Spoiler: show
The two lab techs chattered aimlessly to each other as they walked down the hall, barely paying a glance to the burly figure in the standard black grunt uniform as he stood aside to let them pass. His eyes lingered on them for a few minutes before he shook his head.
'Where the hell does Giovanni hire his female help, ? I ain't seen a gal rating less than a 7.5 since I got in here.' Shaking his head once again to get back in the game, he squared his shoulders and moved further down the hall. His target was in sight now. The thin keening sound that was tearing its way into his brain through the "sound-proof" door were all signs that this was the place. Palming a key-card, he swiped it through, waited a second, and then smirked lightly as the mag-lock sparked and died. The smirk dropped off his face as he stepped right into a scene from any conscionable trainer's personal hell.
There were two scientists manning a console, goggles obscuring their faces as they looked on dispassionately. The target - an "A" Unown that had been smuggled out of the Ruins of Alph somehow - was contained in a field of arcing energy that seemed to be leeching away at its very life-force in the most painful way possible. It was the source of the keening shriek that was now battering at his eardrums. The flashes, however, were coming from a second machine hooked up to the one containing the Unown. Spinning on a platform was a Porygon, the synthetic Pokemon looking much worse for the wear as it was being constantly blasted by artificial approximations of elemental attacks. Each attack was timed so that the Porygon had a chance to use its Conversion 2 ability to make itself immune to the elemental damage being done, before it was hit by a new element. The process took only a few seconds each time, and judging from the timer that one of the scientists was looking at, they'd been at this for more than three hours.
According to the mission brief, this particular installation was attempting to use the Unown's power to incite some sort of elemental evolution in a Porygon, which Team Rocket would then strip to its bare coding to dissect all its secrets and begin a mass-production of them.
Unfortunately for them, PSI-Com had gotten wind of it, and they'd sent Solomon LaCroix in. The Field Agent twisted his wrists, deploying the spring-loaded tonfa that were strapped to his forearms. One of the scientists, maybe sensing someone coming up behind him, turned just in time to take a straight punch to the side of his face. He fell, twirling like a drunken ballerina, even as the other man was laid out by a similar strike to the back of the head.
The plan had been simple. Infiltrate, stop the experiment and secure the lab, then release his team, drain their databanks dry, methodically clear the complex, and level the place. It went up in a shower of energy as the first scientist's head slammed a control lever on the panel. The energy field around the Unown exploded outwards as the semi-Legendary used its powers to rip a hole through reality back to its home pocket dimension. Maybe it was the fear and anger of the creature that caused it. Maybe it was blind panic... But whatever the reason, when the portal the Pokemon was intent on using opened, several other portals opened around the room as well.
LaCroix was closest to the machine that had held the tortured Porygon when the portals opened. So he had a clear view of its expression as a portal ripped apart its body from the inside out. The sound it made as it died would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life. He didn't even have time to grab something before he was sucked off his feet, and into the abyss.
Then there was falling. Or maybe it was flying. It was hard to tell. He was pretty sure he'd tasted blue, heard sunshine and seen music as he traveled through the portal. Luckily, at that point, his consciousness had had enough and decided to vacate the premises for a while until the world made sense again.
Thus, he was out cold when he fell through another rip in space/time, and hit the ground hard enough to bounce, right at the feet of a tattooed boy dressed in orange robes. The boy blinked for a moment, before gently prodding at the man who'd fallen out of the vanished hole in reality with the end of his staff.
-0-
Sokka leaned against one of the pillars in the house the Elder was letting them borrow as Aang and his sister looked over the man who'd fallen out of thin air. It had taken a bit of fast talking, but Aang was vouching for the guy, no doubt spurred on by his inherent faith in all people as well as his far too developed sense of curiosity. Sokka had to admit, he was curious too, but still, the guy fell out of thin. Freaking. Air! That was NOT normal, even for the Avatar.
Now Aang was poking and prodding at him, trying to "sense a mystic connection". He thought the guy had fallen out of the spirit world. Ugh. Sighing, he looked down at the small sphere in his hand. It had fallen off the man's belt when he'd hit the ground, and Sokka had picked it up out of curiosity. It was a little larger than a date and made out of some sort of metal. It looked like it was two pieces, one red, and one white, though the craftsmanship was so fine that he couldn't see a seam. It also had a small dot in the center. Shrugging to himself, he pressed it.
The thing expanded, becoming twice as large as his loosely clenched fist. He gave a yelp and dropped it. Upon impact with the floor, the thing split open, releasing a blinding stream of light accompanied by a strange rushing noise. Sokka found himself rushing for the door as something filled the room. Aang and Katara had turned suddenly when he'd yelped, and both of them were blinded by the flash of light as well. Both backed against the wall of the house. After a moment, their eyesight had readjusted, and Sokka found himself reaching for his boomerang. There had been some... THING, in that sphere!
It was huge, much larger than a full-grown man, to the point of filling most of the room. It had fiery red and yellow skin, with a wingspan that hit opposite walls. A frightening intelligence gleamed in its eyes, and after a moment of confused observation, it spotted the stranger. A sparking hiss filled the air as it scrambled to crouch protectively around the unconscious man. It pushed at the man with one of its stubby arms, flared its wings and swept the flaming tail back and forth threateningly.
Sokka began to creep forward, looking for any kind of weak spot on the Fire Nation Creature, before freezing again as the man stirred and then groaned aloud, one hand going to massage his skull as still-closed eyes scrunched in pain. "Ugh, anyone get the number on that Rhyhorn?"
LaCroix's eyes fluttered open, to be greeted by the familiar hue of Firestorm's yellow stomach, though he could see little else. But if Firestorm was standing over him, and he was still brushing away the cobwebs of unconsciousness, what had happened? "Firestorm, what're you doing?" he asked, rolling over and scanning his surroundings.
"Hey, you're awake!" One of them was young, barely even a teen probably, with what looked like arrows tattooed onto his arms and even his bald scalp. He was dressed in robes of brown and orange. The kid looked like he wanted to bounce forward, but Firestorm's looming form was keeping him away. For now. A warning light began to blink in the back of his mind. Next to him was a gal with mocha skin and dark hair, dressed in blue trimmed with white fur. The warning light was joined by a small buzzer.
"Katara, Aang, get away from him! Can't you see that... that THING? It's obviously from the Fire Nation!" a new voice exclaimed from just out of sight. LaCroix levered himself up to a sitting position and took a look. Another boy, probably related to the girl due to looks and the mode of address. Also decked out in blue and white furs, and his hand on the hilt of some sort of weapon, the other hand pointing straight at LaCroix. And not a single one of them looked to have a pokeball on them. The blinking light and the buzzer were overridden by a loud, clear klaxon siren. The breeze shifted and carried in a clear scent. One he'd grown up with in Vermilion City, though it was... cleaner than he remembered. The ocean. The lab he'd been sent to shut down had been hidden outside of Azalea Town. There wasn't any ocean near Azalea, the closest body of water was that stupid well people always fell in. He collapsed back so he was lying down, and stared up at the (wooden?) ceiling.
"I'm not in Johto anymore, am I?"
"Where's that?" The tattooed kid was back, inching closer despite the look Firestorm was wearing. LaCroix sat up again, leaning slightly on his oldest Pokemon, reassuring them both with the touch.
"Hopefully closer than I think. But probably far, far away. Stop me if any of these names sound familiar please. Johto, Kanto, Sinnoh, Hoenn..." he trailed off as all three kids shook their heads each time. "Pokemon?" he tried weakly. The tall kid, Sokka, quirked one eyebrow.
"What's a pokey mon? Some new weapon from the Fire Nation?"
LaCroix's tone was exhausted as his mind raced with the possibilities and likelihoods of what had happened. "Combination of two words. "Poke" for "pocket"," he reached down and plucked Firestorm's pokeball from the floor. "And "mon" for monster." He pointed at the cramped Charizard still standing over him. "Poke-Mon. Now I don't suppose that you could tell me where I am?"
The bald kid, Aang, smiled. 'More teeth in there than on a Sharpedo,' the man noted idly in a corner of his shell-shocked mind.
"That's easy, you're on Kiyoshi Island."
"Right." LaCroix looked down at his hands, which had begun to shake horribly. "Oh god. You kids don't even know what a pokemon is, do you? Oh god. Oh God. Ohgodohgodohgodohgodoh-"
"Char…" Firestorm stepped in closer, surrounding LaCroix completely, arms locking around his chest, wings folding in tight and tail snaking around his legs. Firestorm's head bent down to cross LaCroix's shoulder, and the trainer was nearly completely encased by his Pokemon.
LaCroix reveled in the warmth, knowing that to most, they'd be burning up from the Charizard's heat output, but he was just comforted. "Thanks buddy, I needed that." He turned to look at the kids again. "Sorry for the freakout, but I just realized something very upsetting. You shouldn't worry about it though. The name's Solomon LaCroix, PSI-Com. Call me LaCroix."
"And what exactly," a new, older voice broke through the moment of confused silence, "Is PSI-Com?" said agent looked to see an older gentleman, accompanied by three girls in some sort of armored dress and what looked like warpaint. His eyes were sharp, and the girls had their hands on long rectangular sticks that were stuck through their belts. He looked over at the kids, his tone respectful, but firm. "Avatar Aang, might I speak with our visitor for a moment? Alone?"
Aang's face fell for a moment, before lighting up again with a poorly concealed sly grin. "Okay. I want to ride the Elephant Koi again anyway. C'mon guys!" Sokka and Katara didn't look nearly as enthused, but they both met the old man's eyes, and then nodded, following the hyper-active kid. The old man waited until they were gone, before sitting down cross-legged just out of arm's reach for LaCroix, the two girls taking up obvious bodyguard stances on either side of him. The third girl moved to stand behind the old man, before a rustle of leaves had all the occupants of the room turning their heads. A pale, tattooed head tried to duck out of sight a moment too late.
The girl behind the old man sighed. "I'll take care of this Oyaji." Putting on her best gentle smile, the girl stepped out and began to speak quietly to the "hidden" children. After a few moments, the girl managed to convince the boy that yes, he would in fact like a tour of the island, and that no LaCroix and his strange pet (Firestorm's eyes narrowed slightly at the term) would still be there when he got back, along with any other animals that the man had hidden away on him.
As soon as the children were actually gone for sure, Firestorm took up position behind his trainer, who merely met the old man's gaze stoically. "Now then, LaCroix, you may call me Oyaji. I have some questions for you."
LaCroix shrugged. "Fair enough. May I suggest an exchange of information though? For every question you ask me, I get to ask one in return. If you feel that I don't need to know, I'll ask a different question, though I request the same courtesy for myself." Oyaji nodded.
"That seems a fair proposition." And with that the game of mutual twenty questions began.
An hour later, LaCroix had managed to gather his wits, and was moving past stunned into simply marveling that he was even alive, mixed with equal parts concern about the world he'd found himself in.
Oyaji, on the other hand, appeared content with the answers that he had given him regarding who he was (a trained member of a law keeping force), his intentions towards the people of the island (try to get along and help out where needed to pay back any sort of debt he incurred for them allowing him to stay) and was most intrigued by his monster. The house he was in had been large enough for everyone once Firestorm had calmed down. LaCroix had let slip that he had other monsters, but apparently couldn't show them. Oyaji's expression when LaCroix had bluntly informed him that the house they were in was nowhere large enough to contain the other half of his team, would have been comical, if the girls... no, the warriors guarding the man hadn't tensed up. He had backpedaled, hard.
"I assure you, they're all big softies unless they're in battle. Well, except for Maelstrom, but his species is pretty grumpy to begin with. Not that I could show them to you anyway. Their pokeballs aren't here. They're not where I store them, in any case. Maybe they were dropped when you brought me here?"
Oyaji had nodded. "I see. I doubt the Kyoshi Warriors would have missed anything of yours, but I suppose we can certainly go take a look around. I'm not entirely convinced this isn't some sort of Fire Nation ploy, but I see no reason not to let you move around. We've kept out of this war for a hundred years, if you are part of the Fire Nation, taking you prisoner will only draw us in. But expect to be watched. Your… companion… is rather large, and our buildings are made of wood. I trust you understand. And I believe an introduction is in order. I don't want anyone being frightened unnecessarily."
Getting up, the old man had led the group out into the middle of the village, sending one of his guards to gather the rest of the warriors. LaCroix was forced to return Firestorm to his pokeball so he could get out of the house, something that had startled the Islanders, until LaCroix had assured them that it was perfectly alright and didn't harm Firestorm in the least. Aang, Sokka and Katara showed up quickly, probably having hung about waiting to learn more, if the excited looks on their faces were anything to go by. Sokka still eyed LaCroix suspiciously, and Katara was a little wary, but Aang looked at him with nothing but bubbly enthusiasm.
Stopping in a square containing a large statue, Oyaji looked expectantly at LaCroix. "You want to say something first, or just want me to show them?" Oyaji pondered the question for a moment.
"Go ahead and show everyone. Then we can answer any necessary questions." LaCroix nodded his understanding, taking a deep breath as he palmed Firestorm's pokeball.
'Here goes nothing,' he thought to himself, before enlarging the time worn pokeball and tossing it into the air. "Firestorm, time for a meet-n-greet!" he yelled.
The ground nearly shook as all the oversized Charizard hit the ground. Firestorm stretched and stood erect for the first time since LaCroix had woken up, reaching more than twice the height of a man, spreading his wingspan to reach more than twenty feet across. The fire-tipped tail lashed back and forth, hazing the air with intense heat.
LaCroix basked in the presence of his oldest friend, his traveling companion for more than a decade. Most Charizard were only as tall as a man, but Firestorm had evolved years ago, and never stopped growing, reaching the size of some of the Charizards found in the Charific Valley. With his oldest friend by his side, LaCroix was confident he could meet any challenge.
And if even half of what Oyaji had told him about the Fire Nation was true, there were plenty of challenges in the future.
The villagers and the kids however, had rather different reactions. Muttering broke out as the Warriors who hadn't been with Oyaji during their talk took offensive stances. They focused on Firestorm, ignoring LaCroix altogether at this point. The Charizard looked around, cocking his head to one side. LaCroix nodded at Firestorm, and the beast relaxed, calming down. "Grah?" he growled out, before leaning his serpentine neck down, and scratching behind an ear-horn with one clawed foot, a look of bliss on his face. There was a childish giggle from within the crowd, which had gone silent the moment he'd begun to move.
Granted, they had a right to be a little scared, if Oyaji's information about the Fire Nation was true. Firestorm was a living, breathing, fire-generating creature. And his size was something to consider too. Even lots of people back home were unnerved by how large Firestorm was at this point. However, as his size had grown, his aggressiveness outside of combat had shrunk. Now, unless he was training or fighting, the flame pokemon mainly enjoyed eating, sleeping, and serving as an impromptu jungle gym for LaCroix's pack of nephews and nieces from his brother and sister.
But seeing Firestorm put on a show for the villagers made LaCroix wonder just what happened to the rest of his team. He was honest when he told Oyaji he didn't know where they were. Considering just what he fell through, he considered himself lucky that he was still alive. But being without his team made him feel naked. He had been with them for years. And if he really was in a completely different world, he couldn't even access a PC to pull out some of his reserve Pokemon.
LaCroix shook his head to clear it of the distracting thoughts, bringing his focus back to the matter at hand. Everyone in the crowd was now focused solely on the gently burning flame at the tip of Firestorm's tail. The warriors began to step forward as the girl in blue, Katara, reached out and drew a blob of water out of the nearby well. Wonderful, his first look at this "bending" stuff. Now he had to make sure that it didn't end up killing him or his team. It didn't look very dangerous, but neither did a Weedle, and their poison could be just as deadly as a Muk's. There were harsh mutters of "Fire Nation spy" going through the crowd now.
LaCroix moved in front of his partner, waving his arms back and forth. "Wait, wait, wait! I swear we're not Fire Nation!" Firestorm started to get up from where he had started to lie down, but LaCroix waved him back. The last thing they needed was Firestorm deciding that LaCroix was in danger from the villagers. Even as he did so, Aang suddenly fluttered past, and began to scratch Firestorm's other ear horn. The Charizard sighed in pleasure, laying down on his stomach as the small boy continued his ministrations and seeming to fall asleep. Aang looked like a kid with a brand new toy, at least in the agent's mind.
The crowd stopped, milling in confusion as the Avatar willingly interacted with the obviously Fire Nation creature. Oyaji stepped forward, speaking in a hushed voice to LaCroix even as he kept one eye on the PSI-Com agent and the other on the kid that was now scratching the spot in between Firestorm's wings. "You swear that he's not dangerous?"
LaCroix nodded furiously. "So long as he's not provoked or attacked, or he's not acting in the defense of others he's as gentle as a lamb. Really, my brother and sister let their kids climb on him like a giant living playground. He loves it." The fact that Aang was pretty much doing exactly that served to underscore the point. Oyaji nodded, and turned to face the villagers. He ignored the chill that ran down his spine at turning his back on Firestorm, and focused on his people.
"Everyone, calm down! As you can see, this crea-"
"Firestorm," LaCroix interjected.
"Firestorm here, is quite gentle. So long as you don't provoke him, I am assured that he will do nothing to threaten anyone."
The crowd quieted. Between Oyaji, the Avatar, and Firestorm's behavior, it was fairly clear that he was not a vicious creature. The mutters died down, and a few of the braver kids (who were out of reach of their parents) darted forward to try and touch the creature as well. They froze en mass when Firestorm cracked an eye, before the reptile's lips curved into a fanged smirk, and he rolled onto one side, feigning indifference even as Aang was forced to jump off in order to avoid getting trapped beneath one of his wings. Emboldened by this, several of the older boys darted forward to touch his side, belly, or the tip of his wings. One rather foolhardy child even tried to touch Firestorm's tailflame, but it was whisked out of his reach before he got within arm's length, at a height easily twice that of the child.
And then that Aang kid was back, bouncing around and asking rapid fire questions, peppering him faster than he could understand, much less answer. One that LaCroix managed to make out had him blurting "Say that again kid?"
Aang stopped in place. "I just asked you if Firestorm's a baby dragon? He kinda looks like one, but he's missing the mane and the feelers, and he's not nearly as big as an adult."
"Kid, Firestorm isn't a Dragon-type, though some folks think they were related millions of years ago. He's a Fire/Flying type. He's also a lot bigger than your average fully-grown Char. 'Scuse me."
LaCroix moved over to Oyaji again, getting the old man's attention. "One of my main concerns right now is how I'm going to feed Firestorm. I don't have any Pokechow with me, or at least not enough to keep him fed for a long time, so I'd appreciate it if you had any kind of advice on what kind of foods are okay for him to eat. Otherwise he might end up getting into something poisonous. He doesn't really have any filters when he starts foraging."
"I'm sure one of the Kyoshi Warriors can show you what's should be healthy for your monster. Though that might not be a concern right now," Oyaji pointed out, motioning to the children playing with the fire type.
0oOo0
LaCroix cursed quietly as he made his way back into the village proper. He, Firestorm, and his minders, excuse him - guides, had combed the area where he had been found, and the path he had been brought to the village by before searching the rest of the island as best he could. Firestorm had been able to find something to chow down on, charring it to a crisp before devouring the strange animal. At least the Kyoshi Warriors still following him around didn't seem to have any problem with what Firestorm was eating, though they were visibly startled when he roasted the creature with a Flamethrower.
Passing a few of the outlying structures, LaCroix noticed the boy in blue who, like everyone else, seemed convinced he was from this "Fire Nation" he had heard about, standing in the open doorway of one of the larger buildings.
0oOo0
Sokka snorted as he watched the girls move in slow motion in their "training hall". Looked more like they were practicing dancing to him. Why were they even trying? Girls weren't supposed to be warriors anyway, that was a job for men! Women were supposed to take care of the village, men were supposed to be the protectors. Suki, the girl in charge of the Kyoshi Warriors, caught the snort, and her eyes narrowed.
"So, not impressed?"
Sokka moved one hand in a so-so gesture. "Eh, not bad. For a bunch of girls." Suki's eyes narrowed further, and if Sokka had been paying attention, he'd have heard teeth grinding.
"That "bunch of girls" managed to take you and your friends down pretty easily." Sokka waved it off.
"Eh, a fluke."
"A fluke huh? How about you prove it then." She gestured to the training hall. "Me against you, one on one."
A few moments later, Sokka was flat on his back, with a triumphant Suki standing over him, fan spread to hide her smirk. "Still think it's a fluke?"
"Oh, it looks like he has promise, but no real instruction. Plus he's never fought against someone using your style. Why don't you give him another shot?"
"What are you doing here?" Sokka asked, still not convinced the man wasn't some kind of Fire Nation spy. He pops in out of nowhere, and he kept running around with that weird monster that was obviously from the Fire Nation, nope, Sokka wasn't planning on trusting him anytime soon.
"Just looking around. I wasn't able to find any of my other Pokeballs. I'm honestly getting a little worried about where they might be. I'm not nearly so effective in a fight without my team."
Sokka gulped. "Wait, you have more of those things? And now they're just running around?"
"Well, they aren't just like Firestorm, and as long as their pokeballs aren't damaged, they probably aren't roaming around on their own. Some Pokemon seem to be able to just pop out on their own, but none of my team have ever done it."
Suki snorted. "So you're useless in a fight without your monsters? I should have guessed that the people outside of Kyoshi Island wouldn't train as hard as us. And we're not even in the war."
"Well, I do know some self-defense and a few... other things, but I never dedicated my life to it like some people do. But I can definitely tell that Sokka has some real promise, if he can get some real practice in against someone who knows what they're doing," LaCroix said, looking pointedly at Suki.
"Well, I suppose if he apologized for what he said…" Suki smirked at Sokka.
Sokka reddened fiercely. "No way! I'm not taking it back," he declared as he stomped out, embarrassed.
0oOo0
The smooth metal glinted as the sun hit it through the trees, catching the eye of the traveler passing by. "Hey, what's that?" the girl asked.
The boy standing next to her just shrugged.
"What are you two waiting for, we have to get moving before the Fire Nation gets here."
The girl waved at the guy calling back at her. "Boss, I think I found something. Maybe it's something new from the Fire Nation?"
"Alright, get out of the way, let me take a look at it." After a few seconds of inspection, the Pokeball expanded and opened. "Well, this is interesting."
0oOo0
"You know kid, you probably ought to apologize," LaCroix said as he sat down next to Sokka.
"Huh? What're you doing here?" Sokka asked, startled but trying to hide it.
"Just offering some friendly advice. I've done some traveling, and I've found that just because you grew up doing things one way, not everyone else did. And just because their way is different, doesn't make their way any better or worse. Besides, those girls really did look like they knew what they were doing. You could learn something from them, if you're willing."
0oOo0
The earthbender stomped a foot and the pokeball rose to the surface, popping open as a rock hit the front button as it moved. "Well this is new." The flash of light subsided and coalesced into a definitive form. "You're a big one, aren't you?"
0oOo0
"Aang? Can you come help me with the supplies? We need to get them packed up for our journey."
Aang tied his arms behind his back and rocked on his heels nervously. "Well Katara, actually, some of the girls and I were going to go down to the bay to swim. Wanna come?"
"No, Aang, I want to get the supplies together so we can leave for the North Pole. If we keep making stops whenever we want, we won't get to the North Pole until next spring! Ergh!" Katara stomped off.
LaCroix debated whom to follow before walking after Katara. She could probably use a kind word more than Aang, and he'd done his fair share of packing in the past.
He followed the girl, Firestorm ambling along behind, and found her in a clearing with a fairly large white creature. Six legs, a tail like a Bibarel and a head like a Tauros. And more massive than most pokemon he'd ever seen. The girl was muttering under her breath as she climbed up and down the beast onto a large platform strapped to its back, taking supplies up as she went.
Motioning for Firestorm to stay at the edge of the clearing, in case the scent of a predator spooked the beast, he moved closer, making sure to scuff his feet as he went. His years stalking pokemon and then learning to stalk humans had given him light steps, and he'd scared more than one person by walking up behind them unnoticed.
The girl looked up as he got closer from her perch atop the beast.
"Need a hand?"
She considered him for a moment, before glancing back at Firestorm somewhat warily. Chewing on her lip, she seemed to come to a decision. "Sure, I could use the help."
"So I saw. I wouldn't be too hard on him though, he's still just a kid."
She looked irritated. "But he's the Avatar, he's got responsibilities! Instead he just wants to go off and play!"
"As I said, he's still just a kid." Katara grunted angrily, but seemed less ticked now that she'd had a chance to vent. The packing proceeded in silence from there, LaCroix taking advantage of his height to pass things up to Katara as she pointed them out.
0oOo0
The pink Pokemon carried her pokeball towards the walled town. She had been moving for the past few hours, and this was the first settlement she had come across. Maybe someone here would know where her trainer was?
"Oh, hello there," a kind voice said. "Are you some sort of spirit? All are welcome here as long as they do not bring trouble."
0oOo0
Sokka took a deep breath and knocked on the wall as he entered the training hall.
"You're back," Suki said, smirking at him with her arms crossed. "Ready to get beat up by a girl again?"
"Yes. I-I mean, I think I'm ready to train with you. I want to learn," Sokka said hesitantly.
"And you're sure you don't have any problem learning from a girl?" Suki grinned.
"I'm sure. I'm sorry for what I said earlier. A Water Tribe Warrior shouldn't behave like I did."
"And if we let you train with us, you agree to follow all our traditions?"
Sokka gulped nervously. "Yes. Yes, I do."
"Great. Let's get started." Suki's cocked hip and knowing smirk made Sokka certain that he was going to hate what came next.
0oOo0
A school of fish scattered as a serpentine form swam towards them, catching several in its mouth. Devouring the fish, the monster rose to the surface to bask in the sun.
"Sir, there's something over there," the soldier announced.
The officer snatched the spyglass from his subordinate's hands. "Well, what is it?"
"Sir, it looked like a dragon."
"Impossible. The dragons are extinct."
"I know sir, but that's what it looked like."
The officer found what the soldier had been looking at. "Well, maybe you have a point. See what we have that might attract it. I want a closer look."
0oOo0
Firestorm let out a sigh as he began to doze. He and his partner had combed the island thoroughly after the encounter with the blue boy and the Leader of the Girl Warriors. No luck so far, neither he nor his partner had found any trace of his subordinates. His partner was resting now after assisting the blue girl with packing supplies on the strange white creature, and the Charizard had decided to sun himself at the base of the statue in the square. For some reason the locals had seemed to approve as he'd curled up at the statue's feet.
The Charizard's musings were interrupted by the sounds of heavy feet pounding the earth. His head perked up, and he took an experimental sniff of the air. A strange, pungent odor, similar to his own almost, came to him on the breeze, along with the scent of flame and ash. His eyes narrowed. Then he heard it.
A child's piercing scream.
Firestorm was on his feet in an instant, all traces of his normal lethargy sloughed off like a snake's skin. His eyes began to glow from within as he felt his blood stirring.
When LaCroix had told Aang that Charizards weren't Dragon-type Pokemon, he was telling the truth. But they had been once, millennia ago. And the blood still lingered, giving them the ability to use attacks like Dragon Claw and Twister. And now that blood was singing for battle. Nest Raiders, come to harm the Hatchlings of this place. Firestorm took flight, ready to rain down his namesake. They'd find no easy prey here.
0oOo0
A Hog Monkey sniffed at the metal sphere, trying to tell what it was. It pressed at the ball with its nose, jumping back and growling as the ball popped open and a monster emerged. The Hog Monkey bared its teeth and prepared for a meal.
A heavy club slammed into the Hog Monkey's nose, and a second strike sent it skulking away in search of an easier dinner. The Pokemon looked around, picked up his pokeball, and started walking.
0oOo0
A trio of Fire Soldiers were combing the village, making their way up the hill, when a shadow fell upon them. They had just enough time to look up and see a blazing meteor seeming to fall from the center of the sun before it impacted. They kept their feet, if only barely, but that was remedied as a tail thick as a man's waist and tipped with a white-hot flame whipped out of the dust cloud that had been kicked up, sending the three soldiers flying back several feet, all of them unconscious as a huge gout of flame erupted from the creature's mouth, burning the sky above.
Zuko, who had been prowling up the hill on the opposite side of the street, paused as the dust cloud was blown away by a single beat of massive wings. For a split second, golden eyes locked with glowing amber, before Zuko growled. This thing had attacked his crew. That couldn't be allowed to stand. Before he could follow through though, the beast's maw opened and a blast of flame erupted towards him. Scowling, the Fire Prince used his own flames to break the attack down the center. More flames followed, and for a moment Zuko was surrounded on all sides by fire, even as he used his own flames to break through the attacks. The hardest one to break was an intense blast of flame that vaguely resembled some sort of symbol. The heat from that one was so fierce that Zuko was forced to partially dodge out of the way, breaking through one of the "arms" of the blast instead of attempting to dispel it entirely.
The beast stopped its barrage, cocking its head to the side and seeming to analyze him with too-intelligent-eyes. That momentary respite was all Zuko needed to launch a counter-attack, blasts of flame leaving his fists. They impacted its head and neck, and for a brief moment, the creature's face was obscured by smoke. For that same moment, Zuko dared hope that he'd won. Then the haze cleared with a negligent flap of wings, revealing singed scales... and a look of annoyance on the beast's snout. It adopted a look of concentration as its wings folded over its body and began to glow a shimmering blue, before unfurling, launching saw-toothed discs of energized air at the prince.
Zuko gaped, but didn't spare a moment to pause and ponder how a creature of Fire was now using Air. Instead he dodged and dived around the blades, noting how they scored the wood and earth where they impacted. The beast snorted a small plume of flame, before attempting to close into melee with Zuko.
The prince made the mistake of thinking that so large a creature would be unwieldy, and that it was better suited to fighting in the sky than on the land due to its wings. Thus the viper-quick slash of green-glowing claws caught him by surprise, slamming into his chest and scoring his armor with three deep grooves in the metal. Turning his fall backwards into a controlled tumble, Zuko came back to his feet and scowled at the beast.
What followed was Zuko attempting to cause some sort of harm to the beast with his firebending as he dodged and weaved around more glowing claw swipes of various colors, including one that was so dark as to be an absence of color altogether, attempts to swat or trip him up with its tail, or bat him into a wall or the ground with its wings. He was tagged more than once, but never a solid hit like the one that had marked his armor. The beast seemed to be tiring as well, but it was a slow process, and Zuko was starting to wonder which of them would make a fatal slip first.
As the fight continued to rage, a whistle suddenly rang out above the din of battle. The beast disengaged with a powerful flap of his wings, taking to the sky and easily evading Zuko's attempts to blast it down. Turning to follow his opponent, Zuko found himself confronting several girls in armored dresses and warpaint. He smirked as he assumed a stance. These, he could handle easily.
0oOo0
LaCroix grabbed for Maelstrom's pokeball, cursing as he remembered that he was separated from his team, when a hand caught at his elbow. The reverse punch he launched without thinking was deflected easily, and the PSI-Com agent turned to see who his opponent was, only to find Oyaji glaring at him impatiently. "Now that I have your attention, you have to get out of here!" the old man snapped.
"Not a chance in hell!" LaCroix snapped back, ducking the skidding body of a Fire Bender who had decided the Kyoshi Warrior that had been following LaCroix during his stay was an easy target, "I can help!"
"If you stay here, you and your monster will only be captured eventually! And then either forced to assist the Fire Nation, or killed! You'll help more people if you leave. Go with the Avatar. He-" Oyaji broke off to deliver a mule kick to a trooper who was struggling to turn his helmet right-way-round after Momo had jumped on his head and twisted, "-is powerful, he will be able to protect you and your monster from the Fire Nation."
"And do what? I can look after myself!" LaCroix rolled out of the way of a wave of flame, grabbing up a fist sized rock as he did so and pitching it at the Fire Bender's face. The clang and sudden spout of blood from behind the faceplate told him that he'd hit right on the nose.
"Then teach them what you can! Having an adult with them would help the Water Tribesman blend in. Now GO!" With that Oyaji propelled him out of the square with a literal swift kick in the ass.
Stumbling to regain his balance, LaCroix swore under his breath as he found himself face-to-face with a bearded old codger wearing decorated armor.
"Uh..." Deciding discretion was the greater part of valor, LaCroix turned and bolted, sticking his thumb and forefinger between his lips as he did so, and blasting loose a whistle that could be heard even over the roar of flames. He never thought bending could be quite so powerful based on what he had seen from Aang and Katara. Maybe they had been holding back more than he thought. A moment later a great winged shadow fell over him. Leaping onto a large rock, he propelled himself into the air, coming down on the broad back of Firestorm. Nudging his partner's sides with his heels, the PSI-Com agent steered the Charizard in the direction of the flying bison that had just blasted away from the island as well.
He had a mission now, and he'd be damned if he didn't follow through to the best of his abilities.
Behind and below him, General Iroh stroked his whiskers as he watched the blazing speck fade away in the distance. "Most intriguing," he mused, before turning to see what had become of his nephew.
He found said nephew stalking towards him, scowling even as he absent-mindedly rubbed at a trio of deep grooves that had been gouged into his chest plate. "Call back the troops Uncle, the Avatar is no longer here." Iroh nodded. His nephew was not injured badly, he would wait until they were back aboard to get the story behind those markings from him.
'Where the hell does Giovanni hire his female help, ? I ain't seen a gal rating less than a 7.5 since I got in here.' Shaking his head once again to get back in the game, he squared his shoulders and moved further down the hall. His target was in sight now. The thin keening sound that was tearing its way into his brain through the "sound-proof" door were all signs that this was the place. Palming a key-card, he swiped it through, waited a second, and then smirked lightly as the mag-lock sparked and died. The smirk dropped off his face as he stepped right into a scene from any conscionable trainer's personal hell.
There were two scientists manning a console, goggles obscuring their faces as they looked on dispassionately. The target - an "A" Unown that had been smuggled out of the Ruins of Alph somehow - was contained in a field of arcing energy that seemed to be leeching away at its very life-force in the most painful way possible. It was the source of the keening shriek that was now battering at his eardrums. The flashes, however, were coming from a second machine hooked up to the one containing the Unown. Spinning on a platform was a Porygon, the synthetic Pokemon looking much worse for the wear as it was being constantly blasted by artificial approximations of elemental attacks. Each attack was timed so that the Porygon had a chance to use its Conversion 2 ability to make itself immune to the elemental damage being done, before it was hit by a new element. The process took only a few seconds each time, and judging from the timer that one of the scientists was looking at, they'd been at this for more than three hours.
According to the mission brief, this particular installation was attempting to use the Unown's power to incite some sort of elemental evolution in a Porygon, which Team Rocket would then strip to its bare coding to dissect all its secrets and begin a mass-production of them.
Unfortunately for them, PSI-Com had gotten wind of it, and they'd sent Solomon LaCroix in. The Field Agent twisted his wrists, deploying the spring-loaded tonfa that were strapped to his forearms. One of the scientists, maybe sensing someone coming up behind him, turned just in time to take a straight punch to the side of his face. He fell, twirling like a drunken ballerina, even as the other man was laid out by a similar strike to the back of the head.
The plan had been simple. Infiltrate, stop the experiment and secure the lab, then release his team, drain their databanks dry, methodically clear the complex, and level the place. It went up in a shower of energy as the first scientist's head slammed a control lever on the panel. The energy field around the Unown exploded outwards as the semi-Legendary used its powers to rip a hole through reality back to its home pocket dimension. Maybe it was the fear and anger of the creature that caused it. Maybe it was blind panic... But whatever the reason, when the portal the Pokemon was intent on using opened, several other portals opened around the room as well.
LaCroix was closest to the machine that had held the tortured Porygon when the portals opened. So he had a clear view of its expression as a portal ripped apart its body from the inside out. The sound it made as it died would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life. He didn't even have time to grab something before he was sucked off his feet, and into the abyss.
Then there was falling. Or maybe it was flying. It was hard to tell. He was pretty sure he'd tasted blue, heard sunshine and seen music as he traveled through the portal. Luckily, at that point, his consciousness had had enough and decided to vacate the premises for a while until the world made sense again.
Thus, he was out cold when he fell through another rip in space/time, and hit the ground hard enough to bounce, right at the feet of a tattooed boy dressed in orange robes. The boy blinked for a moment, before gently prodding at the man who'd fallen out of the vanished hole in reality with the end of his staff.
-0-
Sokka leaned against one of the pillars in the house the Elder was letting them borrow as Aang and his sister looked over the man who'd fallen out of thin air. It had taken a bit of fast talking, but Aang was vouching for the guy, no doubt spurred on by his inherent faith in all people as well as his far too developed sense of curiosity. Sokka had to admit, he was curious too, but still, the guy fell out of thin. Freaking. Air! That was NOT normal, even for the Avatar.
Now Aang was poking and prodding at him, trying to "sense a mystic connection". He thought the guy had fallen out of the spirit world. Ugh. Sighing, he looked down at the small sphere in his hand. It had fallen off the man's belt when he'd hit the ground, and Sokka had picked it up out of curiosity. It was a little larger than a date and made out of some sort of metal. It looked like it was two pieces, one red, and one white, though the craftsmanship was so fine that he couldn't see a seam. It also had a small dot in the center. Shrugging to himself, he pressed it.
The thing expanded, becoming twice as large as his loosely clenched fist. He gave a yelp and dropped it. Upon impact with the floor, the thing split open, releasing a blinding stream of light accompanied by a strange rushing noise. Sokka found himself rushing for the door as something filled the room. Aang and Katara had turned suddenly when he'd yelped, and both of them were blinded by the flash of light as well. Both backed against the wall of the house. After a moment, their eyesight had readjusted, and Sokka found himself reaching for his boomerang. There had been some... THING, in that sphere!
It was huge, much larger than a full-grown man, to the point of filling most of the room. It had fiery red and yellow skin, with a wingspan that hit opposite walls. A frightening intelligence gleamed in its eyes, and after a moment of confused observation, it spotted the stranger. A sparking hiss filled the air as it scrambled to crouch protectively around the unconscious man. It pushed at the man with one of its stubby arms, flared its wings and swept the flaming tail back and forth threateningly.
Sokka began to creep forward, looking for any kind of weak spot on the Fire Nation Creature, before freezing again as the man stirred and then groaned aloud, one hand going to massage his skull as still-closed eyes scrunched in pain. "Ugh, anyone get the number on that Rhyhorn?"
LaCroix's eyes fluttered open, to be greeted by the familiar hue of Firestorm's yellow stomach, though he could see little else. But if Firestorm was standing over him, and he was still brushing away the cobwebs of unconsciousness, what had happened? "Firestorm, what're you doing?" he asked, rolling over and scanning his surroundings.
"Hey, you're awake!" One of them was young, barely even a teen probably, with what looked like arrows tattooed onto his arms and even his bald scalp. He was dressed in robes of brown and orange. The kid looked like he wanted to bounce forward, but Firestorm's looming form was keeping him away. For now. A warning light began to blink in the back of his mind. Next to him was a gal with mocha skin and dark hair, dressed in blue trimmed with white fur. The warning light was joined by a small buzzer.
"Katara, Aang, get away from him! Can't you see that... that THING? It's obviously from the Fire Nation!" a new voice exclaimed from just out of sight. LaCroix levered himself up to a sitting position and took a look. Another boy, probably related to the girl due to looks and the mode of address. Also decked out in blue and white furs, and his hand on the hilt of some sort of weapon, the other hand pointing straight at LaCroix. And not a single one of them looked to have a pokeball on them. The blinking light and the buzzer were overridden by a loud, clear klaxon siren. The breeze shifted and carried in a clear scent. One he'd grown up with in Vermilion City, though it was... cleaner than he remembered. The ocean. The lab he'd been sent to shut down had been hidden outside of Azalea Town. There wasn't any ocean near Azalea, the closest body of water was that stupid well people always fell in. He collapsed back so he was lying down, and stared up at the (wooden?) ceiling.
"I'm not in Johto anymore, am I?"
"Where's that?" The tattooed kid was back, inching closer despite the look Firestorm was wearing. LaCroix sat up again, leaning slightly on his oldest Pokemon, reassuring them both with the touch.
"Hopefully closer than I think. But probably far, far away. Stop me if any of these names sound familiar please. Johto, Kanto, Sinnoh, Hoenn..." he trailed off as all three kids shook their heads each time. "Pokemon?" he tried weakly. The tall kid, Sokka, quirked one eyebrow.
"What's a pokey mon? Some new weapon from the Fire Nation?"
LaCroix's tone was exhausted as his mind raced with the possibilities and likelihoods of what had happened. "Combination of two words. "Poke" for "pocket"," he reached down and plucked Firestorm's pokeball from the floor. "And "mon" for monster." He pointed at the cramped Charizard still standing over him. "Poke-Mon. Now I don't suppose that you could tell me where I am?"
The bald kid, Aang, smiled. 'More teeth in there than on a Sharpedo,' the man noted idly in a corner of his shell-shocked mind.
"That's easy, you're on Kiyoshi Island."
"Right." LaCroix looked down at his hands, which had begun to shake horribly. "Oh god. You kids don't even know what a pokemon is, do you? Oh god. Oh God. Ohgodohgodohgodohgodoh-"
"Char…" Firestorm stepped in closer, surrounding LaCroix completely, arms locking around his chest, wings folding in tight and tail snaking around his legs. Firestorm's head bent down to cross LaCroix's shoulder, and the trainer was nearly completely encased by his Pokemon.
LaCroix reveled in the warmth, knowing that to most, they'd be burning up from the Charizard's heat output, but he was just comforted. "Thanks buddy, I needed that." He turned to look at the kids again. "Sorry for the freakout, but I just realized something very upsetting. You shouldn't worry about it though. The name's Solomon LaCroix, PSI-Com. Call me LaCroix."
"And what exactly," a new, older voice broke through the moment of confused silence, "Is PSI-Com?" said agent looked to see an older gentleman, accompanied by three girls in some sort of armored dress and what looked like warpaint. His eyes were sharp, and the girls had their hands on long rectangular sticks that were stuck through their belts. He looked over at the kids, his tone respectful, but firm. "Avatar Aang, might I speak with our visitor for a moment? Alone?"
Aang's face fell for a moment, before lighting up again with a poorly concealed sly grin. "Okay. I want to ride the Elephant Koi again anyway. C'mon guys!" Sokka and Katara didn't look nearly as enthused, but they both met the old man's eyes, and then nodded, following the hyper-active kid. The old man waited until they were gone, before sitting down cross-legged just out of arm's reach for LaCroix, the two girls taking up obvious bodyguard stances on either side of him. The third girl moved to stand behind the old man, before a rustle of leaves had all the occupants of the room turning their heads. A pale, tattooed head tried to duck out of sight a moment too late.
The girl behind the old man sighed. "I'll take care of this Oyaji." Putting on her best gentle smile, the girl stepped out and began to speak quietly to the "hidden" children. After a few moments, the girl managed to convince the boy that yes, he would in fact like a tour of the island, and that no LaCroix and his strange pet (Firestorm's eyes narrowed slightly at the term) would still be there when he got back, along with any other animals that the man had hidden away on him.
As soon as the children were actually gone for sure, Firestorm took up position behind his trainer, who merely met the old man's gaze stoically. "Now then, LaCroix, you may call me Oyaji. I have some questions for you."
LaCroix shrugged. "Fair enough. May I suggest an exchange of information though? For every question you ask me, I get to ask one in return. If you feel that I don't need to know, I'll ask a different question, though I request the same courtesy for myself." Oyaji nodded.
"That seems a fair proposition." And with that the game of mutual twenty questions began.
An hour later, LaCroix had managed to gather his wits, and was moving past stunned into simply marveling that he was even alive, mixed with equal parts concern about the world he'd found himself in.
Oyaji, on the other hand, appeared content with the answers that he had given him regarding who he was (a trained member of a law keeping force), his intentions towards the people of the island (try to get along and help out where needed to pay back any sort of debt he incurred for them allowing him to stay) and was most intrigued by his monster. The house he was in had been large enough for everyone once Firestorm had calmed down. LaCroix had let slip that he had other monsters, but apparently couldn't show them. Oyaji's expression when LaCroix had bluntly informed him that the house they were in was nowhere large enough to contain the other half of his team, would have been comical, if the girls... no, the warriors guarding the man hadn't tensed up. He had backpedaled, hard.
"I assure you, they're all big softies unless they're in battle. Well, except for Maelstrom, but his species is pretty grumpy to begin with. Not that I could show them to you anyway. Their pokeballs aren't here. They're not where I store them, in any case. Maybe they were dropped when you brought me here?"
Oyaji had nodded. "I see. I doubt the Kyoshi Warriors would have missed anything of yours, but I suppose we can certainly go take a look around. I'm not entirely convinced this isn't some sort of Fire Nation ploy, but I see no reason not to let you move around. We've kept out of this war for a hundred years, if you are part of the Fire Nation, taking you prisoner will only draw us in. But expect to be watched. Your… companion… is rather large, and our buildings are made of wood. I trust you understand. And I believe an introduction is in order. I don't want anyone being frightened unnecessarily."
Getting up, the old man had led the group out into the middle of the village, sending one of his guards to gather the rest of the warriors. LaCroix was forced to return Firestorm to his pokeball so he could get out of the house, something that had startled the Islanders, until LaCroix had assured them that it was perfectly alright and didn't harm Firestorm in the least. Aang, Sokka and Katara showed up quickly, probably having hung about waiting to learn more, if the excited looks on their faces were anything to go by. Sokka still eyed LaCroix suspiciously, and Katara was a little wary, but Aang looked at him with nothing but bubbly enthusiasm.
Stopping in a square containing a large statue, Oyaji looked expectantly at LaCroix. "You want to say something first, or just want me to show them?" Oyaji pondered the question for a moment.
"Go ahead and show everyone. Then we can answer any necessary questions." LaCroix nodded his understanding, taking a deep breath as he palmed Firestorm's pokeball.
'Here goes nothing,' he thought to himself, before enlarging the time worn pokeball and tossing it into the air. "Firestorm, time for a meet-n-greet!" he yelled.
The ground nearly shook as all the oversized Charizard hit the ground. Firestorm stretched and stood erect for the first time since LaCroix had woken up, reaching more than twice the height of a man, spreading his wingspan to reach more than twenty feet across. The fire-tipped tail lashed back and forth, hazing the air with intense heat.
LaCroix basked in the presence of his oldest friend, his traveling companion for more than a decade. Most Charizard were only as tall as a man, but Firestorm had evolved years ago, and never stopped growing, reaching the size of some of the Charizards found in the Charific Valley. With his oldest friend by his side, LaCroix was confident he could meet any challenge.
And if even half of what Oyaji had told him about the Fire Nation was true, there were plenty of challenges in the future.
The villagers and the kids however, had rather different reactions. Muttering broke out as the Warriors who hadn't been with Oyaji during their talk took offensive stances. They focused on Firestorm, ignoring LaCroix altogether at this point. The Charizard looked around, cocking his head to one side. LaCroix nodded at Firestorm, and the beast relaxed, calming down. "Grah?" he growled out, before leaning his serpentine neck down, and scratching behind an ear-horn with one clawed foot, a look of bliss on his face. There was a childish giggle from within the crowd, which had gone silent the moment he'd begun to move.
Granted, they had a right to be a little scared, if Oyaji's information about the Fire Nation was true. Firestorm was a living, breathing, fire-generating creature. And his size was something to consider too. Even lots of people back home were unnerved by how large Firestorm was at this point. However, as his size had grown, his aggressiveness outside of combat had shrunk. Now, unless he was training or fighting, the flame pokemon mainly enjoyed eating, sleeping, and serving as an impromptu jungle gym for LaCroix's pack of nephews and nieces from his brother and sister.
But seeing Firestorm put on a show for the villagers made LaCroix wonder just what happened to the rest of his team. He was honest when he told Oyaji he didn't know where they were. Considering just what he fell through, he considered himself lucky that he was still alive. But being without his team made him feel naked. He had been with them for years. And if he really was in a completely different world, he couldn't even access a PC to pull out some of his reserve Pokemon.
LaCroix shook his head to clear it of the distracting thoughts, bringing his focus back to the matter at hand. Everyone in the crowd was now focused solely on the gently burning flame at the tip of Firestorm's tail. The warriors began to step forward as the girl in blue, Katara, reached out and drew a blob of water out of the nearby well. Wonderful, his first look at this "bending" stuff. Now he had to make sure that it didn't end up killing him or his team. It didn't look very dangerous, but neither did a Weedle, and their poison could be just as deadly as a Muk's. There were harsh mutters of "Fire Nation spy" going through the crowd now.
LaCroix moved in front of his partner, waving his arms back and forth. "Wait, wait, wait! I swear we're not Fire Nation!" Firestorm started to get up from where he had started to lie down, but LaCroix waved him back. The last thing they needed was Firestorm deciding that LaCroix was in danger from the villagers. Even as he did so, Aang suddenly fluttered past, and began to scratch Firestorm's other ear horn. The Charizard sighed in pleasure, laying down on his stomach as the small boy continued his ministrations and seeming to fall asleep. Aang looked like a kid with a brand new toy, at least in the agent's mind.
The crowd stopped, milling in confusion as the Avatar willingly interacted with the obviously Fire Nation creature. Oyaji stepped forward, speaking in a hushed voice to LaCroix even as he kept one eye on the PSI-Com agent and the other on the kid that was now scratching the spot in between Firestorm's wings. "You swear that he's not dangerous?"
LaCroix nodded furiously. "So long as he's not provoked or attacked, or he's not acting in the defense of others he's as gentle as a lamb. Really, my brother and sister let their kids climb on him like a giant living playground. He loves it." The fact that Aang was pretty much doing exactly that served to underscore the point. Oyaji nodded, and turned to face the villagers. He ignored the chill that ran down his spine at turning his back on Firestorm, and focused on his people.
"Everyone, calm down! As you can see, this crea-"
"Firestorm," LaCroix interjected.
"Firestorm here, is quite gentle. So long as you don't provoke him, I am assured that he will do nothing to threaten anyone."
The crowd quieted. Between Oyaji, the Avatar, and Firestorm's behavior, it was fairly clear that he was not a vicious creature. The mutters died down, and a few of the braver kids (who were out of reach of their parents) darted forward to try and touch the creature as well. They froze en mass when Firestorm cracked an eye, before the reptile's lips curved into a fanged smirk, and he rolled onto one side, feigning indifference even as Aang was forced to jump off in order to avoid getting trapped beneath one of his wings. Emboldened by this, several of the older boys darted forward to touch his side, belly, or the tip of his wings. One rather foolhardy child even tried to touch Firestorm's tailflame, but it was whisked out of his reach before he got within arm's length, at a height easily twice that of the child.
And then that Aang kid was back, bouncing around and asking rapid fire questions, peppering him faster than he could understand, much less answer. One that LaCroix managed to make out had him blurting "Say that again kid?"
Aang stopped in place. "I just asked you if Firestorm's a baby dragon? He kinda looks like one, but he's missing the mane and the feelers, and he's not nearly as big as an adult."
"Kid, Firestorm isn't a Dragon-type, though some folks think they were related millions of years ago. He's a Fire/Flying type. He's also a lot bigger than your average fully-grown Char. 'Scuse me."
LaCroix moved over to Oyaji again, getting the old man's attention. "One of my main concerns right now is how I'm going to feed Firestorm. I don't have any Pokechow with me, or at least not enough to keep him fed for a long time, so I'd appreciate it if you had any kind of advice on what kind of foods are okay for him to eat. Otherwise he might end up getting into something poisonous. He doesn't really have any filters when he starts foraging."
"I'm sure one of the Kyoshi Warriors can show you what's should be healthy for your monster. Though that might not be a concern right now," Oyaji pointed out, motioning to the children playing with the fire type.
0oOo0
LaCroix cursed quietly as he made his way back into the village proper. He, Firestorm, and his minders, excuse him - guides, had combed the area where he had been found, and the path he had been brought to the village by before searching the rest of the island as best he could. Firestorm had been able to find something to chow down on, charring it to a crisp before devouring the strange animal. At least the Kyoshi Warriors still following him around didn't seem to have any problem with what Firestorm was eating, though they were visibly startled when he roasted the creature with a Flamethrower.
Passing a few of the outlying structures, LaCroix noticed the boy in blue who, like everyone else, seemed convinced he was from this "Fire Nation" he had heard about, standing in the open doorway of one of the larger buildings.
0oOo0
Sokka snorted as he watched the girls move in slow motion in their "training hall". Looked more like they were practicing dancing to him. Why were they even trying? Girls weren't supposed to be warriors anyway, that was a job for men! Women were supposed to take care of the village, men were supposed to be the protectors. Suki, the girl in charge of the Kyoshi Warriors, caught the snort, and her eyes narrowed.
"So, not impressed?"
Sokka moved one hand in a so-so gesture. "Eh, not bad. For a bunch of girls." Suki's eyes narrowed further, and if Sokka had been paying attention, he'd have heard teeth grinding.
"That "bunch of girls" managed to take you and your friends down pretty easily." Sokka waved it off.
"Eh, a fluke."
"A fluke huh? How about you prove it then." She gestured to the training hall. "Me against you, one on one."
A few moments later, Sokka was flat on his back, with a triumphant Suki standing over him, fan spread to hide her smirk. "Still think it's a fluke?"
"Oh, it looks like he has promise, but no real instruction. Plus he's never fought against someone using your style. Why don't you give him another shot?"
"What are you doing here?" Sokka asked, still not convinced the man wasn't some kind of Fire Nation spy. He pops in out of nowhere, and he kept running around with that weird monster that was obviously from the Fire Nation, nope, Sokka wasn't planning on trusting him anytime soon.
"Just looking around. I wasn't able to find any of my other Pokeballs. I'm honestly getting a little worried about where they might be. I'm not nearly so effective in a fight without my team."
Sokka gulped. "Wait, you have more of those things? And now they're just running around?"
"Well, they aren't just like Firestorm, and as long as their pokeballs aren't damaged, they probably aren't roaming around on their own. Some Pokemon seem to be able to just pop out on their own, but none of my team have ever done it."
Suki snorted. "So you're useless in a fight without your monsters? I should have guessed that the people outside of Kyoshi Island wouldn't train as hard as us. And we're not even in the war."
"Well, I do know some self-defense and a few... other things, but I never dedicated my life to it like some people do. But I can definitely tell that Sokka has some real promise, if he can get some real practice in against someone who knows what they're doing," LaCroix said, looking pointedly at Suki.
"Well, I suppose if he apologized for what he said…" Suki smirked at Sokka.
Sokka reddened fiercely. "No way! I'm not taking it back," he declared as he stomped out, embarrassed.
0oOo0
The smooth metal glinted as the sun hit it through the trees, catching the eye of the traveler passing by. "Hey, what's that?" the girl asked.
The boy standing next to her just shrugged.
"What are you two waiting for, we have to get moving before the Fire Nation gets here."
The girl waved at the guy calling back at her. "Boss, I think I found something. Maybe it's something new from the Fire Nation?"
"Alright, get out of the way, let me take a look at it." After a few seconds of inspection, the Pokeball expanded and opened. "Well, this is interesting."
0oOo0
"You know kid, you probably ought to apologize," LaCroix said as he sat down next to Sokka.
"Huh? What're you doing here?" Sokka asked, startled but trying to hide it.
"Just offering some friendly advice. I've done some traveling, and I've found that just because you grew up doing things one way, not everyone else did. And just because their way is different, doesn't make their way any better or worse. Besides, those girls really did look like they knew what they were doing. You could learn something from them, if you're willing."
0oOo0
The earthbender stomped a foot and the pokeball rose to the surface, popping open as a rock hit the front button as it moved. "Well this is new." The flash of light subsided and coalesced into a definitive form. "You're a big one, aren't you?"
0oOo0
"Aang? Can you come help me with the supplies? We need to get them packed up for our journey."
Aang tied his arms behind his back and rocked on his heels nervously. "Well Katara, actually, some of the girls and I were going to go down to the bay to swim. Wanna come?"
"No, Aang, I want to get the supplies together so we can leave for the North Pole. If we keep making stops whenever we want, we won't get to the North Pole until next spring! Ergh!" Katara stomped off.
LaCroix debated whom to follow before walking after Katara. She could probably use a kind word more than Aang, and he'd done his fair share of packing in the past.
He followed the girl, Firestorm ambling along behind, and found her in a clearing with a fairly large white creature. Six legs, a tail like a Bibarel and a head like a Tauros. And more massive than most pokemon he'd ever seen. The girl was muttering under her breath as she climbed up and down the beast onto a large platform strapped to its back, taking supplies up as she went.
Motioning for Firestorm to stay at the edge of the clearing, in case the scent of a predator spooked the beast, he moved closer, making sure to scuff his feet as he went. His years stalking pokemon and then learning to stalk humans had given him light steps, and he'd scared more than one person by walking up behind them unnoticed.
The girl looked up as he got closer from her perch atop the beast.
"Need a hand?"
She considered him for a moment, before glancing back at Firestorm somewhat warily. Chewing on her lip, she seemed to come to a decision. "Sure, I could use the help."
"So I saw. I wouldn't be too hard on him though, he's still just a kid."
She looked irritated. "But he's the Avatar, he's got responsibilities! Instead he just wants to go off and play!"
"As I said, he's still just a kid." Katara grunted angrily, but seemed less ticked now that she'd had a chance to vent. The packing proceeded in silence from there, LaCroix taking advantage of his height to pass things up to Katara as she pointed them out.
0oOo0
The pink Pokemon carried her pokeball towards the walled town. She had been moving for the past few hours, and this was the first settlement she had come across. Maybe someone here would know where her trainer was?
"Oh, hello there," a kind voice said. "Are you some sort of spirit? All are welcome here as long as they do not bring trouble."
0oOo0
Sokka took a deep breath and knocked on the wall as he entered the training hall.
"You're back," Suki said, smirking at him with her arms crossed. "Ready to get beat up by a girl again?"
"Yes. I-I mean, I think I'm ready to train with you. I want to learn," Sokka said hesitantly.
"And you're sure you don't have any problem learning from a girl?" Suki grinned.
"I'm sure. I'm sorry for what I said earlier. A Water Tribe Warrior shouldn't behave like I did."
"And if we let you train with us, you agree to follow all our traditions?"
Sokka gulped nervously. "Yes. Yes, I do."
"Great. Let's get started." Suki's cocked hip and knowing smirk made Sokka certain that he was going to hate what came next.
0oOo0
A school of fish scattered as a serpentine form swam towards them, catching several in its mouth. Devouring the fish, the monster rose to the surface to bask in the sun.
"Sir, there's something over there," the soldier announced.
The officer snatched the spyglass from his subordinate's hands. "Well, what is it?"
"Sir, it looked like a dragon."
"Impossible. The dragons are extinct."
"I know sir, but that's what it looked like."
The officer found what the soldier had been looking at. "Well, maybe you have a point. See what we have that might attract it. I want a closer look."
0oOo0
Firestorm let out a sigh as he began to doze. He and his partner had combed the island thoroughly after the encounter with the blue boy and the Leader of the Girl Warriors. No luck so far, neither he nor his partner had found any trace of his subordinates. His partner was resting now after assisting the blue girl with packing supplies on the strange white creature, and the Charizard had decided to sun himself at the base of the statue in the square. For some reason the locals had seemed to approve as he'd curled up at the statue's feet.
The Charizard's musings were interrupted by the sounds of heavy feet pounding the earth. His head perked up, and he took an experimental sniff of the air. A strange, pungent odor, similar to his own almost, came to him on the breeze, along with the scent of flame and ash. His eyes narrowed. Then he heard it.
A child's piercing scream.
Firestorm was on his feet in an instant, all traces of his normal lethargy sloughed off like a snake's skin. His eyes began to glow from within as he felt his blood stirring.
When LaCroix had told Aang that Charizards weren't Dragon-type Pokemon, he was telling the truth. But they had been once, millennia ago. And the blood still lingered, giving them the ability to use attacks like Dragon Claw and Twister. And now that blood was singing for battle. Nest Raiders, come to harm the Hatchlings of this place. Firestorm took flight, ready to rain down his namesake. They'd find no easy prey here.
0oOo0
A Hog Monkey sniffed at the metal sphere, trying to tell what it was. It pressed at the ball with its nose, jumping back and growling as the ball popped open and a monster emerged. The Hog Monkey bared its teeth and prepared for a meal.
A heavy club slammed into the Hog Monkey's nose, and a second strike sent it skulking away in search of an easier dinner. The Pokemon looked around, picked up his pokeball, and started walking.
0oOo0
A trio of Fire Soldiers were combing the village, making their way up the hill, when a shadow fell upon them. They had just enough time to look up and see a blazing meteor seeming to fall from the center of the sun before it impacted. They kept their feet, if only barely, but that was remedied as a tail thick as a man's waist and tipped with a white-hot flame whipped out of the dust cloud that had been kicked up, sending the three soldiers flying back several feet, all of them unconscious as a huge gout of flame erupted from the creature's mouth, burning the sky above.
Zuko, who had been prowling up the hill on the opposite side of the street, paused as the dust cloud was blown away by a single beat of massive wings. For a split second, golden eyes locked with glowing amber, before Zuko growled. This thing had attacked his crew. That couldn't be allowed to stand. Before he could follow through though, the beast's maw opened and a blast of flame erupted towards him. Scowling, the Fire Prince used his own flames to break the attack down the center. More flames followed, and for a moment Zuko was surrounded on all sides by fire, even as he used his own flames to break through the attacks. The hardest one to break was an intense blast of flame that vaguely resembled some sort of symbol. The heat from that one was so fierce that Zuko was forced to partially dodge out of the way, breaking through one of the "arms" of the blast instead of attempting to dispel it entirely.
The beast stopped its barrage, cocking its head to the side and seeming to analyze him with too-intelligent-eyes. That momentary respite was all Zuko needed to launch a counter-attack, blasts of flame leaving his fists. They impacted its head and neck, and for a brief moment, the creature's face was obscured by smoke. For that same moment, Zuko dared hope that he'd won. Then the haze cleared with a negligent flap of wings, revealing singed scales... and a look of annoyance on the beast's snout. It adopted a look of concentration as its wings folded over its body and began to glow a shimmering blue, before unfurling, launching saw-toothed discs of energized air at the prince.
Zuko gaped, but didn't spare a moment to pause and ponder how a creature of Fire was now using Air. Instead he dodged and dived around the blades, noting how they scored the wood and earth where they impacted. The beast snorted a small plume of flame, before attempting to close into melee with Zuko.
The prince made the mistake of thinking that so large a creature would be unwieldy, and that it was better suited to fighting in the sky than on the land due to its wings. Thus the viper-quick slash of green-glowing claws caught him by surprise, slamming into his chest and scoring his armor with three deep grooves in the metal. Turning his fall backwards into a controlled tumble, Zuko came back to his feet and scowled at the beast.
What followed was Zuko attempting to cause some sort of harm to the beast with his firebending as he dodged and weaved around more glowing claw swipes of various colors, including one that was so dark as to be an absence of color altogether, attempts to swat or trip him up with its tail, or bat him into a wall or the ground with its wings. He was tagged more than once, but never a solid hit like the one that had marked his armor. The beast seemed to be tiring as well, but it was a slow process, and Zuko was starting to wonder which of them would make a fatal slip first.
As the fight continued to rage, a whistle suddenly rang out above the din of battle. The beast disengaged with a powerful flap of his wings, taking to the sky and easily evading Zuko's attempts to blast it down. Turning to follow his opponent, Zuko found himself confronting several girls in armored dresses and warpaint. He smirked as he assumed a stance. These, he could handle easily.
0oOo0
LaCroix grabbed for Maelstrom's pokeball, cursing as he remembered that he was separated from his team, when a hand caught at his elbow. The reverse punch he launched without thinking was deflected easily, and the PSI-Com agent turned to see who his opponent was, only to find Oyaji glaring at him impatiently. "Now that I have your attention, you have to get out of here!" the old man snapped.
"Not a chance in hell!" LaCroix snapped back, ducking the skidding body of a Fire Bender who had decided the Kyoshi Warrior that had been following LaCroix during his stay was an easy target, "I can help!"
"If you stay here, you and your monster will only be captured eventually! And then either forced to assist the Fire Nation, or killed! You'll help more people if you leave. Go with the Avatar. He-" Oyaji broke off to deliver a mule kick to a trooper who was struggling to turn his helmet right-way-round after Momo had jumped on his head and twisted, "-is powerful, he will be able to protect you and your monster from the Fire Nation."
"And do what? I can look after myself!" LaCroix rolled out of the way of a wave of flame, grabbing up a fist sized rock as he did so and pitching it at the Fire Bender's face. The clang and sudden spout of blood from behind the faceplate told him that he'd hit right on the nose.
"Then teach them what you can! Having an adult with them would help the Water Tribesman blend in. Now GO!" With that Oyaji propelled him out of the square with a literal swift kick in the ass.
Stumbling to regain his balance, LaCroix swore under his breath as he found himself face-to-face with a bearded old codger wearing decorated armor.
"Uh..." Deciding discretion was the greater part of valor, LaCroix turned and bolted, sticking his thumb and forefinger between his lips as he did so, and blasting loose a whistle that could be heard even over the roar of flames. He never thought bending could be quite so powerful based on what he had seen from Aang and Katara. Maybe they had been holding back more than he thought. A moment later a great winged shadow fell over him. Leaping onto a large rock, he propelled himself into the air, coming down on the broad back of Firestorm. Nudging his partner's sides with his heels, the PSI-Com agent steered the Charizard in the direction of the flying bison that had just blasted away from the island as well.
He had a mission now, and he'd be damned if he didn't follow through to the best of his abilities.
Behind and below him, General Iroh stroked his whiskers as he watched the blazing speck fade away in the distance. "Most intriguing," he mused, before turning to see what had become of his nephew.
He found said nephew stalking towards him, scowling even as he absent-mindedly rubbed at a trio of deep grooves that had been gouged into his chest plate. "Call back the troops Uncle, the Avatar is no longer here." Iroh nodded. His nephew was not injured badly, he would wait until they were back aboard to get the story behind those markings from him.
