The MEETING Team II (PLOT)

"I-I don't- I don't understand why I-" Though Zapdos' ire had risen with Roark's horror and revelation, it ebbed as he watched the poor man struggle with the news. His posture eased as Roark's motions became more and more erratic. Zapdos didn't need to be harsh to him. There was nothing gained in that... "I m-mean, I believe you, I do I just-"

In a desperate bid to try and vent his frustration and anger, Roark kicked a body. "Wh-why would you do something so stupid!? I don't und-understand- why- why w-would you attack the Legendaries-!?" Zapdos said nothing; all he could do was watch as his only friend in the world quickly broke down in front of him.

He'd just about collapsed nearby, his face buried in his hands. "I w-wish I knew why they d-did that." Zapdos drew a little closer and settled next to him, silently offering what support he could. In all honesty, he had no idea what to do. Humans and their mannerisms were still wholly foreign. "B-best I can figure is... f-fear of the unknown."

Zapdos shrugged. "I can't tell you. To be honest, I've never really thought about why they shot at us. I just figured that was normal."

Zapdos shrugs.  He's oddly nonchalant about this, but maybe it's exactly that which helps Roark breathe a little easier and further calm down.  With no danger present and Zapdos keeping a cool head, his rationality is quick to remind him that he's horrifically upset for something that happened years ago.  And now isn't the best time for that.  "I can't tell you. To be honest, I've never really thought about why they shot at us. I just figured that was normal."

"It's n-not." ... Why did they shoot at them?  Was it really fear of the unknown?  But wasn't it also likely that many of these soldiers worshipped most of the Legends gathered here?  Why fear them to the degree of trying to kill them?  "B-but I g-guess we'll never know the answer."

Because they're dead. 

"They- they probably didn't exp-pect to see you here, or th-they w-would've had a better p-plan than... this."   He gestures around at the dead people and the ruined helicopter.  If their goal had been to pick a fight with Legends, they would have used nukes or something like that, not one dinky helicopter.  "S-so... they were definitely h-here for Giovanni."  

Now, what can they do with that information?

"... S-soldiers don't just m-make decisions.  They h-have someone in charge of knowing all the in-information who tells them where to g-go..."  

A lightbulb is slowly going off.

"So... if w-we find out w-where these soldiers came f-from..."    

He stands up and examines a uniform again.  

Kanto-Johto Military.  

He looks back to Zapdos.  "Th-they're from the regions of Joht-to and Kanto.  The area we're in n-now.  The Ch-Champion tells them where to go, and unl-less he's dead, th-that's Lance.  H-he sh-should know more ab-about Giovanni than w-we do.  Which m-means if there's any h-hideout Giovanni is hiding i-in, he may know where.  Heck, if th-that's the case, he might have G-Giovanni right now!"  

He gets out his map and walks back over to his friend, laying it out.

"A-and if I w-were h-him, I'd stay r-right where I live."  The miner draws a circle around Indigo Plateau with a finger.  "Th-this is a series of h-hotels.  It's literally built right i-into the mountain.  Probably a l-lot more defendable than anywhere else around h-here, and if he's a-alive, he m-might've evacuated people th-there."

Roark gives Zapdos a shaky smile.

"I-I say we t-try there."

"It's n-not." Really? The encounter in Mahogany certainly made him think otherwise, but Roark probably had more experience in dealing with his own kind than Zapdos. Still, in the back of his mind, Zapdos retained his opinion. "B-but I g-guess we'll never know the answer. They- they probably didn't exp-pect to see you here, or th-they w-would've had a better p-plan than... this." He gestured toward the massacred corpses and the ruined metal beast. Zapdos had to give him that; how any human expected to take on half a dozen pissed off Legends with only those stupid guns and a fragile flying machine was beyond him. "S-so... they were definitely h-here for Giovanni."

It was an interesting conclusion, but Zapdos was still stuck at a wall. He had no way to build on the theory, as ignorant on human culture as he was. So he only listened, silent, as Roark worked through the possibilities out loud and on his own.

"...S-soldiers don't just m-make decisions. They h-have someone in charge of knowing all the in-information who tells them where to g-go..." Zapdos quirked his head at the notion; for a long time, he assumed Giovanni or someone like him commanded the human swarm-- or at least a part of it. It hadn't occurred to him that there was someone else higher up on the hierarchy at all. "So... if w-we find out w-where these soldiers came f-from..."

Roark went to inspect the bodies again, this time with a much more calculated eye for detail. "Th-they're from the regions of Joht-to and Kanto. The area we're in n-now. The Ch-Champion tells them where to go, and unl-less he's dead, th-that's Lance. H-he sh-should know more ab-about Giovanni than w-we do. Which m-means if there's any h-hideout Giovanni is hiding i-in, he may know where. Heck, if th-that's the case, he might have G-Giovanni right now!"

The revelation stunned Zapdos. Was it really possible for this "Lance" to have Giovanni? "A-and if I w-were h-him, I'd stay r-right where I live." Placing his finger on the map, Roark drew a circle around an area above Mount Silver. Zapdos knew of that place; he'd always made to avoid it, since it was usually flocked with people before and after the world ended. "Th-this is a series of h-hotels. It's literally built right i-into the mountain. Probably a l-lot more defensible than anywhere else around h-here, and if he's a-alive, he m-might've evacuated people th-there." He shot Zapdos a shaky smile. "I-I say we t-try there."

While amazed with Roark's deductive skills, the entire proposition made him wary. "You called these people 'soldiers', right?" Zapdos began, looking back to the field of corpses. "Meaning they were trained by someone. Ordered by someone. You really think that us barging into an entire colony of these people is a good idea? What if they're normal people, like you? If the trained ones went off the rails and shot at us, what would an entire place of them do against just me?" He shook his head. "I can take you there, but I am not going in. You'd have to look on your own."

"You called these people 'soldiers', right?"  Roark nods, even though Zapdos is looking around at all the dead people rather than at him. "Meaning they were trained by someone. Ordered by someone. You really think that us barging into an entire colony of these people is a good idea? What if they're normal people, like you? If the trained ones went off the rails and shot at us, what would an entire place of them do against just me?"

He... does think it wouldn't be a bad idea, but...

That's for him, a human survivor with a reputation as a gym leader who clearly still has enough sanity left that he's not going to snap and attack anyone.  Who would likely not be attacked by a colony of survivors.

Given that this entire group tried to kill Zapdos, what the bird says next is no shock.

"I can take you there, but I am not going in. You'd have to look on your own."

"Th-that's underst-standable.  The gym leader nods again.  "I can g-go in, talk to th-them, and then le-leave again with whatever news I f-find."  

He examines the map again, then folds it up and stores it away, pointing.

"We n-need to head th-that way.  M-maybe we should walk for a while; w-wouldn't be a good idea to strain your wings so s-soon after getting them back, a-and any medicine we f-find for Pokemon pr-probably wouldn't help a strained or pulled muscle."  

Pokemon are incredibly strong, but after having lost his wings for a couple days and carting a human around... no sense in risking anything.  If there's anything at the Plataeu, it'll still be there whether they get there in a couple hours or a couple of days.

And at the affirmative, they set out.

 

The fastest way to the Plataeu would be to cut a diagonal path straight through the forest and fields that spanned a nice, large chunk of the edge of the region, rather than following Route 22 onto Route 23 and then up through Victory Road.

Truth be told, he doesn't even really want to imagine the state of Victory Road or its caves, so this is definitely the better call.

That being said, traveling through the forests always brings an air of uneasiness... at least, usually.  This time he has a companion of god-like status, and hopefully, their luck is only bad enough to meet humans like they had at Mahogany one time.

Undead were of no concern, as long as someone kept an ear out; they're not very quiet, as the undead don't know the concept of subtlety, and they're also less mobile in the daytime anyway.  Though the random undead or two needs to be picked off, most of the hours are spent walking in the sunlight dappled shade of the leaves above, chatting about random nonsense.  Pach is happy to supply Zapdos with antecedences of times past before the world ended, and Roark doesn't let him get a story out without sharing one of Pach's silly misadventures, as well.

He feels lighter than he has in a long while.

Until he sees the smoke.

It's not hard to spot the plume and Roark holds out an arm to halt the rest of the survivors, which is frankly unnecessary as they spotted it at the same time he had, but, well... force of habit.

"Th-that's not a good s-sign," he mumbles, his hand nervously straying to his pickaxe.

"No it isn't," the dinosaur agrees, glancing around.

"Sh-should go a-around."  He moves to step on ahead, and then pauses.  Something is...  

Growling?

Ohno.

The idea of walking there wasn't really that appealing to Zapdos, but after the flight there, his wings were already sore again. Still, despite the odd interference with Undead and the occasional rock in the foot, the trek Zapdos and Roark shared was pleasant. Enjoyable, even. Seeing his home from such a new perspective, with a new companion and new stories to hear was something that the grand Legend had never expected to ever experience himself.

For a short while, he was content.

The hours slipped by unnoticed, bathed in the sun's warmth as they traversed relatively empty clearings and forest. However, peace wasn't something that lasted in this new, horrific world. It didn't take much to spot the plume of smoke snaking into the blue sky. Roark made a gesture to stop and for some reason, Zapdos felt compelled to oblige.

"Th-that's not a good s-sign," Roark stuttered, his hand instinctively reaching for his weapon. Zapdos can't blame him; his wings already were fanning out.

Pach agreed. "No it isn't."

"Sh-should go a-around."

"Whatever it is might track us down and attack by surprise. We should destroy it now, while we can. Or worse, it could follow us to the place we're heading." Zapdos growled, his eyes on the smoke. "Maybe even get the drop on it first."

It was a nice day! The sun was shining, and there was fire glowing, and the air smelled like ashes!

But then suddenly, above the smell of fire, there was another smell. Kinda funny smell. One like electricity, and one like meat, and one like... rock? That's weird. But! But those smells weren't there before! So that means!

Friends! People so new friends!

Creeping along the underbrush was easy, and it wasn't long before he could see them. One was giant and yellow and black! One was a human! His hair was red and not exactly like fire but that was okay, it was red and red was good. And the last was a rock beast! And soon he'd play with them and they'd all be great friends!

He crouched and began to growl, butt wiggling. The human halted in the middle of talking, eyes snapping over towards his spot in the bushes. Acrid fear washed over him. Why was the human scared?

Well he wouldn't be in a few minutes! He leapt from the bush, heedless of his rotting body, the mostly-unhinged jaw, growling and butt wiggling in the air still, beginning to yap as best he could with what still remained of his vocal chord system.

Come play! Come play!

Or he'd just have to get rough until they did.

"Whatever it is might track us down and attack by surprise. We should destroy it now, while we can. Or worse, it could follow us to the place we're heading."  Oh... He didn't think of that.  If it's not an undead then...

Yeah, it could very well do either of those things.  Fuck.

"Maybe even get the drop on it first."

"G-good ideeea!"  The word turned into something of a shriek halfway through as something bloody and orange leaps out of the bushes at them, Roark physically recoiling backwards at the shock of its sudden appearance.  With the rotting body, purple discoloration, and unhinged jaw, it can only be an undead.

His pick is out in seconds, poised for use as the human trembles faintly.  Fuck, how hadn't they heard that thing!?

"This thing doesn't feel right," Pach mumbles in a growl, lowered into an attack position.

And it doesn't; something about this undead shrieks danger even beyond that of every undead they've encountered so far... but it's just one little puppy that... doesn't even seem to realize it's not alive, judging by how its butt wiggles in the air like a playful little dog.

"Better not to touch it.  Stone Edge"  

Pach obeys, stones rising from beneath the earth to spear the creature--

But the Growlithe spits out of a heat wave and Roark watches in horror as the rock disintegrates, doing barely a fifth of the damage that such a move should have done to a small creature of the opposite typing.

Oh my god.

And then it launches a heat wave at them.

(Growlithe gave me permission to move them a little in this for smoother writing and a faster pace.)

"G-good ideeea!" Roark's cautious reply turned into a near comical cry as something leaped out of the bushes at them, startling all three travelers. Zapdos flared his wings as the stench of old death assaulted his senses. Though what stood before them was indeed an Undead, the Legend couldn't shake the horrific dread that immediately dropped his stomach down to his feet. The Undead was a Growlithe -likely turned in its youth because of the playful body language it was sporting- and its jaw hung on by little more than a rope of broken cartilage and sinew. Gruesome, yes, but Zapdos had seen far worse in his time surviving. Why did this thing chill him to his very core?

"This thing doesn't feel right," the dinosaur growled under his breath, and Zapdos silently assented. However, now he wasn't so sure about attacking it.

"Better not to touch it. Stone Edge"

It was a decent call, but one that became immediately ineffective. The stones called on by the attack were instantaneously shattered and melted by the cheery pup's flames, leaving all three of them in horrified shock. The puppy then took that opportunity to level another wall of flame at them and Zapdos acted on his basest of instincts.

With a powerful flap of his wings, he directed the gale straight at Roark and Pach, sending the two hurdling out of the way of the flames, as well as himself. He let out a bestial cry, flaring his wings as the air crackled with his power. There was no way Roark or any of his pokemon would survive this fight. "RUN!" he snapped at the human, his tone not allowing for debate. "I'll lead it away and kill it. Find a high point for me to spot you, just run!"

"G-good ideeea!"

Oh!  The human jerked back, scrambling a pace or two away. Friend was... startled!  Why?  He just popped out to say hello?

"This thing doesn't feel right." Huh?

"Better not to touch it. Stone Edge."  

The stones speared through the floor; a smaller pillar knocked him back, and no, no no no this was not how it was supposed to go! He yowled, sending a wave of heat downwards, melting the stone.

And then he sent the wave of heat blasting at the living in front of him with a strangled cry from his ruined body. "No!  NO WE'RE SUPPOSED TO PLAY!"

The zappy one sent a gust of wind that blew them away from the wave of heat. There was a scream, the kind only a bird could make, and the puppy looked up at Zapdos as he flared his wings and yelled to the human. "RUN! I'll lead it away and kill it. Find a high point for me to spot you, just run!"

"No!  Stay!  Stay and play!"  He breathed flames out at the bird with an angry scream.

"No!  NO WE'RE SUPPOSED TO PLAY!"

The shriek chills him to the bone even despite the immense heat as Zapdos sends a gust of wind their way so powerful it knocks him and Pach both out of the way of the incoming Heat Wave.  He shrieked his challenge to the undead pup as he flared his wings, shouting to his friend as he scrambled to stand.  "RUN! I'll lead it away and kill it. Find a high point for me to spot you, just run!"

"No!  Stay!  Stay and play!"

"Wha- no!  No I can't leave you, I can't!"  The words are torn from his mouth in a shriek of horror.  

Leave Zapdos to this?  This thing that wasn't even phased by a rock type attack despite all of the factors that should've been in their favor!?

He can't do that!  The puppy is lowering himself into an attack position, he has to do something, he has to- he has to try another Stone Edge or- no, earthquake might kill them; with all these trees around, it could knock them over and they could land on him, Pach, or Zapdos just as easily as the undead!

The Growlithe's voice was a shrieking harpy. "No! Stay! Stay and play!" Zapdos' guts churned at the child-like innocence and mindset-- this thing had turned so early in life... It was a perversion and mockery of everything their world -HIS world- had been naught but a few short years ago. And he needed to destroy it before it destroyed one of the few people left in the world worth protecting.

"Wha- no! No I can't leave you, I can't!"

"I told you to RUN! Pach, take him!" Zapdos snapped back. There was no time to argue, no chance to discuss the pros and cons. Hopefully, the dinosaur would have more sense in his thick skull than his trainer's.

With a shriek and a strike of lightning from the very heavens, he hurled himself away and flared his wings at the rotting un-child. His form hovered in the air a moment before landing again, not wanting to make himself less alluring by being too far away and unreachable. "Follow me, little one-- let's go play, just like you want." And you can play yourself right off a fucking cliff, you disgusting thing, he added in his mind, hoping his gambit paid off.

"I told you to RUN! Pach, take him!"  

"No!  No, we can't-!"

"We have to!  We'll just get in the way; all he has to do is ditch it, not kill it!"

Roark stared from his dinosaur to his lightning bird friend, torn, sweating, and shaking.  Zapdos is drawing the puppy's attention, calling to it as he moves a little further away, the tiny creature following, making threatening noises as if daring him to run away.  "Follow me, little one-- let's go play, just like you want."

"Don't run!  Stay!"

And as it fully turns its back, Pach ducks beneath his trainer's legs, scooping the startled human onto his back.  With no time to protest, Roark clings onto him, not daring to let go as the dinosaur calls back that they'll be on the cliffs over yonder; look for them there!

Slipping into a state where nothing feels real and the world seems to float around him, like the someone else's consciousness that holds the world together is stuttering, he grips his friend tightly, silently, and lets reality fall away into a blur of color and sound.




He's not entirely sure when reality returns, but he knows he couldn't have passed out.  If he had he'd have fallen off, and he's too alive and not bruised for that to have happened.

Dull anger boils, but he stays silent, legs dangling from the cliffside, waiting for Zapdos's return.  He should be back soon, right?  And then everything will be fine.

Find a high point, he'd said.  They'd found it.

So where are you?  It's been hours, he can tell.  The sun dips a little further below the clouds as Pach, ever vigilant, stands behind him.  He's not worried about the smoke, Roark assures himself as he keeps his head from facing the many, many plumes that had risen up- many more from before.  Of course Pach isn't doubting Zapdos's survival.  He knows as well as Roark that Zapdos will be okay.  He'll be here any minute, any hour now.  They just have to wait for him, like he wanted them to.

They just have to wait.


(And I believe that's the end of this team!  Had permission from Growlithe to move their character for a smoother ending.  It should be noted that this team takes place quite some time in the past, before the curtain opened on HQ Team.)

[[That is the end of the first long-term Meeting team; this thread will stay locked and on hold until the next is ready to move in.]]