War Dogs of Old Kanto: Chapter Two

A Lairon with a heavily armored rider, so heavy as to remove any chances of sniping off the trainer. Running beside it, an Absol carrying it's master. All right. That I can work with.

I wonder briefly how closely they stationed the cavalry and if they were alerted to our attack by radio or by the Absol. It sees the future, right? Or do they only see natural disasters? Guess it doesn't much matter.

We lack anything with enough heavy firepower to stop a Lairon in its tracks, but it's not quick enough to catch us, anyway. The Absol may be fast enough, depending. With all our guns and Dragonair, I think we can drop it before it kills anyone.

We'll be fine. We'll be fine.

"Fuck, that's no good," says Bridge. "Bad omen, right there."

Ever the scientist, X chuckles dismissively. But I can tell he doesn't like it any more than my lieutenant.

I figure I should reassure them."Absol's just another pokemon, team. Whatever else it can do, it can't spit out bullets."

My people nod in agreement. And then they sweat.

"Trade," says Ghost, swapping her pistol for Surge's SMG, probably figuring she can make better use of it with her two good arms to his one.

"X, can you drop the rider before the Absol closes range and uses its dark abilities?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I can try, but against a fast moving target in a bumpy ass car? Bear has a better chance by virtue of sheet bullet volume."

"Try anyway when she gets closer. Bear, fire on my command, but Dragonair can hyper beam at will."

The Dragonair charges a blast and directs it at the bright white steed. Absol leaps aside, the Dragon's glowing horn acts as a beacon, giving the enemy plenty of time to dodge. Fine. We'll keep up the pressure, anyway. It'll be in reach of my rifle soon enough.

"I don't know how but Absol's draining Dragonair, ma'am."

"Then pace your pokemon, Corporal."

I hear a roar, not behind us with the rest of our pursuers, but in front, louder than even Lairon. Crap. There's no mistaking the silhouette behind the clouds. Cavalry's got a fucking Charizard.

If it makes one good pass the AFV will be slag, along with my squad.

The only way a Charizard could've made it here was to fly from Kanto, meaning the rider either hopped the pond to grab it as a Charmander then evolved it himself, or else the pokemon migrated to Hoenn as an evo. How many trainers could bond with a fully formed Charizard? Not a person I want to fight.

"New play," I shout. "Take out the dragon, focus fire, hold back nothing." Earlier, I thought I was out of sweat. I was wrong.

"Not a fucking dragon, Sir, but on it," says Bear.

Out of our torrent of bullets, fire, lightning, even grass blades; some land. But the missiles are fighting gravity, so nothing hits hard enough to pierce the hide.

Still, to get in range to torch us, it will have to get in kill range of our guns, too. Bring it on. "Hold your fire! Wait for the dive, then knock it from the sky!"

But the dive doesn't come. Charizard rains fire from above, and Bridge has to jackknife to avoid the flames, but we live. The pattern repeats twice more 'til it dawns on me.

"It never intends to swoop down," I say. "It's herding us towards its allies." I watch the panic spread over my squad mates' faces and I stay calm. I want to shit myself, sure, but I keep it together because I have to.

Alright, examine your options, Captain. Situation is we're trapped in a triangular pincer and we lack the munitions and proper elements to blast our way out. Shit, what I wouldn't give for a water type right now. Even ice. But the Kyoi Rangers get all the water trainers. Fucking Navy gets everything good.

"Water."

"What was that, boss?" shouts X between fruitless shots at two hundred plus pounds of flying death.

"Lake May isn't far from here. Bridge, do you know the route?"

"Yeah, I read the maps. Why?"

"Just trust me. That's an order."

I look at my pursuers and do some estimations. We'll reach the lake before the Lairon catches us, even with the Charizard's herding. The Absol, though...

"X, keep the pressure on our orange friend. Don't want him thinking he can get too close. Bear, conserve ammo, but throw a few bullets at the Absol now and again and keep up the beams. Maybe you can slow it down. Everyone else, standby to hit either target."

No one speaks for the next minute. No one but the guns and the engine as Bridge pushes it to its limits to avoid the flames.

The lake enters view, but the Absol gains on us. Maybe three minutes before it cuts us off. Four until we reach May.

I unbuckle the clasps on my flak jacket and look at the eleventh. "Armor off, troops. Bridge. Drive us into the lake."

"Yamada won't like that," says Bridge.

"Neither will Claws. Neither will I."

"They'll shoot us as soon as we surface!"

"L.T., I swear on the fucking birds, question my orders one more time and you'll swap rank with Surge! Everyone, take a deep breath before submerging, grab hands and don't let go. Under no circumstances let your Pokemon surface. Oh, and Surge, make sure your Raichu holds its lightning in!"

The Absol puts itself directly in our path. Stop or swerve and the Lairon catches us. Only thing to do is gun it down.

They won't feel good about it, the squad, but better to take whatever bad luck you get from killing an Absol than get killed by whatever attacks the Absol knows.

"Light it up," I shout, and we unload on the beautiful creature with everything we have. It bolts. It'll be a miracle if it survives the night, but I don't give a shit.

Bang! Bang!

Two reports of X's sniper go off. "Boss!" he screams. I know what's happened before I turn around.

Charizard must’ve dove.

Mouth wide, ten yards from our vehicle, tongues of fire licking the back of his throat. I look around for anything to save us.

Dragonair's still trained on the fleeing Absol, horn aglow, ready to fire. I yank her off Bear's neck and aim her at Charizard like a fire hose. Just as the fire-pokemon breathes out, our dragon blasts Charizard's face with a powerful silver beam.

Though not enough to kill the beast, it forces the monster to divert its head, if only just.

We still get burned, every one of us. Bear gets dead. I take one glance at Bear's body and know I'll never forget the sight. His massive muscles burned away, skeleton fused with that damned machine gun he loved so much.

There's a stinging heat on my face and I'm guessing I'll be burned on my left cheek forever. For some stupid reason I think about how my college boyfriend liked scars. We’d split up years earlier, but I heard that he’d eaten a bullet on the Kalos front.

Surge clutches Raichu like a life line. X passes out. Bridge's neon hair is ablaze as she tries to maintain control of the AFV. Ghost screams. I assume because her sleeve is on fire. The pokemon aren't doing much better. It's a miracle Sky wasn't killed outright.

Something in the undercarriage of the car blows, X's Scyther takes flight, and the rest of us are launched deep into the lake. The water makes the burns hurt worse. Then the plan comes back to me. It's impossible to see, but I flail around for my people anyway.

I still have the Dragonair and I wonder if she knows Bear's dead. They're bonded. She has to know.

But she keeps me aloft and lights her horn which gives me enough light to search for the others. I find Claws first. He can't really swim, but doesn't sink as fast as a Lairon or die like a Charizard would. His armored plates must be getting waterlogged, though.

Carrying Claws saps my strength, and my lungs burn, but then I see Ghost. Arm bare and blistered but carrying X anyway. She grabs Dragonair's tail and together we find a barely conscious Surge and a not at all conscious Raichu.

Bridge and Yamada take the longest to find, floating dangerously close to the surface, the Ninetails desperately fighting to swim up and Bridge wrestling them down.

With all our help, Bridge restrains Yamada, then Dragonair ropes herself around us and we slowly sink. I kick us towards the beach and bump against a slope where the sandbar angles towards the surface.

My vision fades. The darkness is welcoming.

No.

I asked my team to trust me. They can all black out, but I have to stay awake. Me and Claws.

My Sandslash digs furiously at the bank and I'm impressed by his vigor. Of course, even though my pokemon has a problem with water, subterranean creatures need less air. But I need plenty and my lungs are ready to explode.

He eventually burrows a tiny cave and we're lucky the earth is firm enough to hold. Water fills most of it, but Claws is smart enough to carve a roof high enough to fit a human head. But it's not enough. I urge my Pokemon on. I'm so sorry, friend, it's not enough.

The cave expands until we can all fit, legs crossed and heads bobbing above water. There's not enough space for CPR, but somehow we force the water from the lungs of Raichu, Yamada, Surge, and X, who doesn't wake up.

I pray he's not out for good.

The only light is the faint glow of Dragonair's horn. Claws wedges himself between my shoulder and the wall to fall asleep. The air trapped between the rocks won't last long, and we have to wait down here long enough that the cavalry will be certain we're dead, so eventually I'll have to wake my Sandslash and ask him to dig a narrow chimney to let in oxygen. But not yet.

Yamada shivers and curls inside her owner’s arms, and Bridge holds her above the water best she can. Dragonair coils around Ghost who coos and pets the serpent-dragon. Surge looks more dead than any of us, save X, and looks at no one. Not even Raichu.

"This might be a stupid question, L.T." It hurts to talk. It hurts to breathe. "Could Yamada make a flame? Just a small one?"

"Soaking wet? No way."

"Well, then we can't stay as long as I'd like. The water’s not that cold, but hypothermia will still take us if we tempt it."

"Bear is fucking dead."

My eyes become steel, and I dare Bridge to look away. "I'm aware."

"Yeah? You could act like it, Cap. And is no one going to mention the Snorlax in the corner?"

"Bridge," Ghost sighs.

I tense. "You're out of line, L.T."

"I don't think so. I think I'm the only sane one here. We went up against a hundred guys with a rookie, and Bear paid the price. Not to mention your face. Ghost's arm. X might have brain damage."

"Bullshit," I say. Surge looks up. I ignore him. "Bad Intel got Bear wasted. We went in blind, no knowledge of the Crystalnode or what guarded it. Maybe if the Corporeal had been less green, Kazan would be alive. Maybe. But the cavalry was on call and not going to let us get away with the locale of that mine. Not without a fight. That showdown was bound to happen and we were bound to lose. But we're alive."

"With zilch to show for it. Bear died for nothing."

It's always for nothing.

Instead, I say, "Bear was a Ranger. None of us expect to die of age."

Bridge scowls. "Fuck that. I plan on surviving, and winning, this war. Ma'am."

I let the silence hang. Now's as good a time as any to wake Claws. I apologize, but I can feel the CO2 build-up. Claws gets to work without complaint.

You're the best of us, love.

I replay the bunker disaster in my head. The tack-tack of Claws digging lends a rhythm to my thoughts as I think about the mine whose treasure is the reason for the whole blasted war.

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