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Equilibrium	By : jvperric Category: Pokemon > General Views: 12587 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Nintendo does. I make no claim towards any of the copyrighted intellectual property contained herein. I am making no money from this story in any way.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
*****Chapter XIV: Abaddon*****

LOADING...

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL SECURITY PRIORITY ALERT INTRANET LOADED.

WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THIS SYSTEM IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE UNDER THE 1998 INTERNAL SECURITY ACT (S.C. 178.1.5)

LOGIN: dpatera

PW: **************

LOGIN SUCCESSFUL. WELCOME, COMMANDER PATERA.

>scan//type_ALL//t:TD_0800-P

ALERT, PRIORITY 2: UNAUTHORIZED CLASS 3 SPECIES (DRAGONITE), UNAUTHORIZED LEVEL 5 ATTACK (HYPER BEAM), NATIONAL ROUTE 309, KM MARKER 32 (APPROXIMATE), 0935. DIS AND DOJ RESPONDING. NOTE ATTACHED BY USER "zushko" AT 0948. PRESS "Y" TO VIEW.

>y

NOTE FROM "zushko": Hyper Beam struck part of the Garagin range. Came down on Route 309. Satellite showed two suspects fleeing on Dragonite east into Greenpeak Forest. Two victims possibly KIA in landslide. Will update. -Zack

>logout

LOGGING OUT, COMMANDER PATERA.

*****

“What the hell happened?”

The satellite phone crackled with static under the canopy of Greenpeak Forest. Ivan held it slightly away from his ear, partly because of the static, partly because of the yelling. Dragonite pawed nervously at the ground nearby, whimpering and looking up every so often at the column of smoke to the northwest, where the mountaintop had been sheared away.

“It was a misfire, sir.”

“That’s one hell of a misfire, Ivan. We’re watching the Sederan satellite grid go nuts over this. Comm is intercepting a huge amount of chatter between Justice and Internal Security. Get the hell out of there.”

“And go where?”

“Presida City. We need more confirmation on the Earth Gem’s status. You can tell Swath you brought a landslide down on his cousin yourself. He’ll have plane tickets waiting for you.”

“Yes, sir. Anything else?”

“Victor’s with you?”

“Yes, he’s here.”

“I want you both back here when you’re done in Presida. The Archons need to be apprised of everything as soon as possible. Claude will have the command until you return. And…”

“Sir?”

“No word from callsign Blackfall, I assume.”

“None. Still dark. Probably KIA.”

“I know Storm. He’s tougher than that. Got a damn guardian angel looking out for him or something. Make your usual shortwave hails.”

“Can you transfer me to operations?”

“Stand by.”

There was silence on the line for a moment, and then another voice. “Operations.”

“This is callsign Seraph, authorization code seven-eight-six-zero-zero-nine.”

“Enter your challenge, Seraph.”

“Diamond,” Ivan said.

“Challenge is good, what can I get you, Ivan?”

“I need a secure line to Vulture. Priority three.”

“Hold on.”

The phone rang once more, and a young man’s voice answered. “Presida City Gym.”

“Swath, it’s Ivan. We’ve been retasked. Victor and I are coming to you.”

“What’s happened? Why are you coming here?”

Ivan fidgeted with his free hand. “It’s about your cousin. It’ll be better if we explain in person. We’re about eighteen hours out.”

“No, tell me now. What happened to Mira? Is she okay?”

There was a very pregnant pause.

“Ivan?”

“My Dragonite fired off a Hyper Beam on Route 309,” he said slowly. “It cleaved off part of the Garagin Range. The landslide came down towards her and the boy she was traveling with.”

Swath’s voice was calm, measured, deadly. “What were you doing?”

“We had it on good authority that they have the Air Gem. It’s gone, and no one knows what happened to it.”

“What happened to Mira?”

“We had to retreat before we could—”

“What. Happened. To. Mira?”

Ivan kicked a rock at his feet. “Near as we can tell they dropped into the desert.”

Swath was silent for several minutes. Ivan could hear things being thrown on the other line. He finally spoke. “If you didn’t outrank me I would find you and throttle you myself. I just got Vincent’s tasking order about you two. If I wasn’t being ordered to cover you I wouldn’t let you anywhere near my city.”

“Swath, I’m sorry.”

“Just do what you need to do here and leave.”

The line went dead.

*****

The dust was still swirling when Jason awoke.

He groaned and tried to sit up, but a sharp hot pain in his chest put him on his back again. Gingerly, he put a hand under his shirt and pressed around on his skin. The shock of a twisting knife confirmed that at least one of his lower ribs had fractured.

“Oh, fuck…FUCK!”

He hissed as a fresh wave of pain washed over his body, leaving him immobile on the desert floor. A tear snaked down the side of his face and he began to whimper.

Something growled somewhere in the dust cloud, and out of the corner of his eye Jason could see a figure loping towards him, limping badly on one side. Mightyena eventually reached him, whining loudly at the long gash running down her right foreleg. She licked at Jason’s face and tried nuzzling his neck, but instead yelped as dust landed in her open wound.

“Lay down girl, lay down,” Jason said, fumbling for his backpack. It had landed near him, covered in dirt and dust. He clumsily opened the main compartment and bits of glass spilled out. His computer was in ruins, the screen destroyed beyond all repair and the keyboard completely dislodged from the base, leaving the internal components free to detach. They lay strewn inside the bag among his things. Jason swept out as much as he could and found Mightyena’s Pokéball. He recalled her and pushed her stasis lock into place before replacing her Pokéball and feeling around some more. The Shards the Regirock had given them were still there, tucked into a side pocket, but the Pokéball he was searching for was absent.

“Where did it go,” he muttered, considering the possibility that it had slipped out of his bag during the fall and lay somewhere in the cloud around them. He swore. “Lucario?”

“Jason?”

The familiar throaty voice came from somewhere beyond the curtain of debris all around him. “Lucario, follow my voice. I’m on the ground over here, don’t trip over me. How did you get out of your Pokéball?”

“Everything started collapsing around me,” Lucario said, emerging from the sand. “Something was beeping all around me, and then it released me.”

“Probably busted,” Jason said, and sure enough, he produced the two detached hemispheres of Lucario’s Pokéball from his pack. The hinge had broken away, removed with such force that it had snapped cleanly off its assembly on the back of the Pokéball. “Did you see any of the others? I took care of Mightyena already.”

“Mira. And Zangoose. Both over there.” He gestured with his paw behind him. “Unconscious.”

“All right. Gah, help me up, would you? Where’s the wall to sit up against?”

Lucario closed his eyes and looked into the aura around himself. Jason’s form was weak and purple, making shaking, jerking movements. Mira and Zangoose were nearby, looking as bad if not worse than Jason. Other, unfamiliar silhouettes swirled in the background. He saw the dust swirling, and where it stopped suddenly.

“It’s over there. Not far.”

“Okay. Help me over there? I think one of my ribs is broken.”

He nodded and crouched down, slipping one paw under Jason’s knees and another behind his shoulders. Lucario lifted him up easily, trying not to shift his Trainer around too much. They reached the desert wall and Lucario carefully set Jason down as he winced.

“Ah, thanks. I should’ve bought that Heal Pulse TM. Wait—oh, I hope it didn’t break. No, go see if Mira and Zangoose are okay first and then bring my bag over.”

Lucario wandered off in the direction he had indicated before and Jason blinked some dirt out of his eyes. He put a hand on his chest, breathing shallowly. For the first time he looked down at himself; his jeans had long rips in both legs, the zipper on his jacket had broken off, and there was a hole in his shirt large enough to put his fist through. His shoes had stayed mostly intact, though the tongue of his left sneaker had disappeared.

Two humanoid figures and a smaller feline shape came out of the dust. Mira walked slowly, holding her bag by one strap. Zangoose had one arm held against his chest with a clump of his own tail fur in his paw.

“Are you hurt?” Jason asked.

“I don’t think so,” Mira said, rubbing her neck. “Cuts and bruises, that’s all. What about you?”

“Rib’s busted, I think. Lucario, my bag.”

He hopped off, grabbed the bag and brought it over. Jason dug through one of the front pockets before pulling out a small silver disc. “They were having a giveaway of some of the new Technical Machines at the Pokémon Center in Shortide,” he said as he loaded it into his Pokénav. “Please be Heal Pulse, please be Heal Pulse…”

His Pokénav beeped and the screen lit up. “Ice Beam,” he said, dejected.

“That’s still good,” Mira said.

“It’s not what I need.” Jason groaned and put his hand on his chest. “I could’ve had Gardevoir learn Heal Pulse and help me with this.”

“Ice will bring down the swelling and make the pain manageable. And it would make water for us.”

“Gardevoir can’t learn Ice Beam.”

“Lucario can.”

A small “oh” escaped Jason’s lips and he looked at his Pokémon. Lucario stood near them, watching for movement. The dust was beginning to settle, but not completely enough for them to see very far, so he watched the unfamiliar auras swirl about in the distance.

“Worth a shot. Lucario, come here.”

He crouched down beside his Trainer, who produced an empty Pokéball from his pack. “I can’t teach you this without a Pokéball, since yours broke you’re considered wild. I need to catch you again.”

Lucario nodded and touched the Pokéball’s button with his paw. He disappeared in a haze of red light, and the shaking subsided quickly. Jason tapped his Pokénav’s screen several times and the Technical Machine popped back out. He returned it to his bag and released Lucario.

“Okay, give that Ice Beam a try. Off to the side, though. When you get the hang of it, give me a fist-sized chunk.”

He walked a short ways away and started firing at the desert wall, trying to refine the loose, scattered beam into something workable. Jason took his knife and cut away part of his jacket and his jeans below the knee. Mira recalled Zangoose and put him in stasis, releasing Regirock in his place. The golem’s eyes flashed brightly, and its low grunting almost gave the impression that it was happy. It sunk its hands into the ground and began absorbing dirt.

“Who were those guys?” Mira asked.

“Not important,” Jason said, stuffing the loose fabric in his bag. “We need to figure out what we’re going to do.”

“It is important, that knew we had the Air Gem!”

“No, they knew someone had the Air Gem. They didn’t follow us down here, and they could’ve easily gotten out if they had. They’re not following us anymore, they probably ran.”

Mira gave him a noncommittal grunt. “We should still try and find out who they are.”

“Later. What are we going to do now?”

“We should be closer to the northeastern entrance,” she said, looking at her Pokénav. “Of course, I can’t check the maps because of all the resonance in here. But we were closer to Darsky City than the Great South Intersection, right?”

“I think so. Can’t be sure. Hmm.”

“‘Hmm’ what?”

“The Firestone Range is close, too.”

Lucario came back with a small, smooth block of ice in his paw. Jason wrapped it in the cuttings from his jacket and pressed it to his chest, sighing in relief as he did.

“You’ve got a cracked rib!”

“I walked around Presida City with a broken leg. This’ll heal faster than that. And besides, we know other people are looking for the Gems now. Those guys were Scion for all we know. The Fire Gem is supposed to be under that mountain range there, and we’re already here.”

“This is a really bad idea, Jason.”

He scoffed. A foreign fire burned within him. “If we put all our Pokémon in stasis except Lucario and Regirock, we’ll have enough food to get there, and now we have an unlimited water supply, like you said. We don’t eat much, and Regirock…well, look at it, its food source is everywhere. We have to go through this wasteland to get to the Fire Gem anyway, we might as well only do it once.”

Jason got himself to his feet, supporting himself with his free hand against the desert wall. “And you’re not even injured, so what are you complaining about?”

Mira frowned and shrank away from him. “Fine.”

“Come on, who knows how much time we lost lying on the ground there. We’ve got the whole day to walk.”

He trudged west, towards the far-off mountains jutting into the sky. Mira and their Pokémon followed, and they were specks on the horizon by the time the dust settled.

*****

“I’m not asking for your sat feeds, Commander Patera. Your tech team is going to mirror them to our offices.”

Marshal Bruce Garrett stood ahead of his group of subordinate Marshals, facing a tall, thickset man clad in body armor more fitting to a military officer rather than an Internal Security agent. Behind him a DIS squad had cordoned the area on Route 309 around the massive cloud of dust and dirt the fallen mountaintop had kicked up. Their helicopters hovered overhead, and armored vehicles barred any foot traffic from approaching.

“Not up to me, Bruce,” Patera said, waving two of his agents on. “Submit it in writing.”

“We need these feeds now,” Garrett said, grinding his teeth. “We need them before whoever did this gets away and we need to find whoever they were attacking.”

“What’s left of them is probably somewhere in that rubble, and it’s cordoned. It’s too much of a health risk to send anyone in yet.”

Some of the other Marshals began walking towards Bruce, keeping a wary eye on the DIS agents concealed behind armor and gas masks. “If those people are alive and your obstruction means we don’t get to them in time, I will crucify you, Daniel. I will bring the Justice Department down on you so hard and so fast your head will spin. Now get out of my way!”

His shout took Patera by surprise, and he was shaken for a moment, but regained his composure and called out to his squad. “Let them in.” He turned back to Garrett. “You’ll choke in that dust cloud, Marshal. Your techs will have the sat feeds within the hour. I’m pulling my men back to maintain the cordon, but this is still our operation. This was an act of terrorism, and we have jurisdiction. Don’t count on being on field work once my superiors get wind of this little tantrum.”

The DIS agents returned to their vehicles at the perimeter, automatic weapons slung across their backs. Garrett and his team retrieved their gas masks from their own truck and ventured into the dust.

*****

The sun beat down on them.

It was not the normal, refreshing heat they had experienced all the days before, shining down and providing warmth and light. It was as if Groudon himself had awoken and amplified the rays, making them sear anything they touched. The heat was a constant and unwelcome companion, slowly but surely sapping their strength, turning the simple act of walking into a battle of attrition, and the heat was winning.

Lucario had the worst of it, being covered in fur and having the highest body temperature of the four. He panted constantly, his dry, cracked tongue hanging lazily from the side of his mouth. Every so often he would slow down for a moment’s relief, then work himself up again catching up to the others. It was a few hours before he caught on to the idea of dousing himself with his own ice to cool down. He brought up the rear along with Regirock, which showed no signs of tiring as it lumbered on, stooping over occasionally to absorb a chunk of earth.

Jason led them, doubling back every now and then to get another handful of ice from Lucario when his melted. Other than a grimace of pain whenever his foot came down too hard and sent a shockwave up to his rib and the sweat streaming down his body, he showed no signs of slowing.

Mira kept pace behind him, but was having a harder time of it, though she tried not to show it. Her jacket had gone into her pack, and her shirt was wrapped around her head to keep her hair up. Her camisole was drenched in sweat, along with the rest of her body. She carried a small collapsible cup that Lucario would fill with ice, and she waited until it melted to gulp it all down.

They had kept their talking to a minimum to save energy, but eventually Mira spoke. “Jason?”

“What?”

“You said there was a Torterra guarding the Earth Gem?”

“Yeah.”

“And that Lugia was guarding where the Air Gem was supposed to be.”

“Yes.”

“We’re going to be dealing with a big, angry Fire-type. And it might not be in as talkative a mood as Lugia was.”

“Run in, grab it, run out.” He was unusually curt.

“And if that doesn’t work?”

He turned around. His mouth was twisted up, his jaw clenched behind his lips. “I don’t know. But we probably won’t figure it out by talking all day. So shut up.”

Mira stood there as he walked on. She opened her mouth several times, but nothing came out. Lucario passed her, offering to fill her cup, but she shook her head. Regirock paused behind her and they both stood motionless for a moment.

“You can’t talk to me like that,” she said quietly, but Jason was out of earshot. “I don’t deserve that.”

She exhaled sharply, then slowly followed Lucario.

They had slowed to little more than a trudge by sunset. In a matter of minutes all the day's heat disappeared, replaced by a bitter, unrelenting cold hanging in the air. Their sweat-soaked clothing came off immediately, replaced by all the dry clothing they had.

Jason gasped as he tried pulling on a shirt, gripping at his fractured rib as he doubled over. Mira reached out instinctively, but stopped herself, instead buttoning up her jacket.

“Ah, help me up here, would you?” he asked, resting a hand on the ground.

“Just buttoning up my jacket,” Mira said.

“Mira,” he hissed.

Her hands seized up, fumbling with the buttons on her jacket, until Lucario picked up his Trainer. He shot her a dirty look and put on his hat. Mira bundled up similarly and looked at Regirock.

“Can you dig us a hole to sleep in? It's just going to get colder and we—well, us three, not you, I guess—need to preserve body heat.”

It shrugged in assent and began shoveling the ground, piling the displaced earth into a small windbreak to the east. When Lucario hopped into the ditch Regirock sat on the south side, preparing to stand sentinel as the others slept.

“You're gonna have to be the littlest spoon,” Jason said to his Pokémon.

“Why?” Lucario asked.

“That big spike sticking out of your chest. You're liable to impale one of us if you snuggle too close otherwise.”

He looked down at his torso and nodded sullenly, cuddling the backpacks as Mira wrapped her arms around him. Jason clambered in after them and pressed his bandaged chest into Mira's back. She felt him sticking her just above her legs. Mira whined and squirmed away, instead spooning Lucario as tightly as she could without making him yelp. Jason did not pursue her.

“Something the matter?”

Mira was silent.

“Mira? Mira?”

“Hmm? Oh. I didn't know if I was allowed to talk now.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Come off it, it was hot and you didn't want to talk any more than I did. I didn't mean to snap at you.”

She mumbled a reply and buried her head in Lucario's shoulder. Jason shrugged and hung his arm over her, brushing against the bottom of her breasts. Mira bit her lip and tried to sleep as a tear snaked down her face.

*****

Wednesday, 24 May 2000

01:37 AM

Shift Doctor: Albert Taikel

Patient: Cole, Erica C.

Reason for visit: Suicide attempt (exsanguination)

Notes: Patient admitted by trauma team one at 12:58 AM with self-inflicted lengthwise lacerations on undersides of forearms from wrists to elbows. Left laceration approximately 12mm in depth, right laceration approximately 8mm in depth. Blood loss estimated at 700mL. Immediate blood infusion upon admission. Condition stabilized at 1:10 AM. Patient has asked repeatedly to be discharged. Recommended commission to psych wing, decision overturned by Dr. Richard Cole. Patient will be discharged to his care in the morning. Patient become irate when told and was sedated.

*****

Mira awoke in tears.

She started as her eyes opened in the early morning light, red and moist and running. Jason's arm was wrapped around her waist, brushing at the top of her pants as he snored lightly. Mira worked her arm free and set his hand back on his own hip before wiping her face dry. She immediately regretted doing so, though, when she realized there was sand all over the palm of her hand. Grimacing, she tried to rub it away, with little success. The day's heat was beginning to creep into their little hidey-hole. Too soon she was uncomfortably aware of Lucario's fur bristling against her neck and chin, and how warm it was.

Groaning, Mira inched Lucario away from her. It was no easy task—Lucario was deceptively heavy for his size, being mostly muscle—but eventually she had pushed him out of contact with her. When she was free she reached over him and retrieved her bag, dry-swallowing a handful of pills before bumping her hips against Jason's.

“Hey, wake up. Sun's coming up.”

“Mnnmg.”

“Jason.”

“Mnnmg,” he repeated.

“Hey, shit-for-brains, it's was your bright fucking idea to go traipsing through the desert, now wake the fuck up!”

Jason remained steadfastly asleep. Mira sighed in exasperation and sat up, climbing out of the hole to find Regirock sitting in the same spot as before, looking blankly out into the desert. It was even hotter than it was in the hole, and Mira took off everything above her waist before nibbling on a breakfast bar.

“Anything interesting happen last night?” Mira asked.

Regirock's eyes flashed, lighting up in a repeating sequence. If there was any significance to it Mira did not know. She shrugged. “Well, everyone's still alive, though you wouldn't know it to look at them...”

They glanced down into the hole. Jason had reached out for someone to hold and grabbed Lucario, keeping him pressed up against his chest. Mira smirked and relaxed on Regirock's side.

“So, are you...comfortable walking out here with us?” she asked, patting the side of Regirock's hand. “Tap the ground once for yes, twice for no.”

The large stone came down on the hardpan one time. Mira nodded. “I thought the heat might be bothering you.”

Two taps. “Good, good. I hope we get to the mountains by tonight, I'm not sure how much more of Jason's wonderful conversation I can take.”

Regirock made a deep grunting sound, which was enough to rouse Lucario from their sleep. There was groaning from the hole, and Lucario clambered up to the surface. He yawned widely and sat beside Mira, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“Good morning, furball,” Mira said, scratching him behind his ear. Lucario's leg began to shake. “Could I get some ice, please?”

Lucario formed a small shard of ice in his paw and gave it to Mira. She popped it into her mouth, sighing contentedly at the sensation before extending her hand for another. Lucario complied with a somewhat larger shard that Mira ran along her neck and shoulders. She pulled her shirt on, closed her eyes and relaxed.

Lucario's ears flitted downward as he turned to making ice for himself. He offered another shard to Mira and she accepted it. She licked it absentmindedly for several minutes before it melted, at which point she looked down into the hole. Jason was still asleep.

“Can you jump?” Mira asked Regirock. It pitched its body back and forth. “Would you mind? I'm all for a good lie-in, but this is getting ridiculous.”

Regirock lumbered to its feet, making all manner of creaking noises as the various stones that comprised its body scraped against one another, and then hopped up. It went less than a meter into the air, but came down with enough force to unsettle a trio of Geodude concealed in a patch of scrub grass nearby, causing them to roll out, disoriented. They looked for the source of the disturbance, but retreated when they saw the size of the golem. It seemed to have its intended effect, though, and Jason poked his head up out of the hole. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned.

“How long have you been up?”

“A while,” Mira said. “Regirock figured it was time to get going.”

He looked at his Pokénav and mumbled in agreement before climbing out onto the hardpan. They retrieved their bags in silence and started west again, the sun beating down on their backs. Much of the morning passed without words, both eager only to reach the mountain range that never seemed to get any closer.

Somewhere along the featureless stretch of land—none of them could say exactly where—a new speck appeared before them, jumping up into existence when it distinguished itself from the brown of the mountains beyond it. It was a deep blue, almost navy, though they were too far away to determine any approximate dimensions. They wordlessly quickened across the hardpan, taking themselves off their straight path to close in on it.

Eventually the speck took on dimension. It was a low, flat structure, almost too low to be even one story high, and six meters across. The thin, spindly outline of a small radio tower eked itself out from the rough brown background to its right. They peered toward the structure, but the haze of the desert made it impossible to discern any more detail.

“Wait, I know what that is,” Jason said, but he did not share it, instead breaking into a jog towards whatever it was. Mira trailed behind him, nursing a cramp in her leg. Lucario kept pace with her, waiting to catch her if she fell. Regirock lumbered in the rear, its squat, stony legs moving as fast as they could.

Soon they were upon the building, which they saw was set at least halfway into the ground. The hardpan around it was cracked, probably by heavy tools. A smaller gray structure was set almost entirely into the ground a few meters away, with vents on the sides that housed a generator. The radio tower was similarly affixed, secured by concrete pillars. A bundle of wires ran from the top of the tower into a steel enclosure that joined the sunken building, which they now noticed was covered in reflective paint. A stairway dug into one side led to a heavy door. Something was written in faded paint on the door: RANGER OUTPOST DELTA.

“Yeah, one of the government outposts,” Jason said, walking down the stairs. He rapped on the door, to no response. His heavier pounding met similar silence. “Lucario, want to give me a hand here?”

Lucario squeezed next to Jason on the narrow stairway and he threw his shoulder against the door. It remained closed. Lucario set his paws against the door and blasted it with aura. The hinges creaked, but held. Jason turned back to Regirock, who had only just caught up.

“How about you give this a try?”

“Are we even supposed to be in there?” Mira asked.

“No one's using it now, who's going to care? Might have a map inside or something.”

Mira nodded to Regirock, who worked itself down the staircase when Jason and Lucario had clambered out of the way. It kicked the door with no great force; the whole building shuddered, shaking dust off the top. Regirock swung its fist and the lock came cleanly out of the door, the deadbolts hanging out of the frame as the door swung uselessly on its hinges. It lumbered back up the stairs to Mira, pointing at the now-open door as its eyes flashed excitedly.

“Good work honey,” she said, patting Regirock's chest. “Wait here while we look inside, okay? You're a little too big to fit in there.”

Regirock settled onto the hardpan and scooped up a handful of sand while they went into the station. It was sparsely furnished but comfortable, with a pair of bunks tucked into a corner underneath a narrow window at the top of the wall. Jason flipped a switch and the generator outside whirred to life, powering the light in the middle of the ceiling. The radio controls sat in the kitchenette, beside a small table for meals. Behind another open door there was a chemical toilet. Cabinets ringed the rest of the room. A small pet bed was under the table.

“Come on, let's see what's here.” Jason began opening the cabinets, setting aside packets of dehydrated food and medical supplies while Lucario curled up on the bottom bunk.

“Do we really need all that?” Mira asked. “We have first aid stuff, these are for the rangers. They're out here for weeks at a time, we shouldn't be stealing their supplies.”

“They can fly in more,” Jason said. “We can use it now. It's not like they'll have to—whoa.”

He opened one cabinet fully so Mira could see inside. Neatly lined up against the back wall were several rifles with dozens of boxes of ammunition stacked between them. A pair of pistols hung on the cabinet door. Jason reached for one of the rifles, but Mira swatted his hand away.

“What are you doing? They might get annoyed if some food is missing, but they'll start searching if you take that!”

“I just wanted to see how it handled, calm down,” Jason said. He closed the cabinet and kept looking through the station. “Find any maps?”

Mira nudged another cabinet open and began looking through stacks of papers when the radio crackled. They both froze when a voice came on the line.

“Delta station, this is Oxide. Call in with your challenge, over.”

Jason piled the food and medical packets into his bag. “Time to go. Lucario, get up.”

Lucario's ears pricked up and he yawned. The radio buzzed again, demanding a code. Mira pocketed a topographical map of the area before stepping out last and trying to close the door, but there was nothing to hold it in place anymore. Regirock got to its feet and followed them as they hurried away from the outpost, the light atop the radio mast blinking red.

“I found a map,” Mira said, taking it out of her pocket. Jason stopped and backpedaled to her as she unfolded it. “Here's the ranger station, so we're about here...oh, there's a footpath up Firestone Mountain west-southwest of us. Gets really steep, though. See the markings here?”

“Yeah, let's head that way. Didn't know you knew so much about maps.”

“Just a hobby.”

Mira folded the map back up and put it in her pocket. They adjusted their bearing slightly and continued on.

They approached the base of the mountain and footpath during the few comfortable minutes of twilight after the sun had set but the cold had not taken its grip. There was a large rocky outcropping separating them from the path.

“I guess we'll have to make a base camp somewhere on the path,” Jason said, working his way through the jagged terrain. “Do you hear clicking?”

Mira stopped and listened closely, and sure enough there was a faint click click click on the wind. They looked around for the source of the sound and saw a large, faintly red shape moving about near the mountain's base.

“Looks big,” Mira said.

“I think it's...yeah, that's a Blaziken. Why is it alone? They hunt in packs.”

“Maybe it's scouting.”

“Maybe. Come on, let's get a closer look. I could use a Fire-type.”

Mira hung back with Regirock while Jason and Lucario crept forward, using the rocks as cover. The Blaziken continued along the base of the mountain, picking up the few bits of grass there were to find. Its ears bristled as they approached, but it went unnoticed.

“Jason,” Mira hissed, but he waved her off. They came closer until there was only a single rock between them. Jason took an empty Pokéball from his belt and nodded at Lucario. He leapt over the rock towards the Blaziken, only to be greeted with a stream of fire from its mouth. Lucario rolled out of the way, but not quickly enough to avoid a singed footpad. He darted forward with a strike, but the Blaziken parried it easily and swept his legs out from under him.

Jason watched the Blaziken—it was female, its crest feathers were too short for a male—circle the downed Lucario, clicking and squawking at him while her talons balled into small fists. He wound back and tossed the Pokéball, drawing Lucario's attention and making Blaziken look back.

She loosed a short torrent of flame before the Pokéball struck her in the head and she disappeared in a swirl of energy. Lucario jumped on it to keep it from opening until it stopped shaking, which took longer than usual. When it was still he picked it up and showed it to Jason, but he had fallen behind the rock. Regirock stumbled over with Mira on its back while Lucario knelt beside him. Mira jumped off and set Jason on his back, despite his protests.

A long stretch of skin on his left hand and arm had burned away, leaving charred muscle exposed. The tips of his third and fourth finger were black, the little bit of tissue left hanging by a few strings of sinew.

“Oh god,” she said, shrugging off her bag and ripping though it, looking for the gauze. She pulled it out and started frantically wrapping his arm and hand, but blood had seeped through by the time she finished the first layer. Mira wrapped it in another layer, and a third, but the blood kept coming. Jason's eyes began to roll back.

“Pick him up, we're going back to the ranger station,” Mira said as she returned Lucario. She shrieked when something far above them screeched. Regirock picked them both up and started the long trek back to the outpost.

Mira took a sterile cloth from her bag and soaked it with the last of her emergency water. She pressed it to Jason's arm, eliciting a weak groan before more tense silence, broken only by Regirock's heavy footfalls. Mira took Jason's jacket from his bag and wrapped him in it, along with her own. Crying and shivering, she constantly scanned the black horizon for the building that now blended so well into the scenery.

Jason's wounds had begun to bleed afresh when Mira saw the blinking red light on the radio tower. She had replaced the bandages and used all the disinfectant they had, but more of his flesh had begun to blacken. His fingertips were wrapped in the hope that it would keep them attached.

“There it is, that way, hurry!”

Regirock lumbered faster towards the beacon, and Mira dared to hope they would find better supplies there, but her blood ran cold when she saw a pair of quad bikes covered in reflective paint by the entrance.

“I hope they're rangers...set me down and hand him to me, I don't want you being seen.”

The golem placed her on the ground and put Jason in her arms before she recalled him and started running for the outpost. There were several flares around the bikes, and in the dim light she could see the ranger insignia on the sides. She shuddered, but did not stop to take her jacket from Jason's limp body.

The bikes' riders had heard her approach and came out of the building, shining flashlights in her direction. Mira could see they were in ranger uniforms, a man and a woman. The man came jogging towards her.

“What happened?”

“My friend got burned, he's gone into shock, I disinfected and rewrapped it but he's lost a lot of blood,” Mira said, shaking and completely out of breath.

“All right, let's get him inside,” he said, taking Jason and running back to the station. He motioned at his colleague. “Have Seth get a medivac here to Darsky. Do we have any more wraps?”

“Whoever broke in here took most of it,” she said, heading back inside. The ranger set Jason on the bottom bunk and pulled over a nightstand to set his arm on. He unwrapped the gauze and grimaced at the gore underneath.

“We need that medivac right now,” he said.

The other ranger picked up the handset and tuned the radio. “Oxide, this is Delta station, how copy?”

“Oxide's up, go ahead, Delta.”

Mira stumbled into one of the chairs at the table, holding her arms across her chest and rubbing to keep warm. The ranger tending to Jason draped a blanket over her before pulling supplies from one of the cabinets.

“Requesting medivac at our location for a civilian with major fourth degree burns. We need this ASAP, Seth.”

“Roger that, I'm scrambling Thunder right now. Out.”

She set the radio down and went over to her partner. “Anything more to be done?”

He shook his head. “He's going to lose most of this hand,” he whispered.

She nodded and went to sit with Mira. The ranger offered her a cup of coffee from the pot on the counter. Mira nodded and put it to her lips, but her jittering hands spilled some onto her shirt.

“Your friend's gonna live, kid,” she said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Mira kept drinking the coffee. “So what happened?”

Mira set the mug down and began to explain.
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Equilibrium