Chapter Forty: Dancing With Dragonair



Meowth's POV



I can't stop thinkin' 'bout what the Boss said to Jimmy. I know Jessiebelle, and Jim ain't gonna last if he's trapped with her for the rest of his life.



We teleport to Saffron's gym. There's a trainer waiting for us, with long amber hair and a custom purple uniform with a big red 'R' printed on the top. I remember that the purple uniforms are for psychic cadets under Sabrina's training.



"About time we got some backup," the chick says, "although you're hardly the muscle we need. You're the ones that wired in the Hoopa and all those weird ones, right?"



Hitoshi nods. "I'm not sure where such rare Pokemon came from. They seem to be like nothing yet recorded in this world. I'd say I'm due for a promotion for stealing such rarities."



The lady tosses him a bag of Poke Balls. "You'll get your promotion if you survive this," she says grimly. "Lance and his army of dragons have moved in on Silph Co. There's bound to be some major positions opening in this organization in a few minutes."



Gee, that was dark. "What we gonna do t' survoive?"



"The Pokemon you brought in are in this bag," the lady says. "Try not to get them killed. We're up to our necks in Dragonair and there WILL be casualties. This isn't the Fighting Dojo resistance we're battling this time, or the Copycat for that matter. You'd better have something that beats down dragons."



Hitoshi looks into the bag, pullin' out a Poke Ball at random. "I-I-I I understand, Miss...?"



"Amber. Don't forget it. Now get out there and try not to die." She strides through the doorway as if there weren't fiery death on the other end. Which there likely is.



Hitoshi stares at the Poke Ball, and then at me. "So... well, then. Good luck with that 'special project' the Boss wanted you for, because at the rate things are going you'll be donating your corpse."



Pleasant conversation. "What're does Pokemon ya got?"



The Poke Ball opens, and a very ticked-lookin' Hoopa comes outta it. "Ali is NOT HAPPY," she says. "Ali will not help you unless you help Ali and Ali's friends!"



"Look, maybe you've forgotten this," Hitoshi snaps, "but Pokemon exist to help their trainers. And right now, I'm your trainer. So you'd better listen to me!"



Hoopa has none of it. She whacks Hitoshi upside th' head wi' her ring. "You don't have enough badges to train Ali!" she yells, slippin' her ring over Hitoshi's head and tightenin' it around his arms.



Th' poor kid struggles to get free. "Hey! Bad Hoopa! Bad Hoopa!" he yells. "I'm your trainer! You have to listen to me!"



"If Ali helps Hitoshi, Hitoshi helps Ali!" she yells. "That's the deal!"



Of course only one's gonna lose at this, and it's Hitoshi. "All right! ALL RIGHT!" he yells. "I'll help you! Now how do we get out of this alive?"



Hoopa grins. "Just leave it to Ali..."



---



We step outside, and whaddya know, the place really is a war zone. Dragonair, Dragonair everywhere, chargin' at Rockets, breathin' fire at Rockets, generatin' a major storm over us Rockets. It ain't a good sign when half the Rockets thrown at them are conked out or worse. There's plenty of Mewtwo, of course, but even they seem pretty worn out from the sheer number of dragons. There's like three Dragonair for every Mewtwo. Not good odds.



Up above the Silph Co. tower, there's a guy I guess is Lance, ridin' a spooky grey-and-black dragon that looks real death-metal. Don't wanna hafta cross HIM.



Hoopa grins as a horde of five Dragonair approach. "Ali's got this."



The first Dragonair charges in a Dragon Rush, and Hoopa whips out a ring. The Dragonair goes straight through, re-appearin' to slam into two of its mates. They screech in pain, and the fourth turns to charge at the first before it can harm any more of them.



The fifth Dragonair screeches, then lunges for Hoopa. Hoopa pulls out another ring, and suddenly the Dragonair looks pretty loopy. It crashes into the ground, hurtin' itself in its confusion.



"What's on the other side of that ring?" Hitoshi asks as we quickly run a few feet to the cover of a nearby buildin'.



"Sasha!" Hoopa says happily. I haven't a clue what that means, but if it gets us outta this alive, I'm all for it.



A number of other Dragonair lunge at us, and Hoopa expertly keeps them away with her rings. They knock into each other, into walls, or get mysteriously confused. Eventually they either learn to give us a wide berth, or just give up on us. But Lance must've figured out somethin' was wrong, 'cause before we can enter Silph Co., his scary death dragon jumps right in front of us.



"Well, well, well," Lance says mockingly. "Finally, a worthy opponent! Aren't you a little short for a survivor?"



"I'll show you how short I am once I stuff your smug face down your pants!" Hitoshi yells. "One wrong move and I'll--!"



"Griseous, use Hyper Beam," Lance says flatly.



The move hits fast -- too fast for Hoopa to block, I'm guessin'. Hitoshi gets knocked back so hard his ancestors feel it. He skids across the battlefield, colliding wi' a trash bin an' crumblin' to a stop. He even drops Hoopa's Poke Ball, which rolls a foot or so away.



Lance laughs malevolently, then turns to me and Hoopa. "So, are you two going to stop me now? You should be grateful I liberated you from that miserable trainer."



"He ain't my trainer!" I snap. "An' yer a joik w' his head up his ass who tinks he can rule da woirld!"



"And just how is that different from the leader of Team Rocket?" Lance asks. "The difference is I fight for your kind, the true heirs of this world, while your precious 'boss' thinks only of himself and his own species. So whose side will you be on?"



I glance back at Hitoshi -- picking himself up painfully, only to be grabbed and wrapped by a Dragonair before Hoopa can react. "Meowth!" I shout. "What yoir doin' ain't roight!"



Lance laughs. "Don't tell me you care for another abusive trainer who steals Pokemon away from their homes and forces them to fight for his own selfish reasons! The world is better off without--"



Then Hoopa opens a ring right in fron' of his eyes, just so she can slap him in th' face.



"Red Hair doesn't get to talk!" she snaps. "Red Hair hurt Terra-Kun and Benga-Kun! Red Hair is going down!"



Lance pulls back as if she burned him. "Why, you ungrateful... Griseous! Knock this little rebel out before she hurts someone!"



Griseous -- the dragon -- pulls back to fire off another Hyper Beam, but Hoopa redirects it to hit smack into Lance's back, knocking him off the dragon and flat onto the pavement.



Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark.



Griseous blinks, the murder in its eyes fadin'. It looks left, right, and finally down at Lance, questioningly. Growling under its breath, it raises one tremendous clawed foot to bring down on th' man.



"What? No!" I yelp, scrambling to my feet. "We gotta lock dis man up, but no killin'! He's from da Elite Four! He's gonna be our hostage!"



Griseous growls at me. "The man had me under his control. Once he wakes up, his control will resume. Would you have me, the Lady of the Shadowlands, enthralled to a genocidal human?"



I pause, not quite sure what to answer.



Then Lance starts to wake up.



Griseous pulls back, screaming in anguish as Lance's dominance asserts itself. I turn to Hoopa and yell, "We've gotta get outta here! Roight now!"



Hoopa looks back toward Hitoshi. "But... Hito-Kun? He'll be killed!"



"Betta him dan us!" I yell. "Gotta get inside an' protect whatevah Redhead came here t' nab!"



Hoopa looks conflicted, but nods. "All right... Ali thinks..."



She follows me into the Silph Co. building. Though I can't help hopin' that Hitoshi twerp gets rescued.



---



Hitoshi's POV



I'm going to die. This stupid blue snake is going to strangle me, and I'm gonna be toast. I can't breathe, I can't move my arms, I can't do anything.



I'm going to die, and either I'm hallucinating, or I can already see my halo.



Wait.



That's not a halo.



It's a ring, one of Hoopa's rings, and before I can consciously come to terms with it, a sudden deluge of seawater blasts down on me and Dragonair, stunning us both.



I feel Dragonair's coils loosen around me. I can't pull out my Charmeleon because it will die in this flood. But I pull away, gasping and sputtering for breath as the water's flow sends me downtown.



Seawater. From a hole in the air. Into a city that's covered by a giant dome.



This can't end well at all.