Story Notes:
I don't own Pokemon. Nintendo, Game Freak and its affiliates do.
Survivors
"Sir!"
"What is it?"
"We have orders from the top brass."
"Well?"
"Here, sir."
The sound of shuffling paper, then silence.
"Sir?"
"This is the final decision?"
"Apparently so. They didn't see any non-infected biosignatures in the area."
"Alright. Tell the TNS to load up the ordinance onto the plane. We depart at 0900 tomorrow."
"Yes, sir!"
()()()()()()()()
I woke up and yawned, stretching as I did so, feeling something on my chest. I looked down, and saw a little Eevee curled up there. My movement caused it to stir, and it opened its eyes with a little yawn of its own.
"Why, hello there," I mumbled at it.
"Vee?" it said, slowly padding its way up to my face.
"You're a cute little fella, aren't you?"
The Eevee recoiled. "Vee!"
"Oops, morning breath, sorry," I said. The Eevee placed a paw on my mouth as if to tell me to stop talking. I couldn't help but grin at that.
'Lily? I think we have an unexpected - albeit cute - guest. Can you come here?' I projected.
It was then my stomach let out a ferocious rumble, and the Eevee jumped onto my face with a loud "VEE!" I ended up seeing nothing but its wet, brown fur, and smelling it too.
'I can see what you meant by a cute guest, Daemon. But you two look so adorable!'
'Yeah, yeah, I know. But seriously, can you get the little fella off of me? And give it a bath; if there's a functioning one in here, I'm suffocating from the wet fur smell.'
At that, I felt the little Eevee float off my face.
"VEE!" it said, doing a cute doggy-paddle in mid-air as it was lifted by Lily's Psychic powers.
Lily giggled. 'Come now, you need a proper shower instead of the one you got outside...'
I chuckled as the pair of them left. Getting up from the bed, I stretched, noting that it was mid-afternoon, and getting darker by the hour.
"Gah, shouldn't have overslept," I muttered to myself.
Moving into the hallway, I smelled something...indescribable. Sweet, but pungent at the same time. I followed the scent into the kitchen, where the girl and her Lucario were working over a stove. As I entered the room, I saw the Lucario's ears twitch, and he turned around.
"Finally woke up, have you?"
"Yeah...say, thanks for carrying me here."
"It was the least we could do after you risked your life to save mine and Lily's," the girl said.
A memory jogged. "Elaine, correct?" she turned around and smiled. "Then you must be Seth. Lily told me both your names earlier," I said.
"I heard the commotion in your room. Who's our new guest?"
"A little Eevee. Lily's seeing to it that the little one gets a proper shower."
Seth scoffed. "Eevee, huh? So little for so much racket."
Elaine giggled. "As I recall, Seth, you were quite the rambunctious one when you were just a Riolu..."
Seth flushed, causing his fur to tinge purple, and swivelled back to continue what he was working on.
"What are you guys making? It has an interesting smell," I asked.
"It's something we used to make while we were travelling. It's a mix of Leppa, Oran, Sitrus and Tamato Berries, along with a few fillets of Magikarp and some herbs thrown in," Elaine said.
I inhaled deeply. "Smells wonderful. I can't wait to taste it," I said, turning around to leave the kitchen. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Elaine and Seth grinning - I knew I had pleased them both with that compliment.
()()()()()()()()
Back in the hallway, I heard some distinct splashing noises, and went to investigate. Next thing I knew, a wet Eevee was skidding around the corner, looking back as Lily rounded the bend, sopping wet herself, with a furious look on her face to boot.
'Get back here! I haven't finished cleaning you properly yet!' she said.
"VEE!" the little one called back, before looking in front, seeing me, and skidding to a halt at my feet.
I picked up the Eevee by the scruff of its neck and held it up to eye level. It cringed at my expression, thinking that it was in for the berating of its life.
"...Vee..." it said, as if to say sorry.
I didn't say a word; I just marched towards Lily, Eevee in hand. When I reached her, she cupped her hands and I dropped the Eevee in her hands. As she looked up at me, hair still dripping, I couldn't hold back any longer. I burst out laughing, clutching my sides for support.
'Wha...?'
"You...you two...look so ridiculous!" I gasped, tears flowing from laughter. Next thing I knew, I was sopping wet from a ball of water that Lily threw at me. That shut me up pretty well. Then Lily started laughing, me following after a while.
()()()()()()()()
A few hours later, we were all gathered around the table in the kitchen, each of us having a plate of the Magikarp fillets that Elaine and Seth made.
"So, Lily, how did Eevee get the better of you?" I asked.
She flushed. 'It just so happened I looked away at the wrong time, looking for a brush, when she decided to use her tails to splash me with water and escape,' she said.
"Wait, our new friend is female?"
'Yes. I cleaned her, so I had a chance to have a look at what gender she was,' Lily replied.
"Hmm...We need a new name for her then; I can't keep calling her Eevee...How about Sue?"
The Eevee looked up from her bowl on the floor and yipped at me.
"I guess that's settled then. Your new name is Sue!"
Suddenly, there was a banging at the front of the Pokemon Center. Seth and I immediately stood up and took up positions on either side of the door, listening. Lily made DI float over to me, and I took it, racking the slide to put a shell in the chamber.
"Turn off the lights and don't make any sounds," I hissed.
As they complied, Seth and I edged outside into the hallway, listening to any sounds. A sudden rattle, and I had DI pointed at an open doorway. An empty beaker rolled into our hallway, and I gave a sigh of relief. But then, a slight shifting of shadow caught my eye, and I whipped around to face it, levelling DI to shoulder height.
"Aura Sphere, a small one. Let's see if whatever it hits is human or not. Then we'll decide if it's friend or foe," I muttered to Seth.
"It's not infected, that's for sure," he whispered back.
"Aura Sight? Whatever. We're going to have to see if it's here to rest, or cause us harm," I replied.
"MUNCHLAX!"
"What the -"
"Munch - Munch...Lax?" The Munchlax stopped dead as it saw me and Seth. With DI and an Aura Sphere in its face, it didn't know what to do.
"Munchlax? Where did you run off to?"
"M-M-Munch...lax..." it replied, still too fearful to do anything.
"You better not have eaten something rancid, you know we're running out of suppl..." a kid, just fresh from the Pokelab, turned around the corner and saw us. I immediately levelled DI at him with one hand and motioned him closer with the other.
"If you're not infected, then you have nothing to fear," I whispered.
The kid fumbled for something at his waistline, and I gripped DI with my spare hand, aiming at him. "Don't do anything stupid, now," I said. The kid froze with a sphere in his hands, and the first thing that came to my mind was 'GRENADE!'
I glanced at Seth, inclining my head towards the sphere in the kids' hand, and he fired off an Aura Sphere from his other paw, impacting the ground by the kids' feet. The light from it was enough to show me that it was nothing more than a Pokeball.
I lowered DI. "Phew kid, you nearly gave me a heart attack taking out that Pokeball," I said, nodding at Seth to stand down. Leaning towards the wall, I flicked a switch, turning on the lights in the hallway. All of us blinking, we took a moment to get used to the brightness. Taking a closer look at the kid, I saw that he was too skinny to fit his clothes.
"Come, let's get you something to eat," I said. The kid nodded and quickly got behind me as we walked back to the kitchen. "By the way, I never got your name."
"Alex. My name is Alex."
()()()()()()()()
Military Base, Location: Classified. 0830 hours.
"Alright men, you've all been briefed on our mission. We get dropped off at the LZ along with the package, arm it, and hightail it before it goes off. A simple in and out mission. BUT," the man said, startling a few of his men, "that does not mean we should be taking it easy. You've all seen some of the freaks we killed a few days ago; you know what some of the worst look like. Assume that every human is infected and shoot to kill, leave no survivors. We'll be equipped with thermal imaging so at least we can tell the difference between humans and Pokemon: we don't want any unnecessary deaths to happen. Now gear up, this isn't going to be a walk in the park."
()()()()()()()()
Thirty minutes later.
"Sarge?"
"What is it Private? The heli is about to take off!"
"Sir, new information. It seems like there are multiple heat signatures beginning to surround the target area, but there are also what appears to be a few survivors in the Pokemon Centre."
"Survivors..." he mulled this over.
"It's your call, Sarge. A group of few against the larger community. Plus, they could be infected."
"There may just well be Pokemon in that Centre, Private. We'll recon the area before arming the package." Before the Private could say another word, the Sergeant ran off towards the helicopter, intending to do the right thing.
()()()()()()()()
Military Helicopter, Location: Fifty kilometres from destination. 0915 hours.
"Men, we have new intel. Turns out there may be survivors in the target area. Our primary objective has NOT changed. But I will take a team of four and recon the area. We will arm and bug out within the time frame at hand. Do I have any volunteers?"
"I'm up for it Sarge. I don't want no civi gettin' hurt on my watch."
"Good man. Any other takers?"
"I'll go. They may need medical attention."
"They're huddled up in a Pokemon Centre, so they may have the supplies already, but why not. Anyone else?"
Nobody raised their voice.
"Guess I'll have to make do with you two. Alright, we land in five, so get locked n' loaded!"
()()()()()()()()
Daemon's POV
"Urgh..." I mumbled, stretching up from the bed. I glanced over at the clock on the wall. 9:25 am.
"Bah, too early..." I muttered, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Glancing out the window, I saw the golden light from the approaching dawn. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of brown. Adrenaline kicking in, I grabbed DI and aimed carefully at what I thought I had seen. Looking carefully, I saw it was just an abandoned bike, rusted from the rain. That's probably what Alex had ridden on when he came here. Turning back towards the bed, I didn't notice the shadow pass over the window. I should have kept looking.
The sound of breaking glass, I found myself thrown to the floor, a heavy being standing on my back.
"Get - the - FUCK - OFF - OF - ME!" I shouted, struggling to get up.
A snarling growl was the response I got, along with a stomp to my back, forcing my face back into the floor.
'Daemon? DAEMON!' I heard Lily shout, entering my room.
Boom
A snarl and the decreased pressure on my back let me know that the thing was off of me. Scrambling to my feet, I hurdled over the bed and racked the slide of DI.
"Focus Blast?" I asked Lily.
She nodded, and charged up another as the creature got up. What I saw next almost made me not want to pull the trigger in fear.
Its head was missing.
Looking closer, I saw that it was not missing, but bent so far back, it looked as though it was decapitated.
"Holy Arceus..." I whispered. Simultaneously, Lily fired her Focus Blast, and I fired off a three-round burst from DI. The Focus Blast took out its legs, causing the thing to flip towards me...and right into the three rounds of buckshot, tearing it into shreds. From the silence of our battle came the sounds of Seth and Elaine shouting.
As we entered the kitchen, we saw that Elaine was fending off a few infected with a large frying pan while Seth was doing his best in hand-to-hand combat while firing off a few Aura Spheres every now and again. Alex wasn't around. Clearing a path through the infected, we huddled up.
"You see Alex?" I whispered, panting a bit as my adrenaline levels dropped.
"We thought he was with you!" Elaine replied.
'He can't be far, there's only -" Lily was cut off as a loud crash and a "SNORLAX!" echoed through the Center. We all whipped around, looking at the only other hallway out of the kitchen. One glance at each other, then we bolted through the hallway, the crashing and roaring becoming louder with every passing step.
"Which room is he in?" Seth asked.
"I don't know, let's start ch-" BOOM
Instantly, the hallway was shrouded in dust. Coughing, I tried to peer through the cloud to see what happened. Out of the dust came an infected person, so I whipped DI up, and its barrel was actually touching the creature when I pulled the trigger, causing the creatures' guts (or what was left of it) right out of its back and onto the floor. It staggered back, looking at its stomach before taking one step towards me - just before it collapsed.
"If there's one thing I learned in my few days of fighting you bastards, it's that you don't just die from one shot," I said scathingly, bringing the butt of DI down onto its head before crushing the remnants of its spine with my foot.
"Done killing it?" Seth asked dryly.
"Pretty much, yeah. Alex! You okay in there?" I shouted.
"Yeah! My Munchlax evolved as soon as we got attacked, so he's more than enough to protect me!" he shouted back, climbing out of the debris.
"Good, now let's move before...what's that sound?"
A whirring noise was beginning to get louder, and it set all of us on edge.
"Sounds like...it can't be..."
'What is it, Daemon?' Lily asked.
"Helicopter. It's the military. Where the hell were they when the shit hit the fan?" I wondered aloud.
"No point sitting here and wondering, let's go out there and ask!" Alex said, moving for a hole in the wall.
"Hold it," I said, lightly gripping his shoulder. "We don't know what or why they're here for, so it's best to assume they're here to eradicate the virus and not expecting survivors. Let's watch them, see what they do..."
()()()()()()()()
"Ho-ly shit! Is that's what's left of the Center? You sure there's survivors in that mess? Looks like a Bastiodon rammed right through that!"
"That's enough out of you, Corporal. Expect the worst-case scenario, survivors or no. We are still here to deliver the package and get the hell out of Dodge within the time-frame."
"And if there are survivors?"
"Treat them as best as we can, and get them out too. If one is potentially infected, we will keep him or her under supervision in quarantine. Maybe one of the professors can help deduce what happened here."
A voice crackled in over the radio. "Ell-Zee looks clear! I'm bringing us down! Watch your heads people, I don't want gore on my sparkling blades!"
A few soldiers chuckled. A little bit of humour before the mission was always good.
The Sergeant chuckled as well, then clicked his mic. "You won't have to worry about your 'sparkling' blades soon - the dirt will make 'em messy!"
"Aww, Sarge, you like to be a spoilsport, don't 'cha? Well, maybe I shouldn't land so softly, then!" A jolt as they landed, followed by the unwelcome lurch as the helicopter bounced, then repeated its actions. Three times the helicopter bounced before the Sergeant had enough.
"Alright Harvell, you had your fun, now bring us down properly," he called over the radio.
Static.
"Harvell, do you copy?"
More static, followed by another bounce as the helicopter began to inch towards the Pokemon Center.
"Harvell! I'll have you court-marshalled for this! Arceus-dammit, someone go check on Harvell!"
The closest soldier peeked his head into the cockpit. Without a seconds warning, the soldier brought up his rifle and fired off a short burst, followed by a long rip from his assault rifle.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!" the soldier screamed, firing off his entire clip at whatever was in there.
The Sergeant didn't even have to wonder what happened. He just grabbed the package and shouted, "BAIL OUT! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" and dove out of the slowly rotating helicopter, still moving towards the Pokemon Center. He watched as several others bailed out from the helicopter, but could only stare as the helicopter crashed into the front doors of the building.
()()()()()()()()
Daemon's POV
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" I screamed, shoving everyone I could away from the front doors.
'Wait,' Lily said, her eyes glowing blue.
"What...?"
She stood her ground as the helicopter bore down on the front doors, exploding in a massive fireball that just swirled around us.
'Protect,' she whispered, allowing the green-tinted shield to dissipate after the flames exhausted themselves.
I could see figures moving beyond the haze of dust and heat. "Lily, are those the soldiers?"
'Yes - or what's left of them.'
"What's left...?"
'Don't worry,' she said, turning to face me, 'they're not infected. At least, as far as I can sense.'
"So we shouldn't let our guard down. Lily, keep that Protect up, Seth, follow my lead." He nodded and we stepped out from the relative safety of the ruined Pokemon Center and into the open.
"If they try anything funny, don't hesitate to attack. We're here for our own survival, not to become one of the infected," I told him. He let out a low growl of understanding, keeping one paw behind him, charging an Aura Sphere.
"Easy now," a voice called out. "You can lower your weapon, and you can tell your Lucario friend to disperse his Aura Sphere."
We stopped, looked at each other, then back at the voice. Something just...clicked.
"Since when do the military recruit Pokemon into their ranks?" I called back.
The voice chuckled. "Inquisitive one, aren't you?" The man behind the voice stepped into our field of view, and said, "Well, ever since the enemy began using Pokemon in their ranks, we've been at a disadvantage. I was the first, and soon many others followed." The dust cleared, and I could see the speaker was a Gallade, decked out in combat armour, with his chest piece sticking out at the front...and wielding a compact assault rifle.
"Nice weapon, got a spare?"
He chuckled. "No, this is the only one I have, I'm afraid. The XM29 OICW, the latest in modern assault tech. I do see that you have an AA-12 - a good CQB weapon to have on deck...like right now. Behind you!"
Wheeling around, I caught a flash of decayed flesh before pressing the barrel of DI into it and pulling the trigger.
"Command! We need evac, NOW!" the Gallade cried out.
()()()()()()()()
Military Installation, Location: Classified.
"Command! We need evac, NOW!"
These shouts intermingled with the many others coming from various speakers within the room. At the far end, watching a large screen showing the positions of the teams he set out to deliver the packages, sat a General.
This man, with so much background in fighting what he knew, sighed. He stood; sparing a glance around the room, where so many operators sat by, switching between looking at the screen and the now-standing General, waiting for an order.
"Initiate Program sixty-six."
A lone operator stood and walked over to a terminal with a blank screen and typed in a few commands.
"Sir, I need the key."
The General walked over to the terminal, reaching into his uniform. As he reached the terminal, he pulled his hand out from the cloth, holding a key on a chain around his neck. The operator took a close look at the General.
"Sir," he whispered, "You know we don't have to do this."
"But we must," the General replied wearily. "For the good of all man- and Pokekind."
At that, he snapped the key off the chain and shoved it into a keyhole within the terminal.
"May Arceus save those men," the General said, as he rotated the key, making the screen come to life, showing the words:
PROJECT 66 ACTIVATED.
NOW INITIATING ACTIVATION SEQUENCE...
SEQUENCE INITIATED.
T-MINUS 120 SECONDS UNTIL DETONATION.
The General saluted, praying that at least one of them would run, but knowing deep inside that they were all doomed. The operators in the room followed suit, saluting the men slated to die.
()()()()()()()()
Daemon's POV
"Dammit!" I shouted, ducking under a flying creature, reloading as I sprinted towards the Pokemon Center. "Lily! How're you holding up in there?"
'We're fine, but hurry back!' she replied.
BEEP
I froze, spinning around to look at the Gallade, who also stopped dead, looking at the suitcase he was holding.
Without warning, a spike shot from the bottom of it and impacted the ground as an antenna poked out from the top of it.
"Gah!" the Gallade cried out, clutching his head.
"What's the matter?" I asked, running back towards him.
"Psychic suppression devices!" he gasped, "Built to prevent any Psychic-types from meddling with or teleporting the device away! But why...oh no..." With obvious difficulty, he raised himself up and peered at the top of the suitcase.
"What?"
"Project sixty-six."
"What?" I said, confused.
He looked at me, a hard, knowing glare. "We're doomed. All of us, dead."
"WHAT?!" I shouted, shoving him away from the sinister suitcase. On the top, there was an LED display that read:
PROJECT 66 HAS BEEN ACTIVATED.
COUNTDOWN INITIATED.
T-MINUS 90 SECONDS UNTIL DETONATION.
"LILY!" I shouted, making her appear next to me, then suddenly drop to the floor, writhing in pain.
"Dammit!" I said, picking her up and moving her away from it, so at least she could stand.
'What...is that thing?' she asked me.
"I think you better do some explaining," I told the Gallade.
"No time," he coughed. "We're all dead by the time I finish explaining what it is."
"Fine, but at least we're not going to die here, not today. Elaine, Seth, Alex, get over here, NOW!"
At that, all three of them (including Alex's Snorlax) ran up to me.
"Lily, can you teleport us out of here?"
'I can try, but that device is interfering with my abilities,' she replied.
I ran back over to the suitcase and peered at the display.
"You got sixty seconds, Lily!" I called over my shoulder.
Suddenly, I felt a slight pain in my head as Lily focused her powers into trying to teleport all of us.
"C'mon Lily, try harder!"
'I'm trying!' she said, pain evident in her voice as I felt my headache get worse.
"Forty-five seconds, Lily!"
The pain progressively increased, beginning to blind me in the process.
"Thirty seconds!" I shouted.
'You're not helping!'
"FIFTEEN SECONDS, LILY!" I cried out as the pain reached unbearable levels.
'Ah!' I heard her cry out, as all the pain disappeared.
"Ten...seconds..."
"VEE!"
I whirled around, and saw Sue jumping at my face, glowing, and landed just before I saw the counter hit -
Zero.
()()()()()()()()
Military Installation, Location: Classified.
The General watched as the main screen bloomed with several infrared dots, each one representing a package detonating. Each package, decimating a one kilometre radius from the epicentre of the blast. On the sole terminal, the screen now read:
PROJECT 66 COMPLETE.
ALL PACKAGES DETONATED.
SURVIAVAL RATE: 0%
TERMINAL SHUTTING DOWN.
At that, the words faded from view, and a few operators broke out in tears, knowing that some of their friends were consumed in one of the many blasts.
The General walked away, guilt and sorrow tearing at his heart and mind. He managed to walk all the way back to his quarters and locking the door behind him before collapsing on a char and weeping.
"There was nothing I could do..." he whimpered, opening a drawer and reaching into it. "I hope they can forgive me...in the next life."
He whipped out a revolver, locked the hammer back, pointed it at his head, and pulled the trigger.
()()()()()()()()
Unknown POV
"Urgh..." I groaned. "What the hell happened?"
I opened my eyes and looked around. All I saw was a whole bunch of trees and a clear blue sky.
"Am I dead?"
'Unh...' a voice moaned.
I got up and had a proper look around. Right next to me laid a Gardevoir. She opened her eyes and squinted at me.
'Daemon?'
"Lily? But...what happened? Did you teleport us out of there?"
'No...I couldn't do it - that device interfered too much.'
"Then...we're dead...?"
'I doubt it!' a cheerful voice said. I looked around, but couldn't see a speaker. 'After all, I was the one who saved you all! Including you!'
Suddenly, an object landed on top of my head. Reaching up, I found it to be quite fluffy and - cuddly?
'What, you don't remember me?' the voice asked, sounding a little hurt.
"Sue...?"
'YAY! He does remember me!'
"But...how...are we not dead?"
'Oh, are we supposed to be? I remember Lily fainting after she couldn't handle teleporting all of us to safety, so I jumped in and did it for her!'
"Damn good luck, if you ask me," another voice groaned. I looked towards a bush and saw Seth standing up and stretching. "Could use a bit more work on the landing though, kid," he said, smirking.
'What, it was my first try!' Sue said indigently.
"Chill," I said, reaching up and scratching behind Sue's ears. She purred into my hand and hopped down, settling to just sit on the ground. I reached down and offered my hand to Lily, who blushed slightly.
"I do?" she giggled. I snickered at that, then grabbing her hand and pulling her up. One by one, the rest of us emerged, glad at the fact that we weren't dead.
"Now what?" Elaine asked. "Do we even know where we are?"
Alex pulled out a Poketch from his pocket and turned it on.
"How come you don't wear that?" I asked.
"Strap broke after Munch- sorry, Snorlax thought it looked like liquorice," he replied.
We all had a good laugh at that. Everything seemed five times funnier now that we knew we weren't dead.
"According to the Poketch," Alex said, "We're a few kilometres out from Jubilife City...wait, WHAT?!"
"Sinnoh? All the way from Hoenn?" Elaine wondered in suprise.
"It's not that hard to imagine - but it is if you just got your Psychic powers," the Gallade said, looking at Sue with a bit of admiration.
"Hey, now that we're safe, I'd like to know something," I said.
The Gallade flinched. "I'm not telling you anyth-"
"What's your name?" I asked, cutting him off.
The Gallade blinked, obviously stumped, not expecting this question. He shook himself out of it, then replied, "Everyone calls me Sarge. But you can call me..."
___Chapter End Notes:Continued in Chapter Four...
A/N: This. Is. The. LONGEST. Chapter I have EVER written. I hope you enjoyed it!
- UBE Chie
"What is it?"
"We have orders from the top brass."
"Well?"
"Here, sir."
The sound of shuffling paper, then silence.
"Sir?"
"This is the final decision?"
"Apparently so. They didn't see any non-infected biosignatures in the area."
"Alright. Tell the TNS to load up the ordinance onto the plane. We depart at 0900 tomorrow."
"Yes, sir!"
()()()()()()()()
I woke up and yawned, stretching as I did so, feeling something on my chest. I looked down, and saw a little Eevee curled up there. My movement caused it to stir, and it opened its eyes with a little yawn of its own.
"Why, hello there," I mumbled at it.
"Vee?" it said, slowly padding its way up to my face.
"You're a cute little fella, aren't you?"
The Eevee recoiled. "Vee!"
"Oops, morning breath, sorry," I said. The Eevee placed a paw on my mouth as if to tell me to stop talking. I couldn't help but grin at that.
'Lily? I think we have an unexpected - albeit cute - guest. Can you come here?' I projected.
It was then my stomach let out a ferocious rumble, and the Eevee jumped onto my face with a loud "VEE!" I ended up seeing nothing but its wet, brown fur, and smelling it too.
'I can see what you meant by a cute guest, Daemon. But you two look so adorable!'
'Yeah, yeah, I know. But seriously, can you get the little fella off of me? And give it a bath; if there's a functioning one in here, I'm suffocating from the wet fur smell.'
At that, I felt the little Eevee float off my face.
"VEE!" it said, doing a cute doggy-paddle in mid-air as it was lifted by Lily's Psychic powers.
Lily giggled. 'Come now, you need a proper shower instead of the one you got outside...'
I chuckled as the pair of them left. Getting up from the bed, I stretched, noting that it was mid-afternoon, and getting darker by the hour.
"Gah, shouldn't have overslept," I muttered to myself.
Moving into the hallway, I smelled something...indescribable. Sweet, but pungent at the same time. I followed the scent into the kitchen, where the girl and her Lucario were working over a stove. As I entered the room, I saw the Lucario's ears twitch, and he turned around.
"Finally woke up, have you?"
"Yeah...say, thanks for carrying me here."
"It was the least we could do after you risked your life to save mine and Lily's," the girl said.
A memory jogged. "Elaine, correct?" she turned around and smiled. "Then you must be Seth. Lily told me both your names earlier," I said.
"I heard the commotion in your room. Who's our new guest?"
"A little Eevee. Lily's seeing to it that the little one gets a proper shower."
Seth scoffed. "Eevee, huh? So little for so much racket."
Elaine giggled. "As I recall, Seth, you were quite the rambunctious one when you were just a Riolu..."
Seth flushed, causing his fur to tinge purple, and swivelled back to continue what he was working on.
"What are you guys making? It has an interesting smell," I asked.
"It's something we used to make while we were travelling. It's a mix of Leppa, Oran, Sitrus and Tamato Berries, along with a few fillets of Magikarp and some herbs thrown in," Elaine said.
I inhaled deeply. "Smells wonderful. I can't wait to taste it," I said, turning around to leave the kitchen. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Elaine and Seth grinning - I knew I had pleased them both with that compliment.
()()()()()()()()
Back in the hallway, I heard some distinct splashing noises, and went to investigate. Next thing I knew, a wet Eevee was skidding around the corner, looking back as Lily rounded the bend, sopping wet herself, with a furious look on her face to boot.
'Get back here! I haven't finished cleaning you properly yet!' she said.
"VEE!" the little one called back, before looking in front, seeing me, and skidding to a halt at my feet.
I picked up the Eevee by the scruff of its neck and held it up to eye level. It cringed at my expression, thinking that it was in for the berating of its life.
"...Vee..." it said, as if to say sorry.
I didn't say a word; I just marched towards Lily, Eevee in hand. When I reached her, she cupped her hands and I dropped the Eevee in her hands. As she looked up at me, hair still dripping, I couldn't hold back any longer. I burst out laughing, clutching my sides for support.
'Wha...?'
"You...you two...look so ridiculous!" I gasped, tears flowing from laughter. Next thing I knew, I was sopping wet from a ball of water that Lily threw at me. That shut me up pretty well. Then Lily started laughing, me following after a while.
()()()()()()()()
A few hours later, we were all gathered around the table in the kitchen, each of us having a plate of the Magikarp fillets that Elaine and Seth made.
"So, Lily, how did Eevee get the better of you?" I asked.
She flushed. 'It just so happened I looked away at the wrong time, looking for a brush, when she decided to use her tails to splash me with water and escape,' she said.
"Wait, our new friend is female?"
'Yes. I cleaned her, so I had a chance to have a look at what gender she was,' Lily replied.
"Hmm...We need a new name for her then; I can't keep calling her Eevee...How about Sue?"
The Eevee looked up from her bowl on the floor and yipped at me.
"I guess that's settled then. Your new name is Sue!"
Suddenly, there was a banging at the front of the Pokemon Center. Seth and I immediately stood up and took up positions on either side of the door, listening. Lily made DI float over to me, and I took it, racking the slide to put a shell in the chamber.
"Turn off the lights and don't make any sounds," I hissed.
As they complied, Seth and I edged outside into the hallway, listening to any sounds. A sudden rattle, and I had DI pointed at an open doorway. An empty beaker rolled into our hallway, and I gave a sigh of relief. But then, a slight shifting of shadow caught my eye, and I whipped around to face it, levelling DI to shoulder height.
"Aura Sphere, a small one. Let's see if whatever it hits is human or not. Then we'll decide if it's friend or foe," I muttered to Seth.
"It's not infected, that's for sure," he whispered back.
"Aura Sight? Whatever. We're going to have to see if it's here to rest, or cause us harm," I replied.
"MUNCHLAX!"
"What the -"
"Munch - Munch...Lax?" The Munchlax stopped dead as it saw me and Seth. With DI and an Aura Sphere in its face, it didn't know what to do.
"Munchlax? Where did you run off to?"
"M-M-Munch...lax..." it replied, still too fearful to do anything.
"You better not have eaten something rancid, you know we're running out of suppl..." a kid, just fresh from the Pokelab, turned around the corner and saw us. I immediately levelled DI at him with one hand and motioned him closer with the other.
"If you're not infected, then you have nothing to fear," I whispered.
The kid fumbled for something at his waistline, and I gripped DI with my spare hand, aiming at him. "Don't do anything stupid, now," I said. The kid froze with a sphere in his hands, and the first thing that came to my mind was 'GRENADE!'
I glanced at Seth, inclining my head towards the sphere in the kids' hand, and he fired off an Aura Sphere from his other paw, impacting the ground by the kids' feet. The light from it was enough to show me that it was nothing more than a Pokeball.
I lowered DI. "Phew kid, you nearly gave me a heart attack taking out that Pokeball," I said, nodding at Seth to stand down. Leaning towards the wall, I flicked a switch, turning on the lights in the hallway. All of us blinking, we took a moment to get used to the brightness. Taking a closer look at the kid, I saw that he was too skinny to fit his clothes.
"Come, let's get you something to eat," I said. The kid nodded and quickly got behind me as we walked back to the kitchen. "By the way, I never got your name."
"Alex. My name is Alex."
()()()()()()()()
Military Base, Location: Classified. 0830 hours.
"Alright men, you've all been briefed on our mission. We get dropped off at the LZ along with the package, arm it, and hightail it before it goes off. A simple in and out mission. BUT," the man said, startling a few of his men, "that does not mean we should be taking it easy. You've all seen some of the freaks we killed a few days ago; you know what some of the worst look like. Assume that every human is infected and shoot to kill, leave no survivors. We'll be equipped with thermal imaging so at least we can tell the difference between humans and Pokemon: we don't want any unnecessary deaths to happen. Now gear up, this isn't going to be a walk in the park."
()()()()()()()()
Thirty minutes later.
"Sarge?"
"What is it Private? The heli is about to take off!"
"Sir, new information. It seems like there are multiple heat signatures beginning to surround the target area, but there are also what appears to be a few survivors in the Pokemon Centre."
"Survivors..." he mulled this over.
"It's your call, Sarge. A group of few against the larger community. Plus, they could be infected."
"There may just well be Pokemon in that Centre, Private. We'll recon the area before arming the package." Before the Private could say another word, the Sergeant ran off towards the helicopter, intending to do the right thing.
()()()()()()()()
Military Helicopter, Location: Fifty kilometres from destination. 0915 hours.
"Men, we have new intel. Turns out there may be survivors in the target area. Our primary objective has NOT changed. But I will take a team of four and recon the area. We will arm and bug out within the time frame at hand. Do I have any volunteers?"
"I'm up for it Sarge. I don't want no civi gettin' hurt on my watch."
"Good man. Any other takers?"
"I'll go. They may need medical attention."
"They're huddled up in a Pokemon Centre, so they may have the supplies already, but why not. Anyone else?"
Nobody raised their voice.
"Guess I'll have to make do with you two. Alright, we land in five, so get locked n' loaded!"
()()()()()()()()
Daemon's POV
"Urgh..." I mumbled, stretching up from the bed. I glanced over at the clock on the wall. 9:25 am.
"Bah, too early..." I muttered, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Glancing out the window, I saw the golden light from the approaching dawn. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of brown. Adrenaline kicking in, I grabbed DI and aimed carefully at what I thought I had seen. Looking carefully, I saw it was just an abandoned bike, rusted from the rain. That's probably what Alex had ridden on when he came here. Turning back towards the bed, I didn't notice the shadow pass over the window. I should have kept looking.
The sound of breaking glass, I found myself thrown to the floor, a heavy being standing on my back.
"Get - the - FUCK - OFF - OF - ME!" I shouted, struggling to get up.
A snarling growl was the response I got, along with a stomp to my back, forcing my face back into the floor.
'Daemon? DAEMON!' I heard Lily shout, entering my room.
Boom
A snarl and the decreased pressure on my back let me know that the thing was off of me. Scrambling to my feet, I hurdled over the bed and racked the slide of DI.
"Focus Blast?" I asked Lily.
She nodded, and charged up another as the creature got up. What I saw next almost made me not want to pull the trigger in fear.
Its head was missing.
Looking closer, I saw that it was not missing, but bent so far back, it looked as though it was decapitated.
"Holy Arceus..." I whispered. Simultaneously, Lily fired her Focus Blast, and I fired off a three-round burst from DI. The Focus Blast took out its legs, causing the thing to flip towards me...and right into the three rounds of buckshot, tearing it into shreds. From the silence of our battle came the sounds of Seth and Elaine shouting.
As we entered the kitchen, we saw that Elaine was fending off a few infected with a large frying pan while Seth was doing his best in hand-to-hand combat while firing off a few Aura Spheres every now and again. Alex wasn't around. Clearing a path through the infected, we huddled up.
"You see Alex?" I whispered, panting a bit as my adrenaline levels dropped.
"We thought he was with you!" Elaine replied.
'He can't be far, there's only -" Lily was cut off as a loud crash and a "SNORLAX!" echoed through the Center. We all whipped around, looking at the only other hallway out of the kitchen. One glance at each other, then we bolted through the hallway, the crashing and roaring becoming louder with every passing step.
"Which room is he in?" Seth asked.
"I don't know, let's start ch-" BOOM
Instantly, the hallway was shrouded in dust. Coughing, I tried to peer through the cloud to see what happened. Out of the dust came an infected person, so I whipped DI up, and its barrel was actually touching the creature when I pulled the trigger, causing the creatures' guts (or what was left of it) right out of its back and onto the floor. It staggered back, looking at its stomach before taking one step towards me - just before it collapsed.
"If there's one thing I learned in my few days of fighting you bastards, it's that you don't just die from one shot," I said scathingly, bringing the butt of DI down onto its head before crushing the remnants of its spine with my foot.
"Done killing it?" Seth asked dryly.
"Pretty much, yeah. Alex! You okay in there?" I shouted.
"Yeah! My Munchlax evolved as soon as we got attacked, so he's more than enough to protect me!" he shouted back, climbing out of the debris.
"Good, now let's move before...what's that sound?"
A whirring noise was beginning to get louder, and it set all of us on edge.
"Sounds like...it can't be..."
'What is it, Daemon?' Lily asked.
"Helicopter. It's the military. Where the hell were they when the shit hit the fan?" I wondered aloud.
"No point sitting here and wondering, let's go out there and ask!" Alex said, moving for a hole in the wall.
"Hold it," I said, lightly gripping his shoulder. "We don't know what or why they're here for, so it's best to assume they're here to eradicate the virus and not expecting survivors. Let's watch them, see what they do..."
()()()()()()()()
"Ho-ly shit! Is that's what's left of the Center? You sure there's survivors in that mess? Looks like a Bastiodon rammed right through that!"
"That's enough out of you, Corporal. Expect the worst-case scenario, survivors or no. We are still here to deliver the package and get the hell out of Dodge within the time-frame."
"And if there are survivors?"
"Treat them as best as we can, and get them out too. If one is potentially infected, we will keep him or her under supervision in quarantine. Maybe one of the professors can help deduce what happened here."
A voice crackled in over the radio. "Ell-Zee looks clear! I'm bringing us down! Watch your heads people, I don't want gore on my sparkling blades!"
A few soldiers chuckled. A little bit of humour before the mission was always good.
The Sergeant chuckled as well, then clicked his mic. "You won't have to worry about your 'sparkling' blades soon - the dirt will make 'em messy!"
"Aww, Sarge, you like to be a spoilsport, don't 'cha? Well, maybe I shouldn't land so softly, then!" A jolt as they landed, followed by the unwelcome lurch as the helicopter bounced, then repeated its actions. Three times the helicopter bounced before the Sergeant had enough.
"Alright Harvell, you had your fun, now bring us down properly," he called over the radio.
Static.
"Harvell, do you copy?"
More static, followed by another bounce as the helicopter began to inch towards the Pokemon Center.
"Harvell! I'll have you court-marshalled for this! Arceus-dammit, someone go check on Harvell!"
The closest soldier peeked his head into the cockpit. Without a seconds warning, the soldier brought up his rifle and fired off a short burst, followed by a long rip from his assault rifle.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!" the soldier screamed, firing off his entire clip at whatever was in there.
The Sergeant didn't even have to wonder what happened. He just grabbed the package and shouted, "BAIL OUT! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" and dove out of the slowly rotating helicopter, still moving towards the Pokemon Center. He watched as several others bailed out from the helicopter, but could only stare as the helicopter crashed into the front doors of the building.
()()()()()()()()
Daemon's POV
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" I screamed, shoving everyone I could away from the front doors.
'Wait,' Lily said, her eyes glowing blue.
"What...?"
She stood her ground as the helicopter bore down on the front doors, exploding in a massive fireball that just swirled around us.
'Protect,' she whispered, allowing the green-tinted shield to dissipate after the flames exhausted themselves.
I could see figures moving beyond the haze of dust and heat. "Lily, are those the soldiers?"
'Yes - or what's left of them.'
"What's left...?"
'Don't worry,' she said, turning to face me, 'they're not infected. At least, as far as I can sense.'
"So we shouldn't let our guard down. Lily, keep that Protect up, Seth, follow my lead." He nodded and we stepped out from the relative safety of the ruined Pokemon Center and into the open.
"If they try anything funny, don't hesitate to attack. We're here for our own survival, not to become one of the infected," I told him. He let out a low growl of understanding, keeping one paw behind him, charging an Aura Sphere.
"Easy now," a voice called out. "You can lower your weapon, and you can tell your Lucario friend to disperse his Aura Sphere."
We stopped, looked at each other, then back at the voice. Something just...clicked.
"Since when do the military recruit Pokemon into their ranks?" I called back.
The voice chuckled. "Inquisitive one, aren't you?" The man behind the voice stepped into our field of view, and said, "Well, ever since the enemy began using Pokemon in their ranks, we've been at a disadvantage. I was the first, and soon many others followed." The dust cleared, and I could see the speaker was a Gallade, decked out in combat armour, with his chest piece sticking out at the front...and wielding a compact assault rifle.
"Nice weapon, got a spare?"
He chuckled. "No, this is the only one I have, I'm afraid. The XM29 OICW, the latest in modern assault tech. I do see that you have an AA-12 - a good CQB weapon to have on deck...like right now. Behind you!"
Wheeling around, I caught a flash of decayed flesh before pressing the barrel of DI into it and pulling the trigger.
"Command! We need evac, NOW!" the Gallade cried out.
()()()()()()()()
Military Installation, Location: Classified.
"Command! We need evac, NOW!"
These shouts intermingled with the many others coming from various speakers within the room. At the far end, watching a large screen showing the positions of the teams he set out to deliver the packages, sat a General.
This man, with so much background in fighting what he knew, sighed. He stood; sparing a glance around the room, where so many operators sat by, switching between looking at the screen and the now-standing General, waiting for an order.
"Initiate Program sixty-six."
A lone operator stood and walked over to a terminal with a blank screen and typed in a few commands.
"Sir, I need the key."
The General walked over to the terminal, reaching into his uniform. As he reached the terminal, he pulled his hand out from the cloth, holding a key on a chain around his neck. The operator took a close look at the General.
"Sir," he whispered, "You know we don't have to do this."
"But we must," the General replied wearily. "For the good of all man- and Pokekind."
At that, he snapped the key off the chain and shoved it into a keyhole within the terminal.
"May Arceus save those men," the General said, as he rotated the key, making the screen come to life, showing the words:
PROJECT 66 ACTIVATED.
NOW INITIATING ACTIVATION SEQUENCE...
SEQUENCE INITIATED.
T-MINUS 120 SECONDS UNTIL DETONATION.
The General saluted, praying that at least one of them would run, but knowing deep inside that they were all doomed. The operators in the room followed suit, saluting the men slated to die.
()()()()()()()()
Daemon's POV
"Dammit!" I shouted, ducking under a flying creature, reloading as I sprinted towards the Pokemon Center. "Lily! How're you holding up in there?"
'We're fine, but hurry back!' she replied.
BEEP
I froze, spinning around to look at the Gallade, who also stopped dead, looking at the suitcase he was holding.
Without warning, a spike shot from the bottom of it and impacted the ground as an antenna poked out from the top of it.
"Gah!" the Gallade cried out, clutching his head.
"What's the matter?" I asked, running back towards him.
"Psychic suppression devices!" he gasped, "Built to prevent any Psychic-types from meddling with or teleporting the device away! But why...oh no..." With obvious difficulty, he raised himself up and peered at the top of the suitcase.
"What?"
"Project sixty-six."
"What?" I said, confused.
He looked at me, a hard, knowing glare. "We're doomed. All of us, dead."
"WHAT?!" I shouted, shoving him away from the sinister suitcase. On the top, there was an LED display that read:
PROJECT 66 HAS BEEN ACTIVATED.
COUNTDOWN INITIATED.
T-MINUS 90 SECONDS UNTIL DETONATION.
"LILY!" I shouted, making her appear next to me, then suddenly drop to the floor, writhing in pain.
"Dammit!" I said, picking her up and moving her away from it, so at least she could stand.
'What...is that thing?' she asked me.
"I think you better do some explaining," I told the Gallade.
"No time," he coughed. "We're all dead by the time I finish explaining what it is."
"Fine, but at least we're not going to die here, not today. Elaine, Seth, Alex, get over here, NOW!"
At that, all three of them (including Alex's Snorlax) ran up to me.
"Lily, can you teleport us out of here?"
'I can try, but that device is interfering with my abilities,' she replied.
I ran back over to the suitcase and peered at the display.
"You got sixty seconds, Lily!" I called over my shoulder.
Suddenly, I felt a slight pain in my head as Lily focused her powers into trying to teleport all of us.
"C'mon Lily, try harder!"
'I'm trying!' she said, pain evident in her voice as I felt my headache get worse.
"Forty-five seconds, Lily!"
The pain progressively increased, beginning to blind me in the process.
"Thirty seconds!" I shouted.
'You're not helping!'
"FIFTEEN SECONDS, LILY!" I cried out as the pain reached unbearable levels.
'Ah!' I heard her cry out, as all the pain disappeared.
"Ten...seconds..."
"VEE!"
I whirled around, and saw Sue jumping at my face, glowing, and landed just before I saw the counter hit -
Zero.
()()()()()()()()
Military Installation, Location: Classified.
The General watched as the main screen bloomed with several infrared dots, each one representing a package detonating. Each package, decimating a one kilometre radius from the epicentre of the blast. On the sole terminal, the screen now read:
PROJECT 66 COMPLETE.
ALL PACKAGES DETONATED.
SURVIAVAL RATE: 0%
TERMINAL SHUTTING DOWN.
At that, the words faded from view, and a few operators broke out in tears, knowing that some of their friends were consumed in one of the many blasts.
The General walked away, guilt and sorrow tearing at his heart and mind. He managed to walk all the way back to his quarters and locking the door behind him before collapsing on a char and weeping.
"There was nothing I could do..." he whimpered, opening a drawer and reaching into it. "I hope they can forgive me...in the next life."
He whipped out a revolver, locked the hammer back, pointed it at his head, and pulled the trigger.
()()()()()()()()
Unknown POV
"Urgh..." I groaned. "What the hell happened?"
I opened my eyes and looked around. All I saw was a whole bunch of trees and a clear blue sky.
"Am I dead?"
'Unh...' a voice moaned.
I got up and had a proper look around. Right next to me laid a Gardevoir. She opened her eyes and squinted at me.
'Daemon?'
"Lily? But...what happened? Did you teleport us out of there?"
'No...I couldn't do it - that device interfered too much.'
"Then...we're dead...?"
'I doubt it!' a cheerful voice said. I looked around, but couldn't see a speaker. 'After all, I was the one who saved you all! Including you!'
Suddenly, an object landed on top of my head. Reaching up, I found it to be quite fluffy and - cuddly?
'What, you don't remember me?' the voice asked, sounding a little hurt.
"Sue...?"
'YAY! He does remember me!'
"But...how...are we not dead?"
'Oh, are we supposed to be? I remember Lily fainting after she couldn't handle teleporting all of us to safety, so I jumped in and did it for her!'
"Damn good luck, if you ask me," another voice groaned. I looked towards a bush and saw Seth standing up and stretching. "Could use a bit more work on the landing though, kid," he said, smirking.
'What, it was my first try!' Sue said indigently.
"Chill," I said, reaching up and scratching behind Sue's ears. She purred into my hand and hopped down, settling to just sit on the ground. I reached down and offered my hand to Lily, who blushed slightly.
"I do?" she giggled. I snickered at that, then grabbing her hand and pulling her up. One by one, the rest of us emerged, glad at the fact that we weren't dead.
"Now what?" Elaine asked. "Do we even know where we are?"
Alex pulled out a Poketch from his pocket and turned it on.
"How come you don't wear that?" I asked.
"Strap broke after Munch- sorry, Snorlax thought it looked like liquorice," he replied.
We all had a good laugh at that. Everything seemed five times funnier now that we knew we weren't dead.
"According to the Poketch," Alex said, "We're a few kilometres out from Jubilife City...wait, WHAT?!"
"Sinnoh? All the way from Hoenn?" Elaine wondered in suprise.
"It's not that hard to imagine - but it is if you just got your Psychic powers," the Gallade said, looking at Sue with a bit of admiration.
"Hey, now that we're safe, I'd like to know something," I said.
The Gallade flinched. "I'm not telling you anyth-"
"What's your name?" I asked, cutting him off.
The Gallade blinked, obviously stumped, not expecting this question. He shook himself out of it, then replied, "Everyone calls me Sarge. But you can call me..."
___Chapter End Notes:Continued in Chapter Four...
A/N: This. Is. The. LONGEST. Chapter I have EVER written. I hope you enjoyed it!
- UBE Chie