Chapter 47: You’re Fired (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus I simply gasped as the many beams came crashing down, but I wasn’t prepared to scream before the end. I ducked down and closed my eyes and awaited my end, but it didn’t come, I risked a peek, and saw a huge Pokémon in front of me, its large spikes stretching over me and holding up a twisted mess of burning wood. “Shelly?...” “Cllloysterrr...” it answered in its new lower but wispy voice, Abby was soon at my side, lifting up the wood until I could pull my leg away. “Abby, you evolved Emily’s Shellder... for me. She’s not gonna like this.” I sighed. “I know she’d have done the same for you, she’ll understand.” she replied. “Abby... Thanks...” “Enough of the TV soap moment! That Magmar’s still fighting mad!” shouted Blaine. “MAG!” it growled, stepping forward, but the Cloyster blasted it with several jets of water squirted from many points of its shell and blasting it into a wall. I seized the opportunity to roll forward and pull Twinkill out of its prison, I noticed the kid and made a run for it but I was punched hard in the stomach by the Magmar, and fell to the ground momentarily, some more wood crashed down behind me, and I was trapped in the same area as the kid and the Magmar. “Why are you keeping this child here?! What do you want with him?! Do you want him to die?!... Obviously so since you knocked him unconscious!” I shouted at it. At that the Magmar roared out again and came forward in blind rage, making it easy to dodge to the side so it fell into the flames. If only I could understand what it was saying, I could figure out why it wouldn’t let me near the child, because all that was becoming apparent was that this Pokémon was pure evil, but it didn’t like to be told that. I ran to the child and held it in my arms, “Hey kid, wake up...” “Unnngh...” he groaned. “Everything’ll be fine kid, we’re gonna get you out of here.” “Unnngh... Magmar...” he said, but he seemed a little out of it. “Yeah I know, there’s a bad Magmar around.” “No...” “I won’t let it hurt you.” “Magmar!...” I heard it scream. “Twinkill! Keep fighting!” Twinkill dived into the flames, and came out spinning, beating the Magmar with each of its points and pushing it upwards. “Maggg...” it growled, its eyes glowing many colours. “Twinkill! Retreat! Its gonna use Confuse Ray!” My Staryu pushed itself away into a spin as two sparkling beams were fired, but as bad luck would have it, the beams hit the Rhydon and sent it into a dizzy state, pulling it away from its duty of holding up a support pole. It started to lower down slowly, and upon hitting the floor, it would surely fall and bring more debris down than we could handle. “Somebody hold it up or we’re all doomed!” shouted Blaine. “Cllloysterrr...” whispered Shelly, but it was heading over there too slowly to reach it in time. “Looks like you really need my help.” said Emily’s familiar voice, and a quick Pokémon darted across the room and positioned itself under the support pole. “Oma!” it squealed in a heroic tone. “What the?” I questioned, aiming a Pokédex to identify it as it was rolling around too fast to do so by myself. “Omanyte, the Spiral Pokémon. One of the apparently extinct Pokémon, it swims by cleverly twisting its 10 tentacles about.” “Omanyte...” I stated, “Its hard shell is enough to support that pole?... Who’d have guessed?” “Spiral! Hang in there!” called Emily. “Now that nickname is a little better.” commented Abby. “Nyte...” groaned Spiral, until the Rhydon shook off the confusion and returned to its duty so that the Rock/ Water Pokémon could help with the fires. With these two Pokémon on duty, and Twinkill to deal with the Magmar, we could pull this off. But it did rely somewhat on Twinkill, who had already taken a beating. “MAG!!!” screamed the Magmar, its eyes now glowing white. “Sta-” Twinkill froze. “Mag-Mar!!!” shouted the opponent, aiming for another Fire Punch. “Staryu!” screamed Twinkill suddenly, blasting the Magmar with a close range Water Gun that lifted it into the air, and then aimed a Thunderbolt to travel up the excess water to shock the Magmar. “Psyche.” I said, I didn’t know Twinkill was faking it, but neither did the Magmar, who crashed above the doorway near the area my friends were at. “Twinkill, clear a path.” A spray of water cut along the left side of the blaze and we came through, the young child wrapped in my arms. “I’ve got the kid, I should get him out of here and-” A loud crack could be heard near the Rhydon, and a physical one ripped up the pole and drove across the beams overlooking us. “Clear the area!” “Okay Blaine!” we all shouted in return. “I told you before! I’m not-” “Rhydon!” shouted the Rhydon, giving up on a doomed task and clearing the way as a lot of debris crashed down, virtually blocking off the way to the back of the room the child was previously located. In the process, some flames leaped off the rubble and landed in Blaine’s wig, setting it alight. “Aw no! Not again!” he yelled, tossing it to the floor and stomping the fire out, it was charred in most places so Blaine didn’t stick it back on his head. “I guess I cannot hide it any longer, I am Blaine, the Cinnabar Island Gym Leader.” he said, as if we hadn’t figured it out. “Uh... huh.” I said sarcastically, “As good as it is that you’ve surprised us all with this little revelation, I don’t think this is the time.” “You’re right, just get him out of here, help will be along soon, as long as no one’s inside the tower...” explained Blaine. “Wait, what about that thief? Do you think he got out?” I remembered. “Probably not.” answered Blaine. I sighed, “Twinkill, go find him.” As he spun high up to explore the higher levels (since it would be difficult to use the stairs in their weak condition), we made for the door, but a small quake occurred, and lots of rock and wood crashed down in front of the door. “This is all your fault Blaine, if not for your oh-so unexpected secret identity speech, we’d have gotten out of here by now. If we get out of here, you owe me.” I complained. “Sure, sure, I’ll help you out with your Gym Battle problem.” he grumbled. “Score!” I said. “If we can get out of this, that is.” added Abby wisely. “If we can get out of this.” I repeated. The two Pokémon were spraying the debris in front of us now, if we could be free of the flames all over it, then other Pokémon could use their strength to smash it. “So...” said Emily strangely to Abby. “What?” she inquired. “You evolved it.” said Emily simply. “You said it was okay.” said Abby, slightly worried. “Yeah, I taught it all its moves and it was due to evolve.” added Emily. “So why are you talking to me as if I took it for a walk and lost it?” questioned Abby. “I just want to know how and why it happened, since I’m the one who’ll have to resume training it after its most probably changed on me.” requested Emily. “To save Tetsubo, that’s why I did it.” explained Abby. “In that case, thank you Abby, thank you for protecting him despite the awkward situation. You’re a good friend.” smiled Emily. “To who? Him or you?” asked Abby snidely. “Both of us. You’ve kind of grown on me since I got to know you, sorry for insulting you in the past.” replied Emily. “You’re just saying all this cos we might die.” frowned Abby suddenly. “What better time to say it?” grinned Emily. “No! No! No! Agh!” came the shrill voice of Joey Short, and Twinkill came down shortly, the little thief supported on him but bound tightly in rope. “Why did it do all that? You only told it to find him.” said Blaine, slightly baffled. “Twinkill and I share a bond, if I was in its position and I had to find a thief, I’d take initiative and tie him up too.” I stated confidently. “Its very rare that a Pokémon takes on certain traits of its trainer, you must be dedicated.” pondered Blaine. “Oh I am and-” “Magmar!” screamed the Magmar, rising from the debris as water had just been aimed there, and then diving at us. “Ha! Get them Lavos! Free me!” grinned the thief to its Pokémon, and it stepped towards us, yet another enraged look on its face. “You’ll have to get past us.” said Abby firmly. “No.” intervened Emily, “Guide Shelly with putting out the fire, Spiral’s fresh to all this so its strength will still be up.” “I think that would be best.” I said, holding the child in my arms but keeping a tired Staryu close to me. “Omanyte!” said Spiral heroically as it confronted the opponent, who let out a blast of Ember. “Spiral! Water Gun!” “Nyte!” it squealed, and a strong jet of water blasted out of its tiny mouth to rip through the Fire attack and douse the Magmar. “That’s pretty strong for a Pokémon that’s just been resurrected, and what’s with the superhero attitude?” I asked. “Well, it came back rather strong for some reason, and it knows that. Spiral seems to treat everything like he’s top of things.” smiled Emily. The Magmar growled, and let loose another Fire Blast, too big to be countered, so the Omanyte hastily withdrew into its shell, and then spun into the heart of the attack. “What’s it-” “Hold on.” said Emily. The shell went red hot as it spun against the flames but the blast went no further than that. “You see Tetsubo, when you act like a hero, you have to put others before yourself, Spiral’s got a great defense and it was making sure that Fire Blast didn’t hit anyone.” “I should have guessed, Rock and Water-types have twice the advantage against Fire attacks.” As soon as the attack faded, the Omanyte spun extremely fast, and sharp horns were suddenly fired off, smacking into the Magmar hard. It growled, stood back up, and used Leer, but the Omanyte did the same in kind, and nullified the fearful technique. “Quickly Spiral, Double Edge!” “Oma... Nyte!” it squealed happily, spinning quickly and screeching forward like a car wheel, and crashing into the Magmar. Both Pokémon fell back, but the Magmar collapsed onto the floor while Spiral spun back and landed on its little tentacles. “You did it Spiral! You’re the best Rock Pokémon I could ask for!” cheered Emily, picking it up and hugging it. “Nyte!...” “Aw no, its all over...” groaned Joey, but we all turned suddenly as rumbling was heard from above. “We have to get out of here!” shouted Blaine, “Look! The fire is gone from the debris! Rhydon! Horn Drill!” “Rhydon!” it growled, changing its front horn into a drill and beginning work on cracking through the rubble. “Help out Shelly.” said Emily, “Try your Spike Cannon.” “Cllloysterrr.” it said, shutting its shell and firing off its largest spikes at the rock, they slammed against it, cracking it a little. “Keep it up.” cheered Emily. “Its not good enough!” shouted Blaine, and debris came falling down on our heads. Emily, Abby and Blaine backed towards the entrance for safety, but I couldn’t do that as fast with the kid and Twinkill to carry. In a moment I could see I wouldn’t make it, and threw Twinkill forward, but I couldn’t do the same with the hurt child since people healed slower than Pokémon. I pushed myself forward, but it wasn’t that which saved me, the Magmar noticed me and the kid in danger, and drew on some unknown strength to lift itself up, jump behind us, push me forward, and then dive that way himself. More rocks and wood crashed down, but we were all safe, and the mess at the entrance was now cleared away and we could all get out... Outside, firefighters from off the island had arrived and began work on putting out the rest of the fire, while we lay outside, tired from the experience. “Unnnngh...” groaned the kid again, but this time he was regaining consciousness. “That Magmar... It saved us... But why would it? It belongs to that thief.” I pondered. “I was... I was trying to tell you.” said the boy, “That Magmar’s not bad. A little thief started the fire by accident while trying to steal from the tower, his Magmar went against him and chose to save me.” “But I saw it hit you, and what’s with it attacking us?” I questioned. “Please, that was an accident, I know it was, that Magmar only reacted that way because it doesn’t like being accused of what it hasn’t done, I first thought it was evil, and it didn’t like being called that. Its not a bad Pokémon, don’t let it go to prison...” pleaded the child. Joey growled, “Stupid Lavos, I thought catching you the other day would benefit me, but you stood by and let me get caught!” “Lavos.” I said to the Magmar, “Is that your name? I’m sorry for doubting you, but you have to admit, it looked pretty incriminating.” It was about to get angry again. “Not that you did anything wrong. You were always trying to protect the boy, and you didn’t think I would succeed in getting him out safely, that’s why you tried to ward us away, isn’t it?” “Mag.” “Its not fair for this Pokémon to be punished like its trainer, it doesn’t want to be bad.” I protested. “But where else will it go? My Gym can’t accommodate any more Magmars.” said Blaine. “I’ll take care of it.” I said, “If it wants me to.” “Mag?” “Lavos, I’m sorry I thought you were evil, you’re really brave and compassionate. You obviously don’t want to be with Joey, so how about you let me train you, I promise you’ll be battling for good, and that I’ll help you become stronger.” I explained. “Magmar.” it nodded, now looking at me in a nicer way. “It’ll really help me to have a Fire Pokémon that’ll actually listen to me.” I smiled. “You can’t take away my Magmar!” shouted Joey. “On the contrary, you won’t be seeing any of your Pokémon for a while, so one that isn’t a criminal may as well get off the hook.” said Blaine, handing him over to an Officer Jenny after removing one of his Pokéballs, “Take him away.” “I’d have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids and that Magmar!...” he shouted out. “Thank you Mister, I’m glad that Magmar isn’t going to get punished.” smiled the kid. “I promise I’ll take care of it well as a reward for saving you.” “Mag.” “Here you go kid.” said Blaine, handing me the Pokéball, “Its yours.” “Well, um, Lavos, you’re my Pokémon. Return.” I gave off a happy look as it turned into red energy and zapped back into its Pokéball, but now belonged to me. With six Pokémon in my possession, the ball containing Lavos vanished, but would have transported him to Blossom’s until I could phone her. “Oh yeah, I ought to do that too.” said Emily, “Spiral, here’s your Pokéball.” She threw it gently and it zapped inside it without resistance, and also disappeared to its trainer’s sponsor, leaving Emily to recall her new Cloyster. “Well Blaine, time to pay up on that favour you promised me, I think I’ve earned it, and proved we’re dedicated trainers, so can I have a Gym Battle with you?” I requested. “Um... No.” he answered with difficulty. “... What?!” I inquired, quite shocked. “You see, I can’t, I have no Gym to fight you in, nor any place on this island to battle you on. My old Gym is the wreck you probably saw in town, my new one was destroyed about a year ago. The only other place to fight would be over the volcano, but I made a decision not to force trainers to fight on such dangerous conditions some time back.” he explained. “So what did you mean when you said you’d help me?” I questioned, quite annoyed. “I can point you to another Gym nearby, its got a really tough Gym Leader, but I think you have what it takes to be a match for him.” he offered. I sighed, “Darn it... Now I’ve got another horrible boat ride to endure, no place to rest and still no final Gym Badge.” “Well, I could help you with the place to rest part, I own a hotel in the higher part of town, its the only way I can make a living nowadays, but I can squeeze you in for a night, you deserve it and you’ll need to be at your best to challenge the Gym Leader I mentioned.” said Blaine. “At last, some good news.” I said happily, “Let’s go...” End of Chapter 47B Back to Chapter 47A Next Chapter Back to Story List #41 - #60 Back to the Pokézone