Legend of Faye ch2

[niesse]

This seems to be working.


Chapter Two (Faye Alive)

Everyone got up early the next morning, when the centre staff kicked them out of the room to put the tables back. The boys had left, Zeke to have a shower and Ben to help set up for breakfast, and Lily and Faye were plotting strategy together when the dark-haired woman came looking for Faye again.

She led her aside to have another talk, but they were interrupted almost immediately. “Suzanne!” the young woman behind the counter called, holding the videophone handset against her chest. “I think you need to see this!”

The dark-haired woman sighed and went to answer. Faye followed her, and, feeling nosy, Lily sidled over too. Standing against the wall beside the counter, they could see who was on the phone’s screen: Erika, uncharacteristically agitated, the image intermittently freezing and jumping. “What was that?” Suzanne said. “Yes, yes, of course, but can you-” The connection had broken entirely. She hit the call back button, but the screen remained blank.

Lily glanced at Faye. Her eyes were bright with excitement and she was running her hand along her belt.

“Trainers!” Suzanne yelled. She was standing on the counter now, and everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. “Erika needs anyone with powerful rock, ground, water and electric-types to go to the gym, now.”

“Why the types grass’s strong against?” a boy called back.

“She didn’t get a chance to say,” Suzanne said, “but I’m sure it’s important.”

“What’s happened?” Zeke said. Lily jumped; she hadn’t seen him beside her.

“Erika wants us for something,” Faye said. “You coming?”

There was a sudden yell from the southwest corner. A girl waved wildly out the window. “Look, look!”

On the other side of the city, in the sky above the gym, a cloud of smoke was rising.

There was a rush to the window, and to the door. Suzanne leaped off the counter and blocked the door. “No-one under fourteen is leaving this building until we know what’s going on! Because it’s probably dangerous, that’s why. Older trainers! Erika needs help! Water, ground, rock, electric-types!”

“Come on!” Faye said, and the three of them pushed past the younger children. Most of the older trainers were heading for the gym, with Suzanne watching to make sure no little kids sneaked out. Faye met her eyes, and she sighed but waved them out.

Faye let her big pelipper out of its pokéball. “I’ll see you there!” she said, scrambling onto its back, and then she was gone over the rooftops. Others were doing the same — a few kids on pidgeot, a boy with a charizard — and some were letting out rapidash or dodrio and racing away along the street.

Zeke popped open his fearow’s ball. “Want a lift?” he said.

“No thanks,” Lily said. “I’ll walk with Ben.” Zeke nodded and took off.

Ben came out a moment later and he and Lily set off west at a light jog. An arcanine blew past them, swift as the wind and almost silent. Lily thought of her growlithe and wished yet again that she’d caught it earlier. They’d reached the game corner and were turning south when Zeke’s fearow landed in front of them.

“There’s a moltres attacking the gym!” he gasped. “They’re putting out the fire and there’s some trainers trying to hold off the moltres but it’s really tough.... Here.” He tossed Lily a pokéball. “It’s my blastoise. Ben, can I borrow your gyara?”

“Sure.” Ben unclipped the ball and passed it to Zeke. “Be careful.”

“Just hurry, okay?” Zeke said, and urged the fearow back into the sky.

Lily looked at Ben. “Should we be riding?”

He touched the greatball on his belt. “Yeah. Damn.”

............

Zeke’s fearow flew over Celadon, back to the aerial battle he had just left. A dozen kids on a motley collection of flying-types were harassing a great fiery bird, sending little twisters and gusts of air at it and not really accomplishing anything more than irritating it. It was just too strong, too big — with its billowing flames and heat shimmer making it appear even larger — and too hot. It was impossible to get close enough to do any real damage without being driven back by the roasting heat, so the trainers were forced to keep a safe distance. Except for one. Faye, on her pelipper, was in much closer, and it looked like she was doing more than annoy. As Zeke rejoined the other trainers, her pelipper sprayed the moltres with a jet of water, temporarily dousing some of its flames. It shrieked and spat fire at her, which was deflected harmlessly off an invisible wall in front of her. She was laughing as she ordered her pelipper to attack again.

Zeke let Ben’s gyarados out. There were a couple of gyarados already out, and some smaller flying-types.

“Stun spore, Butterfree!” a girl yelled, and the bug-type shook its wings, sending a cloud of yellow dust towards the moltres. It burned up before it could make contact, and the moltres didn’t even notice. “Sleep powder!” the girl tried, and the same thing happened.

“Water gun,” Zeke told Ben’s gyarados. Most of the water evaporated en route, and the rest dropped away and missed.

“Pikachu, thunderbolt!” someone yelled. Zeke looked over in time to see everyone scatter. His fearow squawked and dropped, and a wave of flame washed over his head. Above him, Faye was safe behind her pelipper’s invisible wall as the moltres filled the sky around her with fire. After a few seconds it stopped, Faye, smirking, attacked it again, and the other trainers regrouped. A couple of them had small electric-types with them.

“Let’s try this,” Zeke muttered to himself, popping open his voltorb’s pokéball. He wrapped his arms around its smooth, round form as it materialised in front of him, and managed to not drop it. His fearow didn’t seem to mind the extra weight, but it wasn’t easy balancing a voltorb and himself. “This is such a bad idea.... Okay, Voltorb, spark!”

............

“This was such a bad idea!” Lily gasped, clutching Ben’s waist. Beneath her, his rapidash’s muscles bunched and loosened, threatening to jolt her off with every stride. Cool flames tickled her skin through her clothes. It would have been far more comfortable with a saddle, but when, months ago, Ben had bought one, the rapidash had incinerated it.

“Corner!” Ben said over his shoulder. They both leaned into the turn as the rapidash galloped round the corner and nearly ran headlong into a group of pedestrians. It didn’t slow down, but leaped into the air, over their heads. Lily felt herself slipping backwards and screamed, holding tighter to Ben. He was trying — and failing — to get a grip on the smooth sides of the rapidash’s neck. Then it landed, knocking both its riders forward again, and kept going.

They reached the gym much sooner than they would have on foot. Lily slithered off the rapidash’s back, resisted the urge to fall over, and looked around. The main greenhouse was burning, and the fire had spread to some of the smaller buildings. Trainers and pokémon were everywhere fighting it. Erika, her kimono singed and missing a sleeve, and a bandage tied around her arm, was nearby directing the efforts.

“How can we help?” Lily asked her.

“Oh! thank you,” Erika said. “If you have a water pokémon, take it over there, please.” She pointed. “Ground and rock over there.” A young woman tugged at Erika’s sleeve, and she turned to speak to her.

“I’ll take your onix,” Ben said, “if you like. You’ve got Zeke’s blastoise as well as yours?”

She nodded, giving him the onix’s pokéball. “Be careful, yeah?”

The water pokémon were mostly fighting the main fire, but the woman organising them sent Lily and her two blastoise to one of the smaller fires. As Lily joined a boy with a starmie and a girl apparently without any pokémon, a ninetales leaped gracefully out of the blaze, holding a scorched and unconscious oddish in its jaws. It dropped the grass-type at the girl’s feet and bounded back into the flames. “There’s pokémon in there?” Lily cried. “Quick, you two, hydro pump!”

The rock and ground-types were downwind, mostly putting out spotfires. Ben set his onix and Lily’s to work helping.

............

Zeke recalled his voltorb. It wasn’t helping; it had shocked his fearow twice — fortunately not hard — and the moltres not at all. Ben’s gyarados was dutifully squirting away, and the other circling trainers were doing their best, but Faye was still the only one doing any real damage. She’d pulled off her shirt and the tank-top underneath was drenched in sweat but from her expression of glee she seemed to think she was winning. Perhaps she was. With quick and frequent protecting, her pelipper was avoiding almost all of the moltres’s attacks.

“You with the gyara!” someone yelled. Zeke turned to see a girl riding a pidgeot, her own gyarados undulating beside her. “We’re going up above it,” she continued, brushing dark-blond hair out of her eyes. “See if we can rain on it a bit. You with us?”

“Good idea,” Zeke called back, signalling his fearow to climb. There were five of them; himself, the blond girl, a boy with another gyarados, a girl with a wingull at her shoulder, and a boy whose charizard was holding a goldeen in its short arms. They had to go quite high — it was far too hot directly above the moltres — and as they finally reached a sufficient height and flew over it, it disappeared.

It was back again a second later, beating its wings and shrieking with rage, and Zeke realised Faye had thrown a pokéball at it. The ball hadn’t been anywhere close to catching it, and she didn’t try again.

“Ready, everyone?” the blond girl said. “Water gun or whatever, when I say, and we’ll hit it all at once. Gyarados, rain dance!” Her gyarados began to coil and twist in the air. Clouds gathered over them, thick and dark. “Now!” she shouted as the first drops of rain began to fall.

The water-types all poured water down on the moltres, taking it completely by surprise. It shuddered, its flames hissing, then screeched and shot upward, unbelievably fast. The trainers dodged out of its way, but the blond girl’s gyarados was too slow, and the moltres bashed it with a powerful wing and raked sharp talons down its body, knocking it out. Its trainer dived after it, fumbling for its pokéball to return it. The other trainers fled, gouts of fire chasing them. When Zeke turned around, the moltres was whirling in the air, its head thrown back to the sky. Bright sun broke through the clouds, which dissipated as quickly and unnaturally as they had formed. The moltres shook itself, flames flaring up as fierce as ever, and it swooped back down to Faye.

............

The fire was out, or almost. A few patches still smouldered fitfully, but it was under control. A third of the main greenhouse had been destroyed, but the rest was fixable, and most of the other buildings had escaped serious damage. Lily recalled her and Zeke’s blastoise and went looking for Ben.

The rock-types were knocking down a gutted, smoking building, and holding up a less damaged one. Lily found Ben watching his onix swing its tail at a ruined wall. “Where’s mine?” she asked. He pointed. It was one of several pokémon propping up a sagging roof while people ran in and out rescuing expensive-looking equipment.

“Can you see Zeke up there?” Ben said, shading his eyes and tipping his head back to look at the battle far above them.

“I think that’s a fearow,” Lily said, pointing at a pair of brown wings. “Is that Faye, right near the moltres? On the pelipper?”

“I can’t see,” Ben said. “I hope they’re okay.”

............

Faye threw another pokéball, but the moltres burned it as it arced through the air. Zeke shook his head. She already had an articuno, why did she want a moltres too?

The articuno.

She’d caught it a couple of days ago, and.... How long would it have taken for the moltres to fly here?

“Faye!” he yelled. “Let the articuno go!” She shouted something back, but he couldn’t hear what it was over the distance and the roar of the moltres’s flames. Something about type-matchups.

The moltres turned its head to blast someone’s golbat, and Faye took the chance to throw another pokéball. This one hit, the moltres disappeared, and at the same time Zeke heard a wild shriek and felt a jolt of electricity. He yelped and clutched his fearow’s feathers. It jerked underneath him but stayed conscious. Ben’s gyarados fainted. Zeke grabbed for its pokéball with tingling fingers and recalled it. He didn’t see that Faye’s pelipper had also been hit.

The moltres burst back out of the pokéball, its cry mingling with another one, and as the trainers took in the sight of two furious legendaries, a moltres and, now, a zapdos, none of them saw Faye fall.

Gendered adjectives are for other people.