//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Flying Free // Story: Master // by NejinOniwa //------------------------------// Chapter 2 – Flying Free Falkner, leader of the Violet City gym and possibly the most proficient Flying-type user in all of Johto, was not having a good day. To begin with it had thrown a fistful of angry sages from the Sprout Tower at him as soon as he woke up, demanding an explanation for the disturbance in the weather that these past few days had the Tower sway like mad most of the time, forcing them and their apprentices to stay on the bottom floors and greatly restrain themselves in their training. “A day or two of your Flying-types playing around with the heavens is bad enough, but this has to stop,” Elder Li had huffed impatiently at him as Falkner, still in his pajamas, was rubbing sleep out of his face best he could. He had patiently tried to explain to the normally wise and understanding elders that he had nothing whatsoever to do with it, and that aberrations of this level wasn't within his power to create anyway. Yes, his pokémon were well-trained and could probably bring about a decently sized whirlwind if they tried, and his Natu would be able to do even more once he had managed to train its psychic powers to their full potential. Covering all of Violet City in a ravaging storm for days without end was well beyond his capacity, and he would be surprised if any other trainer could, for that matter. Possibly Lance, but the prospect of the Champion of the Indigo League taking time off his duties to randomly screw up the weather of a small town in the backwater of Johto for no apparent reason was, frankly, quite absurd. He had barely managed to get himself dressed before being ambushed by his twin gym trainers Abe and Rod, who basically wanted to ask him about the exact same thing. While his own Pidgeot and Noctowl were strong enough to maneuver the fiercest winds the skies could throw at him, his trainers' pokémon were in the same boat as his own Natu and Murkrow. For an entire week their training had been confined to the gym, and as spacious as it was it simply wasn't enough. Flying-type pokémon needed to be able to spread their wings in the open – it was how they lived, and the only way their trainers could learn to live with them. With considerably less patience than he'd shown the Elder, he'd repeated his message to his subordinates – he didn't have any such power over the weather, he had no idea why it was happening, and he certainly wouldn't open the gym's wind shutters until the weather actually calmed down. They really should know better – they oversaw all of his battles against the trainers challenging the gym, so they were well aware of the limits of his abilities – and with all the time he spent with them, the bird keeper twins were probably closer to him than anyone except his own pokémon. Not that there was a lot of competition, seeing as he was an only child with parents as distant as they came, but that was a different matter. In sheer frustration at learning from his Pidgeot that the city's mayor was lying in wait right beside the pokémon center – to inconspicuously walk up on him with the exact same question as the others in mind, without a doubt – that usually was the first stop on his usual morning routine, Falkner stormed off east toward route 31 to vent some steam. His Pidgeot came down to perch on his shoulder as he walked through the gate, and he patted its beak absentmindedly. The gate guard had a look of open disbelief on his face, but at least kept composure enough to keep the doors from malfunctioning on him. “Look at them, heckling you just because you've gotten bigger,” he said with a shake of his head to Pidgeot, who gave him an understanding coo in return. It was the first pokémon he'd received from his father, and the first one he'd trained on his own; he was hardly going to stop it from perching on his shoulder just because it had evolved once or twice. “They ought to wear a backpack once in a while. Most of them could sure use the training.” Pidgeot cawed once in reply as they exited the gate, before taking wing to resume its usual scouting. The bird was restless by nature, but Falkner had taught him early on to use that gift for something worthwhile; nowadays, nothing ever managed to surprise Falkner. “Pjyoo!” Well, almost nothing. The wind wasn't quite as fierce today as it had been before, but it still battered him with a good amount of force as he came out into the open. It was a refreshing feeling, if anything – Falkner had always enjoyed feeling the wind in his face, and since he'd taught Pidgeot how to Fly with him on his back, it had only gotten better. Today, however, it worried him. The sky was deceptively clear of clouds, but he knew well the feeling of low air pressure that heralded and followed any storm. And this storm had stayed for far too long to be natural. “I need some time to think,” Falkner said to himself as he started to make his way toward the small lake that held his designated thinking rock. The only problem was, he discovered when he entered the small glade at the north end of the lake, that for the first time ever since he'd discovered it, someone else was already using it. Or rather, something else. A strange, blue pokémon like he'd never seen before was curled up on the pointed slab of granite, gazing off into the forest with large, violet eyes. All the colors of the rainbow covered its mane and tail, and it bore a mark that looked like a tri-colored lightning bolt on its side. More importantly for Falkner, however, it had wings. Barring some mad twist of fate like whatever curious circumstance created Sudowoodo, this meant that he was looking at a Flying-type pokémon. A flying-type, and one of a kind that never had been seen before. He was sure about that part, at least – while he had never been studious enough to learn the entire pokédex by heart, it was his duty to know every pokémon of his own type, and he did not shirk his duties. His careful approach did little to hide him from the typical sharp senses most Flying-types possessed, however – the strange pokémon swung its head around only a second after he'd spotted it, and immediately gained a wary expression on its face. It stood up, and to his surprise Falkner realized it hadn't been lying on the rock itself; rather, it was somehow standing on a cloud. Its shape and size were rather similar to a Ponyta's, in some ways, but that was as far as his reasoning went in that direction. He had other things on his mind now – namely, to make sure his newest discovery didn't simply up and fly away on him. Drawing a circle in the sand under his feet as he assumed his battle stance, he whistled for his Pidgeot's attention and fixated the pokémon with a pointed finger and his best stare. “You there! Pokémon! I, Falkner, challenge you to a battle!” -/-/-/ Rainbow's frown deepened as the strange, blue creature raised its stubby claw at her and let out a gibberish of barks and howls. She hadn't gotten anywhere with her thinking yet, and before she knew it this weird thing had come up and disturbed her. I haven't even had a chance to nap on this cloud yet! I mean, what gives? She'd never been good at understanding random animals the way Fluttershy could, but when an enormous bird – larger than herself! – crashed down beside the weird creature, her confusion quickly disappeared. After all, there was no mistaking that wing posture – this bird was looking for a fight. “Ohoho, aw, man. You sure you wanna take on the one, the only, the Rainbow Dash?” A wide grin split her face as she started warming up her wings. She hopped off the tiny cloud she'd pulled together and made it disappear with a snap of her tail, and landed on the sandy beach with a dull sound. Smirking, she tapped her hoof against the big rock behind her, and made a low, taunting gesture with her wings at the bird. “'Cuz, honestly, if you don't, you really chose the wrong time to stumble up on the world's fastest pegasus. I haven't even had my nap yet, and this has been a real crappy morning. I don't really think you've got what it takes to even come close to beat me, so unless you're really in the mood for taking the biggest defeat in history and rubbing your face in it, I suggest you take your pretty little tail feathers and run...” With the single most offensive wing-gesture known to any avian, she tapped her hoof against the rock one last time. “Chicken.” The bird shrieked in fury as it charged at her with its wings flared, but she just took off and let it fly straight into the granite. It was a lot more agile than she'd expected, though, and banked up before it did more than clip its claws against the stony surface. Well, this would've been real boring otherwise. “What's wrong, ya dodo? Why're you so slow?” She slowed her ascent just a bit to let her opponent have a chance at catching up. The bird wasn't sloppy, however. The moment she did it sped up tremendously, and she had to make a sharp bank to the right to avoid being rammed by one of its enormous wings. “Alright, birdy! You wanna rumble? Let's rumble!” With lightning speed she set off in an upward spiral around the bird's trajectory, trapping it in a fierce whirlwind. It only took several seconds before the thing managed to bank out, and it looked visibly exhausted. Its wings told a clear message, though – it wasn't done yet – and today, Rainbow Dash was not going to refuse that offer. “Man squirt, you're looking awful tired over there! But don't worry, I've got just the thing to spark you right back up!” Building up enough vapor to make a decent thundercloud on a day like this took a few seconds even for Rainbow, but with her opponent slowed down she had all the time she needed for that. Before long she was speeding along right above the surprised bird, who obviously had no idea where she'd just come from. “Much – better – than – stupid – coffee!” She slammed her hoof down on the cloud, and a jagged bolt of lightning struck her opponent right between the wings. The bird let out a cry of pain, and dropped several meters before making a sharp turn. First Rainbow thought it was going to run away and she simply banked upward in response, but realizing it was following her ascent in a spiral of its own she quickly recognized its pattern as a tornado spin. “Using my own tricks against me, huh? You're one damn – cheeky – little – chicken!” Breaking out of her ascent in an instant, she dashed downward. She found her target with ease, and her hooves connected with the bird's chest with a satisfying thump. Pumping her wings she kept speeding up, carrying them down together until she was only a few meters above the lake's surface, where she gave a final push with her hooves and thrusted the great bird into the water with an enormous splash. Satisfied with the result and fairly sure her opponent was all finished, she gave her wings a few steady beats and looped around, landing on the large rock she'd started on with a loud noise. “You had enough yet, you stupid overgrown chicken?” She wasn't really angry at it – she was actually rather thankful for having someone to vent her frustration at – but as far as frustration went, there was plenty more of that emotion buzzing around in her head thanks to this stupid morning. She was hardly going to run out any time soon. In all the ruckus of her duel, however, she'd forgotten all about the strange blue creature, however. She heard it bark, and before she knew it a bright beam of translucent red swished past her. It shot into the roiling waters of the lake with an eerie sound, and suddenly she could make out the form of the big bird, shining with the same color for a few seconds before disappearing entirely. She swung her head around and stared at the blue creature, who was holding some sort of ball in its hand. “Hey! What sort of creepy magic was that supposed to be? And what the hay did you do to that bird anyway? I mean, sure, it lost the fight, but come on!” Conversation was fairly useless at this point, and she knew it, but if some weird magic creature was going to start flinging spells around she needed to distract it before she could escape. As fast as she was, she knew well how easy Twilight could catch her if she wanted to, and she wasn't going to take any risks with this thing either. The creature grunted something in response, and fastened the ball at its side in some sort of belt-like device. Now that she could get a closer look, it was probably just wearing blue clothes – it was obviously fabric, not fur or skin covering its midsection. She'd been a bit confused by its pale blue mane at first, but it was clear enough now that she thought about it that its skin was actually of the same pink color that covered its face. It looked like a strange, skinnier version of Harry the bear, without all of his fur. Rainbow didn't have much time to think about this, however. The creature retrieved a second, identical ball from its belt and threw it into the air. There was an explosion of the same red light as from before, and suddenly there was a massive owl standing before her, even larger than the bird she'd just fought. Once the initial surprise of having yet another enormous avian appear in front of her subsided, however, irritation took its place with gusto. “Oh come on! Why didn't you just bring this guy out to help in the first place? You might've actually gotten a few hits in on me if you teamed up, you dorks!” The owl didn't respond to her taunts, however – it simply stared at her with the same, unreadable eyes that had always made Owliwiscious seem rather creepy to her. “Oh, noooo, you're staring at me, I'm so afraaaid. Whaddya expect me to do, fall down from...boredom or something...?” For some reason she couldn't even begin to comprehend, Rainbow Dash felt very compelled to do just that. Just lie down and snooze for a bit. Take a nap. Yeah, that felt like a really good idea. A really, really, really good idea. “Wha... don't think this means...you won...'r n'ythn...” Just take a little nap. I haven't had mine yet. I need to sleep. Sleep right now. Sleep. Right. Now. An enormous yawn cracked her jaws, and in the corner of her fluttering eyes she could barely spot the bear-creature holding yet another of those ball-things. A vague movement of one of its paws was the last thing she saw, before the world disappeared in a flash of red light and she fell asleep.