Sabrina's message stared back at me from the screen. I'd read it and the words were known to me, but for some reason I failed to compute their meaning.
I blinked and looked away only to look back, hoping that it had changed, but it hadn't.
'I've allowed myself to be captured… follow me back to their base,' it read.
"Of all the ideas to have," I started to say only to cut myself off. No, that wasn't fair. Perhaps there had been extenuating circumstances. Yes, that had to be it. I knew how strong Sabrina was.
More than any other trainer I knew how powerful she was.
I didn't care if the opposing side had an ambush prepared and were using Dark type pokemon. She knew what she was going into and had one of the best abilities to handle a battle on multiple fronts.
She could give orders to more than one or two pokemon at a time.
So what had made her want to surrender herself?
The question gnawed at me and it wasn't until I brought up the data on where Sabrina's tag had been that I noticed the corresponding distress beacons that had been lit by three other trainers.
Hmmm, now that… opened potential doors.
"Agate," I barked suddenly.
The young woman stiffened as I leveled a look at her. "Your tribesmen. Would they take a child hostage?" I asked.
When her eyes darted away and her lips thinned, I growled and ignored her, knowing the answer without her speaking a word.
"The more I learn of your tribe the more I find it to be a group of thugs with delusions of grandeur," I remarked.
That got them sitting up. "Don't try and look down at us from your ivory tower—" roared one of the men as he struggled to his feet.
I stepped forward with a pulse of rock energy, resulting in me suddenly being right in front of him. I lightly put my hand on his shoulder and stared down at him as he gaped.
"Do I look like I'm in an ivory tower right now? I'm in a burned hellscape that you caused. I have seen nothing of honour or dignity. Only savagery that wouldn't be out of place with a pack of wild pokemon."
I continued to stare him down and he fell onto his backside, causing me to sniff. "I'm supposed to be impressed? I am far from that," I huffed with a shake of my head.
To the shinobi who had accompanied me, I turned my head. "Secure them for now. I have to go after Sabrina. She's got a plan and we're going to have to back her up."
On my wrist, my transceiver began to buzz with messages the instant I sent a 'reply all' to various need-to-know groups about what Sabrina had done.
Lance beat everyone, and his face appeared on my wrist. "Brock! Don't go tearing off after them! Sabrina is handing us the tribe on—"
"I know," I growled. "That doesn't mean I have to like her endangering herself like this!"
He swallowed what he was about to say and nodded. "You're right… Usually I would be the one to take the risks when confronting the nomadic tribes, so I never had to experience your side of it." He raised a fist. "We'll make sure she gets out of this perfectly well though. I'm preparing my Salamence now and will contact as many of the local bosses as I can. Anabel and Noland, for starters, will be quick to respond I have no doubt!"
Exhaling slowly to ease the tension I was feeling, I nodded. "Yeah, I've already sent a message. We're going to have to have some coordination however. I've captured several Crusher tribe members."
Lance blinked and stared at the bound men and women. "Huh, I have to admit that I've been reading through the report that got sent through. I thought these folk were big on suicide if they got captured."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah, either fighting to the death or biting their own tongues off," he remarked. "It's very grisly."
Sparing a glance at some nearby roasted pokemon I considered asking if it compared to being burned alive, but held off. It wouldn't be productive.
"We're not of the Spike clan!" growled Agate.
"What was that?" asked Lance and I turned around so he could see Agate.
He whistled. "My goodness, greetings! I'm champion Lance! Might I know your name my dear woman?"
Agate and I both stared at him in shock.
"Lance… are you flirting right now?" I asked.
Lance coughed. "Sometimes honey opens doors that vinegar would keep locked shut," he deflected with a wave.
I felt like throwing up. It was bad enough that Agate looked like an older Yolanda, but there was also the possibility that she was my cousin.
Just… urgh. No.
"Arceues damn it Lance," I growled as I rubbed my forehead. "Keep yourself focused. Lance, Agate, Agate, Lance." I directed a finger at both of them and then back again. "There you've met. She's one of my captives, don't make this weird.. Or weirder than it already is."
I then snapped a finger at Agate, causing her to jolt like I'd sent a bolt of electricity at her.
"What was that about the Spike Clan?" I asked. "Someone said something about Spike, Fang, and Claw before right?"
"Correct. The factions are… well, it's complicated as they operate in many roles but basically they are groups that have certain points of view."
"Internal political groups, got it," I muttered, which only drew a blank stare from Agate. "Sorry, go ahead. The factions?"
"Spike are a group that argue that the clan's purpose is strength above all else. That we are to take and give nothing, not even ourselves. When they fight they will be savage and it is only the most rigid duels against family or a respected tribesman that will allow them to bow out without shaming themselves, otherwise they are expected to fight to the death and sometimes beyond."
That got a raised eyebrow from me only for realisation to set in. "They reformed as Ghastly or some form of ghost pokemon?" I suggested.
"That is told, yes," Agate replied.
"So, warmongers are Spike, what of the other two? Peaceful coexistence?" I asked hopefully.
"Ah, no, the Wing faction died out many years ago. They were all for simply travelling the lands and trading. The Fang faction has taken on their ideas of trade but… only with certain groups such as the Masked ones of Oni Mountain."
Lance tilted his head. "Now, where have I heard of Oni Mountain before?" he muttered.
I snapped my fingers. "Getting off track," I growled. "Fang?" I prodded.
"They are the clan that would have us live off the land, hunting and gathering while protecting our sacred routes of travel." she gestured at herself and those around her. "We are of the Fang faction."
"Which leaves Claw?"
"They would see us claim land, create outposts, claw our way forward at specific landmarks. They wish to abandon the cycles of our people," she stated with a derisive sniff only to cough. "There's also the Shade group but they're the handlers for our dead pokemon and people. You can only become one by passing a special rite of passage and accepting a Ghost type, however. They're not a faction so much as a working group all respect."
"Hmmm, alright that's interesting." And it was, as the elderly man was likely from this 'shade group' which linked them to Tiffany's abduction. "I'm assuming all of the groups answer to the Overlord fellow yes? Which did he originate from?"
"He came from Spike but to rise to Overlord is to cast off your previous faction and become Crusher Tribe first!"
I gave her a flat look. "So in reality he favours his former clan, yes?"
Agate shifted to look away from me.
"I'll take that as a yes. So we have a Leader that might potentially demand people fight on till the end," I muttered. "It's something worth knowing I suppose."
"Right, I'm going to track them from on high," I declared.
"Brock, don't mount your pokemon! It will be too obvious," Lance called before I could hang up on him.
"If they're used to evading observation teams and scouts they will know to be on the look out for such. There's no way the Crusher Tribe evaded attention for as long as they did by being lazy about this."
"Sabrina has her Xatu flying high and Don is also up there, surely a Noctowl would—"
"Wrong time of day for them to be out. Xatu can also stay well back thanks to what we know of Sabrina's psychic range. She should be fine."
"Yes, but she needs a safety net in case things go south," I argued.
"And I'm suggesting you come in low to the ground. Keep your pokemon as links in a chain, alright? And don't charge in," he stressed once more. "I'm coming along with other support, alright?"
I snorted. "For now, I'll agree," I grumbled.
"I'll take the overland route," I declared.
"You need to be careful, don't throw up too—"
"I know! I know!" I growled. "We'll remain a few kilometres back," I announced as I mounted up onto Jormungandr. Jorm gave the burned-out lands a brief look of hesitation, only to steel himself with a firm nod.
"Here, bud," I said as I began spraying Burn Heal on him preemptively. "Selene, stay with me and Link up here."
The rest of my pokemon were recalled, barring my two flying types were returned to their pokeballs.
"Keep them," I tossed over my shoulders to the ninja.
"We're coming with you Gym Leader!" called a trio of ninja, leaping after me.
"Best get on then, cause I'm not slowing down like yesterday," I replied, silently ordering Jorm to perform Rock Polish and accelerate.
As soon as we passed into the burned-out landscape the temperature noticeably ticked up and Jorm made a rumbling sound of displeasure. While I'd made sure the metal that formed his new body was slightly more heat resistant than most metals I knew, this was still going to be rough for him.
Despite also stating that I would avoid creating much of a dust trail it was impossible not to while in the ash-ridden lands.
Not that I minded, we were still kilometres away from anyone significant seeing us.
Still, it paid to be cautious. I made sure Don kept Xatu in sight while having Zephyr sweep back and forth, his powerful eyes able to track even the smallest of bug types.
Most of the pokemon were either hunkered down or had sprinted to the nearest watersource to evade a potential horrible fate.
The only pokemon that were about were the fire types that were happily munching on the carcasses left behind, or the rock and ground type pokemon that were furiously battling what was left of the blaze.
With large swathes of it the flame gutted with fuel being denied to it, along with the fire types being driven back, there was now a chance for things to settle down.
"What pokemon do you have with you?" I asked of the ninja behind me.
"Victreebell, Golbat, Haunter, Hitmonchan, Machoke, and Rapidash!" barked the closest.
"Kadabra, Muk, Starmie, Pidgeot, Venomoth, and Scyther," said the next.
The last shifted uneasily. "Blastoise, Primeape, Gyarados, Abomasnow, Jolteon, and Heracross."
I nodded only to do a double-take. "Wait! Did you say Abomasnow?" I asked, staring at the last ninja. He hadn't given a pokemon like that to Erika or Lorelei?
They nodded. "I was gifted it thanks to my erstwhile contributions. If I use it…"
"Lance and the League will know who you are cause they gifted Sinnohian pokemon from the Rocket Raid to only trusted pokemon trainers." I could probably guess who that was under there with that sort of information.
"Is that going to be an issue?" I asked.
"No, a cover will be arranged for me. They knew I began training under Koga mid-way through last year," replied the ninja formally.
"Hmmm, well, good to have all of you," I replied with a nod. "If things go south… well, let's just hope they don't," I said, turning away with a scowl.
Through Selene, I knew all of the ninja nodded their heads in agreement. They kept quiet after that round of revelations and I continued to work my jaw in frustration. I forced myself to breathe and relax.
This was just like another big pokemon match. In a way, it was just like facing off against Claire with numerous pokemon on the line, or another Guardian combat action.
Yup, nothing unusual about what was coming up at all.
I considered that for a moment.
Somewhere along the line, my life had gotten very messed up if I considered that everyday business.
Again, it was probably Lance's fault.
Deciding to make the most of the trip I opened my transceiver and began messaging Rachel with some ideas for Memes that could be used with various Lance images.
It helped bleed off some of the agitation and directed it towards a worthy target.
Again, my therapist would probably be having words with me about this, but for now, it was a good thing.
Sabrina had somehow kept her transceiver on her and was continuing to update me and others on her location and her state. The fact that she was tied up was seen as a non-issue with her psychic abilities. When some of my responses were a touch short with her she began probing me to make sure that I was alright.
That got a laugh out of me as I pointed out I was supposed to be worrying about her right now.
When I told her what I was doing while following her, the frequency of her messages increased, causing me to roll my eyes and begin linking her into my suggestions.
She started cropping and editing pictures to my suggestions of Meme,s resulting in near-finished products within minutes.
The entire experience seemed slightly surreal.
She was captured, tied up, and part of a group that were probably going to be held hostage, and she was sending me edits to pictures so we could tease Lance later.
Truly, the Crusher Tribe had no idea what they were bringing into their camp.
I almost pitied them.
But it was still a bit hard as they had abducted Sabrina, so whatever came their way was more than deserved in my books.
It took a while to get out of the burned landscape but as soon as we did I paused Jorm for a few minutes to spray him with Hyper Potion to get him back in tip-top shape.
Then we were off again, racing through the trees and scrubland that forced us to hang slightly further back than I'd have preferred.
If Xatu had to relay anything happening during the trip there we were in trouble.
Despite this I started to feel a little more upbeat. The longer the trip went without anything drastic happening to the hostages or Sabrina, it kept calming my nerves slightly.
It indicated that they were complacent and thought themselves in control of the situation.
By the hour mark other trainers were starting to follow along behind me, with messages from Noland, Lucy, and Agatha indicating they were closing in.
It was then that Sabrina's abductees encountered the first patrol from the Crusher Tribe.
Initially, they had been riding along with their pokemon only to have other pokemon being ridden racing out of holes in the ground and bracketing them in.
The Leader of their group, an Elder Woman that Sabrina had witnessed giving orders during their battle and during the run made a sign and roared at the approaching Crusher Tribesmen.
That got a responding call and the group fell in with each other.
That got me to stop straight away and consider my options. The first thing I did was ping the group that were following me. "Be advised, we've encountered what appears to be the outer edges of the Crusher Tribe patrols. They weren't running around but rather hiding underground."
Right, so we had people and pokemon lying in wait ahead… or did we?
I sent a flurry of questions to Sabrina, asking if they were moving with them back to camp, or if they were digging back in.
When she replied that half were moving back to camp with her and celebrating the Tribe's success in capturing her I grit my teeth and pushed on reading the rest to find that they'd dug in, but done so in such a way to reveal that they were sitting in what looked like tunnels more than small dugouts.
With that revealed to me I released Bertha.
"Hey girl, think you can map out some tunnels for me?" I asked as I gave the surrounding rocky landscape a considering look.
We were starting to get a bit exposed out here with the only breaks in visibility being that of boulders, hills, or even a looming mountain.
Bertha knelt and began inspecting the area with her hand shaking, causing a tremor that helped her get a feel for what was beneath the surface.
In the meantime I hopped off Jorm and began feeding him some food.
In doing so several nearby boulders tilted slightly to give me less than subtle glances.
The ninja on Jorm's back reached for their pokeballs but I just raised a hand. "Don't. They're not threatening us, they're just interested in Jorm's food," I said calmly.
I gave the small avalanche's worth of Geodude and Graveller an amused look. Further back, an Onix even poked its head up and began smelling the wind.
Hmmm, amusing that they were so…
An idea began to form in my mind, and I smirked as I turned from feeding Jorm, reaching into my pouch to draw out another large sack of food.
Stomping my feet to get their attention, I hefted the bag up and down. "Who wants some food for playing a little game?" I called to the watching pokemon.
At first, there was no movements from the rocky landscape. Then a few smaller geodude rolled forward.
"Geo! Geodude!" they cried at me rocking back and forth in an approximation of a nod.
"Perfect," I said, handing them a small amount to whet their appetites. Other pokemon, seeing this, began to roll out alongside them, not wanting to miss out on the possibility of food.
With Selene floating along next to me I made sure to give every pokemon present a sample of food along with the game I wanted them to play.
"Alright gang! Here's the game! I want you to start rolling around all over the place! Get the hills shaken up good! Go wild in that direction for a kilometre or so and then come back! I've got a pokemon watching you so stay honest!"
The pokemon all perked up and then took off. Interestingly one of the things about wild pokemon? They had no idea how far one kilometre was. Nor did they have an idea of 'straightest' path.
The smallest geodude looked upset at this game but I held up a hand for them. "Can you go and fetch the oldest pokemon you know?" I asked.
That got them nodding and rolling off in another direction.
Good, I had a distraction happening, now I just needed to get my guide.
"Gym Leader?" asked one of the Ninja. "What… are you planning?"
"I'm creating a distraction that is going to ripple outwards, forcing a lot of the hiding Crusher Tribesmen to come out of their tunnels. They can't be too deep if they popped in and out like they did with Sabrina's group. While they're handling that, I'm going to have us go deeper into the tunnels and continue with our objective without triggering any alarms or brute forcing it."
"Won't it be obvious that something is going on?" another asked.
"No," I replied easily. "Mounatineous regions like this rife with rock type pokemon often have shake ups caused by wild pokemon. You and others don't experience it as much because the routes most people will travel are tamed."
I gave them a look. "Any of you former Rangers specialised in mountains?" I asked which earned me a series of headshakes.
I nodded. "If the Crusher Tribe has any understanding of normal rock pokemon behaviours, this won't be too far from the norm," I said. "But one thing that is always true? The older pokemon know the stable paths through an area."
With that said I began dumping out bag after bag of pokechow that was quite tasty to a Rock type pokemon's palette.
"This area is also not going to be as rich compared to others, resulting in bribery being a great way of enlisting the local pokemon. We'll use the tunnels and leave markers for the others to follow along, allowing us to bypass all of the Crusher Tribe's security measures."
My lecture was quickly proven true as I observed through Don and Zephyr's eyes several Crusher Tribe groups being forced out of the ground due to the various escapades of the pokemon I'd unleashed into the surrounding hillsides.
The smaller Geodude also returned with a positively old Golem who glowered at us while eating his fill from the lines of food that I'd laid out.
"—so, think you can help me out?" I asked.
The Golem stared at me for a long, drawn out moment only to slowly nod once. It took another swipe of food for the trip and then waved for me to follow.
With his acceptance, I drew out some head lamps, glow in the dark spray paint, and some rope that I tied off around Jorm's spikes.
The ninja watched on as I did all of this. "Hold onto the ropes when we're moving underground," I suggested before moving to give the older Golem a few squirts of the paint.
He shot me an annoyed look but accepted it as he led us to a hidden cave that was tall enough to fit Jormungandr easily.
The Golem ate the last of his food and then tucked himself in a ball and began to spin quickly, causing the sprayed parts of his body to briefly flash past.
"Hang on everyone!" I called as I recalled Bertha, Selene, and Link.
Then, in a burst of speed, the older golem tore into the cavern and we chased after it.
I made sure to lean slightly to the side, spraying lines of paint to indicate the right path to follow for those that could come after.
On and on we raced, hurtling past Stalagemeites and Stalagtites at a furious pace.
With the few head lamps and the tight spaces our guide was only barely visible and I was glad that I'd had the foresight to spray him with the paint. It was all that allowed us to keep track of him.
After several minutes we reached a large cavern that was large enough to house dozens of Onix all at once. I saw one lounging atop a ridgeline as the golem slowed to a stop and gestured at the various tunnels.
Jorm nodded and through him I was able to understand that each tunnel would lead us in a certain direction.
Checking my bond with Don and Zephyr, I was able to get a bearing.
"We need to go that way," I said, pointing to one of the darker caves.
The golem sniffed and rather than walking into that cave, he pointed to another to the side.
"Go, lem," he rumbled.
"Oh? Those won't take us where we want?" I asked.
The ninja watched on and when I accepted the Golem at its word the one closest to me coughed. "Are you sure?"
"No, but that's why we have a guide. If he says this is the right way to go that way," I said, indicating a direction that was ninety degrees off to the side, "then we go this way," I stated, spraying a line to indicate the right cave to take.
Golem nodded, happy at this show of faith.
Once more, he took off through the caves and I was soon proven right when we swept around to the right direction. It wasn't a perfect, one-for-one passage that led us in a straight line , but it worked for us, allowing us to close in with our target to the point that Don informed me that we were actually ahead of Sabrina's group.
Ho? Now that was interesting.
When we finally began following an incline we'd been underground for another hour and I could tell the ninja were getting a little worried.
"Don't worry, we're on the right path. Smell that? It's fresh air," I said pointing ahead.
This had the group all perking up and before long we emerged into a small cavern that was actually a crevice in a cliff face. Golem grinned at us and began to lead us to the edge of the cliff only to stop and backtrack.
His sudden switch form amused grandfather to battle hardened pokemon caused all of us to tense up.
He held a pebbled hand to the side.
He scowled at the cliff and sniffed only to shake his head and rumble a warning. "Gooo, lem, lem," he declared.
"Other humans?" I asked.
Golem made a so-so gesture.
I hummed. "Lots of humans?" I asked.
He made another so-so gesture with a nod causing me to hum.
"A lot of humans, and pokemon together?" I clarified.
He nodded, tucking himself into a tight ball and rolling to the edge of the cliff slowly.
Then he began to rotate before going still.
"Go, go go," he whispered carefully as a hand popped out of his round form and signalled us to approach carefully.
Once there I whistled in surprise.
Before us was a large encampment of pokemon and people milling about in a tucked-away valley.
Humans in dark browns, greys, greens, reds, and blacks all milled about with pokemon. There had to be hundreds of them.
I could see several controlled cooking stations that were in fact fire type pokemon curled around pots and pans as men and women sat around while children charged about, tripping and bumping into pokemon as others chased them.
The tents were an interesting shape with wide sweeping canopies that had what looked like military curtains to break up the profile. It took me a moment to realise that everywhere I looked over the valley the tents were set up in a haphazard style and that when looked at through with Don's eyes made them all look like boulders and rocky crags rather than a camp housing hundreds of beings.
It was scarily impressive and yet another demonstration of how they had grown to evade notice from aerial surveillance.
I suspected getting blown apart by several Legendary birds might have contributed to said development.
"Well, looks like we found them," I murmured, only to hum as I glanced down at my Xtransceiver. "Anyone got reception?" I asked only to get shakes in reply.
"Hmmm, if we're going to report in with Lance and the others we'll need to get out of these caves," I murmured.
"Let me go first," said one of the ninja. "I'll check the top of the cliff. We need to get out of this crevice as it's a horrible choke point as it is."
"Hmmm, alright, you go first and we'll follow when you signal," I said.
They nodded and then quickly raced up the rock wall like it was nothing.
For the next few minutes the nerves that I'd repressed began to return, causing me to shift uneasily. What if there was another patrol up there? Or they'd done something else to give us away?
Eventually, the ninja returned.
"The cliff is a bit taller than we first assumed. It is however a perfect vantage point for observing the tribe. Make sure to only crawl to the edge of the ridge up there, as while there are shrubs to break up your profile, standing will see the sun at your back and your profile cast over the valley!" they warned.
We all nodded and I returned my pokemon so that we could scale the rock face. I made sure to give our guide another bag of pokechow to take home with him.
Rather than depart, he settled in to eat and wait. I suspected he knew there was going to be some fireworks before long which had me shaking my head in amusement.
When we reached the top of the cliff I had a light sweat going for myself. We lay on our stomachs and crawled to the peak where we could look out into the valley.
The valley itself was relatively wide with small trees, shrubs, and what looked like hundreds of natural boulders which thanks to our earlier angle we knew to be tents. The rim of the valley had several hills and even a few mountains.
Something the ninja had said earlier made me tilt my head. "Didn't you say this was the perfect spot to observe the Crusher tribe?" I asked, indicating my head towards a taller mountain.
"Ah, but this is better as it is not the optimal position for such an action!" the ninja nodded to the taller peaks. "Those will likely all have Crusher Tribesmen waiting in reserve to catch anyone. Here? It is not as good, but serviceable, which makes it perfect!"
"Huh, can't fault that reasoning," I replied.
The ninja smirked. "As you know rock types and their ways, we understand ninja ways."
"Nin nin!" remarked the other two, causing me to chuckle at their antics. They then reached into a pouch.
"Here Gym Leader, anti reflective binoculars so we don't give our position away," they said.
I thanked them and began surveying the camp, now able to see the smaller details.
Ursaring, Graveler, Houndour, Mightyena, Growlithe, Onix, and even the odd Machoke move about with people through the camp.
Under several large trees several fights were occurring with pokemon and humans engaging in close combat drills that saw them exchanging blows while grey haired women watched on sternly.
At one such fight a powerful looking hulk of a man caught my attention due to the fact he was sparring against two Machoke at once. He looked similar to Bruno which was saying something as that guy was all muscle.
The other weird part was how his face looked like a wider version of my own.
Dude looked like he'd run face first into a rockface multiple times. For all that he was still a powerful fighter.
The wannabe hulk demolished them easily and then continued fighting several others steadily.
It was impressively showy, but I noted that all of them lacked several techniques for grappling and striking that Lola had shown me. They instead relied on savage power to overwhelm their opponent.
Interestingly, when the fight finished another man marched forward to clap the other on the shoulder. This one was just as tall as the other but nowhere near as musclebound.
Where hulk was wide, this guy was narrow and had a sneasel like look to him.
They were also wearing a headpiece that was shaped like that of a Tyrantitar's skull. Several of the tribesmen who had been fighting the other man bowed to the new arrival in deference while the bigger man accepted a clap on the shoulder from the… leader?
Interesting…was that you Overlord Granite? I thought to myself.
It made me wonder who the bigger guy was? Agate hadn't mentioned him.
Brick?
Wait, no. That was too close to Brock.
He could be Slag until I learned his name.
I made a note of both men and took several long-range photographs for the others to review.
Lance, ever the kill joy, constantly replied with an order to 'hold position' and to stay back and wait for reinforcements that weren't far away.
I replied by sending him a thumbs up.
When he replied with 'HOLD POSITION', I considered sending a message with a different finger raised before dismissing it.
"I have located Tiffany!" declared one of the ninja causing everyone to sweep their gaze around.
Tiffany was shown to be sitting outside a tent with several other trainers. Their wrists were bound and I caught sight of two men who appeared familiar to me, both due to the family resemblance and having seen them only a few days ago.
"Confirmed," I replied, snapping a few more pictures and sending them off.
Lance replied like normal and I rolled my eyes only to go as still as possible as a pack of Pigeotto flew overhead.
At first I was worried about them being part of a patrol only for several rocks to launch upwards and skewer the flying types.
The birds fell from the skies with shrieks of pain before going silent when they hit the ground. A group of 'hunter's approached them and began to butcher them then and there.
I forced myself to watch them work with a detached interest and one thing that stood out to me was how all the feathers were being tossed to the side with a derisive expression from a few while others tucked them away secretly.
Hmmm, perhaps the 'Wing' faction' wasn't as dead and buried as Agate had thought.
A howl from another entrance had my group turning away to observe as the pack that he'd previously been following, only to emerge from a gorge ahead of Sabrina's group.
The tribesmen hooted and hollered like wildmen as they announced their victory. I swung my gaze back around to track several notable figures, like the old grey haired woman and the two brothers, Granite and Slag.
The raiders slowed as many in the tribe came out to meet them. The group looked exhausted but there was an energy to them that let everyone with eyes know they were pleased with themselves.
The man I'd dubbed Granite made a show of adjusting his Tyranitar Helmet before stepping out to greet them.
On open ground, he approached with his hands spread wide and a pleased glint in his eyes.
Something dark curled in my gut when I spotted that he wasn't looking at any of his fellows, but instead leering at Sabrina.
Oh… hell no.
I clenched my fist and forced myself to watch, warnings from Lance and Agatha running through my head.
This wasn't the time to do something stupid like letting pride rule me.
I watched what had to be Overlord Granite approach Sabrina and offer his hand to her.
She gave it a look like one gave a Muk offering to shake your hand.
A flicker of something dark stirred in his features but he returned to a smarmy smile while I held in a chuckle.
He made a show of gesturing at the people around him, what he said I had no idea. Sabrina gave them a look and nodded politely before looking back at him, watching him like he was a Serviper near some Pichu.
He said something once again and she replied with a blank expression that conveyed just how unimpressed she was.
He stared at her for a moment only to shake his head and tap a pokeball, a Heavy ball, I noted on his belt. As he did this his other hand swept his pokebelt, unleashing three other pokeballs.
A moment later, a powerful scarred Tyranitar slammed into the ground ahead of three others that hung back with bowed heads. The Leader of their group rose to tower over Granite and gave what looked like a snarl.
He definitely was a nice specimen of his species. Taut with muscle, his scales glinted in a manner that let you know he was well raised.
But he was nothing compared to Titan or Empress.
It was also interesting that he had three fellows on his team, but all of them were standing with their heads bowed.
Overlord Granite put a hand on his chest and smirked, indicating the pokemon behind him. At the signal the Lead Tyranitar rolled his shoulders while his tail swept back and forth. The movement seemed practised and it took me a moment to catch on to what was going on.
Around the Tyranitar's neck, a gem glinted with rainbow light that shifted into green, red and black that sang to me.
On my pokebelt both Titan and Empress perked up, noticing the feeling.
Hello Tyranitarite, I thought to myself.
Then the Tyranitar let off a Dark Pulse.
Sabrina and the girl in her arms were tossed from the Houndoom they'd been riding along with the rider, who tumbled a few metres before laying flat.
I tensed, ready to throw myself down there.
The ninja must have realised this was coming as they shifted and had their hands on me instantly.
"Don't!"
"Wait for reinforcements!"
"We will rescue her just—"
Whatever else they were going to say was lost to me as I watched Overlord Granite walk up to Sabrina while she was still dazed and backhand her.
A cut opened on her forehead, and her blood hit the sands near them.
Sabrina turned her head back, and I watched a line of blood trickle down her beautiful face.
I rose to my feet, uncaring of the sun at my back or the hands trying to keep me down.
I rose like the movements of the tectonic plates, undeniable and heavy with momentum.
And with me, rose the darkness from within.
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A.N. I had to make sure that when you got this chapter you knew tomorrow you'd get the next chapter.
Small cliffhanger but trust me, I'm going to make it worth your wait.
Thanks go to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter.