear and armor. He looked down upon Cubone. He seemed a bit distressed…

“Sir, we had better leave before the Wind Strikers arrive…” The Marill warned him with anxiety. “Your mount is awaiting, and most of the others have already mounted up and are ready to leave. But there’s not much time.”

“Wind Strikers…?” Randy asked, feeling a bit worried.

“I guess you two really aren't from around here,” The Cubone told him. “They’re aerial sentinels who ride Skarmories. They’re fast, lethal, and they simply enjoy killing. Their weapons are also highly advanced.”

So, I figured that Ampharos in the break room had to be a Wind Striker. His Skarmory was certainly no joke and neither was that massive rifle he was using.

It wasn’t long until the rest of the released prisoners had come forward, all of them mounted on Pidgeots that were equipped with riding gear and armor. From what I could tell, these Crimson Stars guys had locked up their mounts in another area of the prison. A Pidgeot without a rider had come forward to the Cubone, and it seemed like Cubone had known this particular Pidgeot before. I figured the other Silver Rebellion captives had found out where they had been keeping their riding mounts and managed to release them. Soon enough, the Cubone jumped up upon the Pidgeot’s back, and strapped himself in with the riding saddle that was on the giant bird's back, now ready to ride.

At that moment, Randy and I just looked at each other, and we were both thinking the same thing. Randy and I then looked back at the Cubone and his other riders, and the question of whether these Pidgeot mounts could support two riders came up, but judging from the saddles and the gear they were wearing, it seemed like an obvious answer. There was no way we were getting on those things, and I didn’t feel like holding onto one of their backs for dear life.

“Uhhh…” Randy said to the Cubone in hesitation, “We don’t have a Pidgeot…”

“You don’t?” Cubone asked in some surprise. “No flying mount at all? How did you end up in the same prison as us Storm Riders?"

Randy seemed a bit embarrassed, and I couldn’t blame him since I was pretty much in the same situation as he was in. I didn’t know what a Storm Rider was either, and these Pokémon had a way about them that made you feel a little stupid for asking.

"Well, like I said earlier, we're not part of the Silver Rebellion," I told him, trying to put it casually. "Hence... the lack of a Pidgeot mount."

“What are the Storm Riders anyway?” Randy asked, looking at Cubone in curiosity.

“That’s who we are.” Cubone responded, putting a fist to his chest in a proud salute. “We’re the aerial forces of the Silver Rebellion, and we use Pidgeots as a means of transportation and as a means of attack.”

I had to admit, it was pretty impressive what these Storm Riders managed to create. An aerial attack force of two Pokémon working together.

“Wow, that's... awesome…” Randy said in awe, just looking at all the Pidgeot riders. "But... are you sure we can't get a ride? I have no idea how we're going to get out of here otherwise..."

"I've got it covered," I assured him.

I didn’t have a Pidgeot, but I certainly still had Latias. I unstrapped Latias’s Poké Ball from my waist, and pressed the primer button, enlarging the Poké Ball a bit to be prepared for release. A few of the Storm Riders looked curiously at what I was doing, probably having never seen a Poké Ball in action before. Regardless, I took the Poké Ball and I tossed it onto the ground. Sure enough, there was a flash, and the white light had formed into Latias.

Once the light had become her and she had looked around at the scorched earth, it was clear she had no idea where she was again.

"Holy cow, someone please change the channel," She blinked twice at the ravaged world she saw before her. "Okay, who ordered apocalypse and forgot the fries?"

She then turned and looked at me to realize... I was Juno the Pikachu again. I figured this was probably looking pretty weird to her right now, but I figured I could fill her in on the details later. Still, I couldn’t blame her for feeling so confused at that moment…

"Uh huh, okay," She nodded cynically. "Yep, something's weird again."

And then, suddenly, all of the Storm Riders were looking at Latias and I. Every single one of them and even their Pidgeot mounts had just completely stopped and just stared at the two of us, some of them just gaping at the sight with a few gasps here and there. They just looked at Latias and me blankly for a few moments, and said nothing. I had looked back at them, and had absolutely no idea why they were looking at me that way. For a moment, I thought it was because Latias was a pretty rare and legendary Pokémon, but their mesmerized reaction magnified to something even well beyond that.

“...And he will come at your most dire time of need…” Cubone had softly murmured, still blankly staring at me in a strange way, “He will arrive upon a bird as red as blood, and as white as lightning…”

I looked at him strangely, suddenly realizing he was reciting something from somewhere he must have read. Even Latias was looking at him strangely, having no idea who this strange Cubone was. It was… quite eerie to see him so hasty for a moment to get out of here, and then be totally mesmerized into this kind of behavior.

“Were you... saying something?” Randy asked Cubone, wondering what he was exactly talking about.

“When the skies turn into fire and the land is burnt into ash, he will come. We have waited too long for this day to arrive…” Cubone stated in a firm tone, “The restless masses, the battles, the nightmares… When the night seems endless and all hope has faded, he will come, and he will go by the name of Juno…”

Now he was freaking me out. How the heck did he know my name? And why was everyone staring at me? He sounded like he was reciting something like he had read countless times. I thought we needed to get out of here before the Wind Strikers came. Why was everyone just waiting around?

"How did... you know my name?" I asked him, knowing there was no way he could have just guessed that.

"Could someone be so kind to tell us where we are?" Latias asked, looking around curiously. "And most importantly, the quickest way out!?"

“I will show you, Blazewing,” Cubone said to Latias, seemingly proud to be in her presence. “We must make haste.”

Blazewing? He knew Latias's name before even I did?

"No way!" She exclaimed with shock. "If that was a lucky guess, forget this place, we're hitting the roulette wheels!"

Wow, I just didn’t get it. Still, before I could even say anything, Cubone had just looked forward, patted the side of his Pidgeot, and she spread her wings, and took flight into the sky. Soon after, the rest of the Storm Riders had lifted off the ground, and just left us along.

“Come on Randy, let’s go.” I told him, pulling him by the hand and making my way onto Latias’s back.

“How did he know your names?” Randy asked me, looking at Cubone and his Pidgeot strangely.

Hell if I knew. I was asking the same question myself. Soon after, Latias jumped off the ground and we flew swiftly through the air, looking upon the charred remains of the city below. The fissures consuming the city were deep. It was pretty easy to see there was no way to cross this land without flying over it. Still, I had a big question that really needed answering.

“Blazewing, huh?” I suddenly asked her. "That's a pretty cool name.”

“You bet!" She told me with a smug smile. "How the Cubone dude managed to know that... wow, no clue on that one. Heck, I didn't even get around to telling you yet! I wonder... does he somehow know I came Randy's dream world, or that I resembled his optimism too?"

"I haven't got the foggiest idea..." I told her, looking up at the sky in wonder.