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Wrapping up the lighthouse.
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I blinked at Bill's conspiratorial grin as he led me up the stairs, Ash, Misty, and an unusually quiet Brock following us. I had a pretty good idea what the billionaire was talking about, but that was meta-knowledge, and I wasn't sure if the skyscraper-sized Pokémon that randomly appeared in the series was real, aside from Bill apparently knowing about it like he did in the anime. Maybe it was just him, though.
"No, I don't. And what do you mean by 'gods'? Like, Legendaries?" It hadn't escaped my notice that PokéHumans used Legendaries in the place of words like 'God', 'Jesus', 'hell', and so on. I'd even made a conscious effort to adopt it myself, Mew in particular, as that was a popular one among Kantonians.
I simply hadn't met anyone so upfront about it.
"Legendaries, Mythical, Gods, Monsters – whichever you prefer, mate. The tales stretch back further than written records can attest. The most ancient oral traditions, passed down from the oldest clans around the world, revolve around these paragons of Pokémon, nay, these cornerstones of existence! Every corner of the globe whispers about their power, the sheer might to reshape the world at their whims! From Mew and the Storm Trio of Kanto, to the Shield and Sword of Galar, their mere being has indelibly marked the very fabric of our world! Their worship as the bringers of rain, sun, dreams, nightmares, health, disease, and everything imaginable has only truly halted in the modern age. Even now, you can find tribes that hail them as the ultimate judges of nature and life."
I tried to turn around when Bill mentioned the Regional setting of the Gen eight games, but found it impossible to escape his grasp without actually putting in some effort. It explained where he'd picked up the over-the-top accent, but it was the first I'd heard about anything after Kalos, other than a vague blob on a map that might be Alola, above Hoenn. When and how had Bill visited?
"What's Galar?" I was interested in his story, but I might as well try to get some answers.
Try, being the keyword.
"Never mind, a rather lovely place in the arse end of nowhere. It is not relevant to my story." I rolled my eyes as we finally crested the top of the stairs and emerged on the top floor. Bill rushed past me towards an enormous computer-like machine, at least 10 times the size of the standard ones I'd seen at Oak's lab. More murals lined the pillars supporting the roof, situated between large panorama windows, which were now more easily visible due to the reduced height of the ceiling and the increased number of lamps. As I'd thought down below, there were Pokémon of nearly every Kanto species depicted, but on closer inspection, they weren't represented equally. Charizard, Gyarados, and Dragonite were all featured more than twice as often as their more common counterparts, yet even they weren't depicted as frequently as the six main ones.
The large canine with a flowing mane and pointed ears was easily identifiable as an Arcanine. The three avians that always appeared in a row – one with a long, ribbon-esque tail, another with jagged wings, and the last with a long, narrow beak and a body vaguely chicken-shaped – were also easy to identify, even if I hadn't seen them myself. Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. The three Legendary Birds of Kanto, or Storm Trio, as Bill had called them. That all made sense. As did the small, humanoid, mouse-thing, with a tail twice the length of its body. Mew was kind of the main Legend of Kanto, so its prominent appearance was logical.
But what in the fuck was the fourth figure, with a long neck and giant hand-shaped wings protruding from its thicker body, doing in the lighthouse? Lugia was a Johto thing, and everything I knew about the Kanto/Johto relation said that they weren't likely to celebrate each other's Legends.
Then again, we were by the sea, and they weren't restricted to their canon area by virtue of not having been invented. I suppose there was nothing to prevent Lugia from doing a quick pass by Kanto. Hell, didn't I see Ho-Oh literally a couple of weeks ago?
"Apologies for the state of things, I know it is all a bit naff, innit? I only recently moved in, so there has not been time to redecorate. The last owner was a melodramatic prat, but I have found a fondness for the throne room. Nevertheless!" I dragged my attention away from the stone carvings in time to see Bill gesture dramatically with his arms towards the top of the computer-like apparatus he was standing in front of. I'd wondered where the screen or control panel was, as I couldn't see anything at first glance.
That confusion turned into shock and awe when Bill pressed something, and the servers started humming loudly. Light shone from the center of the collection of machinery. Dozens, hundreds of tiny lamps lit up and shone upwards in a display of science that was hilariously above my level as a fucking hologram flickered to life above us.
The imagery was blurry and somewhat indistinct, the 'pixels' – or the equivalent – were large and noticeably blocky, yet there was no denying that the 12 feet tall, 30 wide 'screen' was the most sci-fi shit I'd ever seen, right up there with the PokéBall and transfer system.
All things Bill had been involved with. I liked Oak, and maybe I just hadn't gotten the chance to see him in action truly, but holy fuck. I looked at the others to see if it was just something I was ignorant about, but even Misty and Brock were gaping at the blue-tinted picture.
"As I was saying," the world-renowned scientist continued, attempting to appear unconcerned with our reactions, yet unable to hide his huge smirk, "the Legendaries have been held as the pinnacle of creation for as long as there has been creation. Yet, so very, very little is actually known about them." The hologram flickered between hazy pictures of ancient murals, large, varying figures clashing and tearing the world asunder in their wrath. I couldn't be entirely certain, but I was pretty sure the stone mural of a large wave crashing against a mountain while the sky swirled above them was from Hoenn. "Footage is nearly nonexistent, and the vast majority of eyewitnesses are proven to be spouting bullocks or having simply seen something else." A new picture of a yellow smudge vanishing off the edge of the screen. Narrowing my eyes, I thought I might be able to make out something with four legs.
Maybe. I guessed that was the Raikou picture Oak had talked about. It was indeed shit.
"What about the recent Ho-Oh video?" I asked before Bill could get too far into whatever rant he was doing. Maybe it was just knowing where it was going, but holy fuck, the guy was talking a lot.
He blinked at me owlishly, the gang doing the same. It was Brock who decided to break his silence and finally ask.
"What Ho-Oh video?"
I mirrored their confusion and pulled out my PokéDex to show them. Based on the gaping mouths from three of the four, Oak apparently hadn't made it public?
Why? Also, I hope I hadn't fucked up whatever reason he had by sharing it myself.
The only one that didn't seem shocked was Ash. Instead, the black-haired boy lit up with realization and pointed excitedly at the screen. "HEY! That's the Flying-Type I saw!"
The Ketchum found his shoulders tightly grasped and Bill's face nose-to-nose with his.
"You saw it too!?"
Ash nodded, uncaring that he was essentially Eskimo kissing the 30-year-old man, though Bill at least had enough awareness to back off a bit. "Yeah! It was outside Viridian! There was this huge flock of Spearow that was chasing me and Pikachu, and that's when I met Misty for the first time! She was fishing-"
Apparently not caring about the long-winded explanation Ash launched into, Bill returned his attention to me. He kept his distance, however, after I glared at him warningly as he moved to step closer. I'd fucking kick the weirdo in the junk if he did it again. I had already shared all the breath I intended with the guy.
However, it didn't curb the manic excitement in his eyes.
"I want that footage! Name your price!"
"Uh," I hesitated. It was a much better offer than selling Betty, but perhaps I should talk to Oak and see if he had a reason not to share it with others. "Maybe I should call the Professor first. I gave him the video weeks ago-"
Bill threw his head back and groaned loudly. "That bloody figures! Sammy fucking Oak, keeping all the good shite to himself, again! I swear, I have had it up to here with the man! Always whining about being kept out of cutting edge research and then hiding his own!" Bill literally growled under his breath, yet swiftly shook it off and went back to attempting to hackle with me.
"Come on, mate, pal, old chap! There ain't anything on that video that would hurt the good Professor, is there? And I highly doubt that he paid you anything for that video, did he?" I shook my head. He was sponsoring me, but nothing beyond that. "Then it is all good, innit? You deserve a reward for all your hard work. This is once-in-a-lifetime research you have done here! Any official institution would have showered you in accolades, there's nothing wrong with benefiting from your good work. Tell you what, I'll upgrade your carry limit to seven in return, how about that? Some Trainers go their entire lives without going beyond six and you can get there for one measly video. What do you say?"
I felt my willpower drain. That was an excellent offer. I still felt like I should call first, but he wasn't my dad. He'd been sitting on the information for close to a month; surely the head start was good enough. I looked at the others for their opinions, but Ash seemed busy trying to figure out if Bill had insulted the Professor, Misty was looking at the murals, and Brock was simply staring at me stoically.
Guess I was on my own.
Fuck it. Sometimes you just had grab an opportunity and figure out the consequences later.
"Fuck it, sure."
"Wonderful!" I didn't have time to protest before my PokéDex was ripped from my hands and then shoved back in as Bill sent the video to himself at light speed. Still moving like lightning, he hammered away at his projector computer device. "Thank you, my friend, truly thank you! While I doubt we will learn the secrets of the Legendaries from this footage alone, it will certainly go a long way. It should only take a minute, then you should receive a message from the League regarding your upgraded Trainer license."
I nodded absently, still feeling a little weird about it. Thankfully, and just another reason she was awesome, Misty tried to get the original conversation back on track from where I'd derailed it.
"So, is that why you're out here? To learn the secrets of the Legendaries?" I heard better attempts at hiding disdain, but Misty wasn't a particularly skilled actor.
"Eh? Oh! Arceus no! Well, somewhat." Bill waffled as he was pulled from his new obsession. "I suppose I got a little sidetracked. Anyway, the point was that we know very little about the Legendaries, and what causes them to be so much above the norm that they are immortalized in myths and fables. So, if we can't study the Legendaries themselves, we must go to the next best thing! You are, of course, familiar with the Alpha gene." The hologram displayed a large Donphan, standing almost twice the height of the other Donphan beside it. "A larger than usual specimen, caused seemingly through nothing but genetic chance. "
He nodded my way with a big smile. "Then, of course, there are the Titans. If you would do the honors, mate." I rolled my eyes again, knowing full well that he just wanted an actual look at Betty, but I still grabbed her ball from my belt and hit the button. Everybody present already knew about her anyway.
The Titan Bagon looked around curiously as she was released, though her lip quickly started to curl at being surrounded by so many people. I was sure she recognised the gang, but that didn't mean she liked them enough to let them enter her personal space.
Bill, on the other hand, was a fucking lunatic and tried to do the same 'get super close' thing he'd done to Ash and me. I was forced to grab Betty by the neck when her jaws opened and she tried to snatch his head in her maw, though I wanted just to let her do it when the crazy fuck pulled out a tape measure and held it up to her teeth, barely avoiding having his fingers bitten off.
"Blimey! Simply astounding! I have spent a long, long time looking for a Dragon-Type Titan and here you finally are…" Bill almost seemed like he was in a haze as he stared at the increasingly agitated Bagon. He only snapped out of it when I recalled her after fearing she was going to rip herself from my hold and kill the guy. "Ah, right. Apologies, I just… take my previous offer as a starting point. There is very little I would not do for an in-depth report. Anyways!" I was pretty sure he caught onto my annoyance as he quickly moved on.
"Alpha. Titan. Then Legendary. Quite a jump, innit? So much so that most people don't think they are related at all, brain-dead simpletons that they are! No, no, as always, it is up to old Bill to pave the way to the future. What if there was something between the two, a step we haven't seen before?"
Another flickering of the mid-air projector, but instead of another photo, it was a line that widened and narrowed irregularly, which I recognized as a sound wave.
"This is audio from our dear Champion's Alpha Dragonite." I didn't have time to register the fact that Lance apparently had a fucking Alpha Pseudo-Legendary – not that I could talk – before a fairly low-pitched, keenning coo filled the room. It somewhat reminded me of whale song, just deeper in tone.
"And this. This was captured by the previous owner of the lighthouse, precisely two years ago to the date." Another cry rang out, but where the last one had been light for a gigantic dragon, the new one rattled bones and made me want to cover my ears. It rumbled like an earthquake and sounded more like Brock's Onix, yet there were undoubtedly rises and falls in pitch.
Rises and falls that matched up well with Lance's Dragonite, the two waveforms lined up next to each other for comparison.
"The inflection, the rise and fall, the duration," rather than the haughty tone Bill had been using throughout nearly our whole encounter, he sounded almost breathless. "There is no doubt in my mind. It all lines up with a Dragonite searching call. Yet, when you look at the pitch change from average Dragonite to Alpha, and then do the math…" A height comparison replaced the waveforms. First was a human silhouette, depicted as 6 feet tall. Next to it was a dragonite at 7'3. Then, a bigger Dragonite, Lance's presumably, close to 10 feet tall, which was a lot of fucking dragon.
Or so I thought. Because then the perspective pulled out. And out. And even further out still, until the human and first Dragon-Type was barely visible, and only then did the size of the last Dragonite appear.
"300 feet, with room for error. Taller than the very building in which we stand." I then understood the wonder and quiet reverence in Bill's voice. I already knew it, but seeing the size, even on a holographic screen, was wild. "I do not know if it is truly related to the Legendaries. For all I know, there is zero correlation. It's likely, even. No small Legendaries have ever been found, and they truly do seem to be removed from normal Pokémon as we know them. But I am on to something, something grand. And you all have the privilege of seeing Bill Masaki change the world once more."
That was all the warning we received before he fiddled with the console again, and a loud beep! sounded out. Mechanical rumbling filled the room as servos and gears ground against each other. The vast panorama windows lifted upwards and turned to lie perpendicular to the ceiling as they retracted inwards, exposing the top of the lighthouse to the chilly night air. A heavy fog had set in at some point, clouding the sea and beach in mist so thick it was hard to see more than 10 feet in front of us. Being as high as we were, I imagined that it was what it felt like to fly among the clouds, an ocean of wavering white obscuring every direction.
I felt Eevee's small form press lightly against my leg, making me kneel to caress her softly. She flinched at first, but allowed me to continue, even leaning into it somewhat.
"I know that you don't like your ball, and that's fine. But if this goes really wrong, I might be forced to recall you for your safety. Do I have your permission for that?" It was a delicate situation. Her life could very well be in danger, but we literally just established that I wouldn't put her in the PokéBall. It would suck to lose what little trust we'd built so far.
Thankfully, after studying me some more, Eevee nodded her consent. I let out a sigh of relief as I stood back up. My metaknowledge in general was getting more and more shaky, but the giant Dragonite thing was real, which meant that there was a decent chance that Jessie and James shooting a fucking bazooka at it could be as well.
And there was nothing I could really do about it. Even if I was fast enough to run down to the beach before the whole thing went down – which might be possible depending on how long the Dragon-Type took to show up – how was I going to find them in the fog? I couldn't warn Bill either, as that would raise the question of how I knew that they would be there. I couldn't have seen them earlier, because why didn't I tell Walter and whoop their asses?
Future knowledge was honestly more trouble than it was fucking worth sometimes. I really wish I could trust people more and just tell them that I was from a different dimension. Unfortunately, it wasn't worth the risk.
"DRREEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO!
Both Eevee and I flinched at the horrifically loud sound that exploded out of the massive speakers attached all around the ceiling. I'd thought it was noisy the first time Bill played the giant Dragonite sound, but apparently he'd had it on low volume, because holy fuck.
"That was a higher pitch than before." I was genuinely impressed that Brock could make out anything other than noise.
"Good ear, Brock, my boy," Bill mumbled as he walked to the railing surrounding the balcony-esque protrusion around the beacon part of the lighthouse. "It is a bit of a gamble, I will admit, but I have approximately raised the tone enough that it should imitate a female of a similar size. I would never dare assume that our giant friend is stupid enough to not recognize his own voice."
Fair enough, I felt, and based on Brock returning to his silence, he agreed, though I didn't take the time to look or share that sentiment. Instead, while the other four – six, counting Eevee and Pikachu, who was still on Ash's shoulder – were peering curiously into the haze covering the water and horizon, I was staring down towards the cliff upon which the beacon was perched.
I couldn't see shit, but if Team Rocket were there, I'd see where they fired from. It was a little too far for me to jump, but maybe Bill had a Teleport expert, or something. The guy was rich as fuck and one of the most influential people across multiple Regions, surely he had some badass Pokémon somewhere.
Just in case, though.
"Hey, Misty." There wasn't really any need, but I found myself whimpering anyway.
"DRREEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO!"
Having received no results, Bill pressed the button again and unleashed another deafening call that echoed out across the waves, reverberating and warping oddly in the heavy cloud cover. Everyone held their breath as it faded into the distance, ears perked up for any signs of an approaching Kaiju.
Nothing.
"Pssst! Misty!" I tried again, having gotten no response the first time.
"What!?" She hissed back, still not looking at me. Rude. "If you say something about 'look, it's misty out there', I'll throw you off the fucking tower."
"I-what? No! That's not even-whatever." I sighed, not letting it show that I was mentally storing that one for later. "Listen, your Starmie knows Teleport, right?"
"Yeah?" She finally turned my way with a furrowed brow when nothing continued to happen. "I mean, she's not that good at it, but the Clan's had centuries to figure out decent training methods. Why?"
"Oh, you know, just in case summoning the Mythical-sized Dragonite of unknown temperament – with the promise of an equally huge female that we don't have – doesn't turn out as well as Bill's hoping." Or if terrorists showed up with a rocket launcher. Because those were somehow both very feasible.
Life was fucking whacky.
"Oh!" Misty seemed genuinely surprised by that idea, which was wild. No wonder the gang got into so much shit if that was the level of thought they put into potentially lethal situations. "That's smart. Did Siren come up with it for you?"
"Hahaha, so very funny! You've been spending too much time with Broc; your sense of humor is starting to suffer. And you didn't start with enough to be able to afford losing any."
She scoffed, but I did notice that one of her hands rested on a worn PokéBall, presumably Starmie's. With that sorted, I settled in to watch and wait with the others, periodically glancing at the cliff.
Yet, the night remained quiet.
"DRREEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO!"
As the Dragonite cry rang out for the eighth time, I was kind of over it, resting my chin on the railing while staring blankly into the fog. Anticipation simply wasn't an emotion that was designed to stay around for that long, even when I was reasonably sure it would actually pay off.
Or maybe not. It wouldn't be the first time my metaknowledge hadn't proved accurate. Honestly, it was getting to the point where relying on it was less helpful than knowing nothing at all.
I was pretty sure Ash was asleep in the same position as me, Pikachu clutching onto his hat for stability while the electric rodent snoozed as well. Even Misty had partially surrendered, scrolling on the same device her family had.
Which reminded me that I still didn't know what it was called. Awkward to just say 'device'.
"Your sisters and Walter had those as well. Are they like a PokéDex?"
"Kinda. Not really, though," she mumbled, eyes still focused on the screen. Still, she at least tilted it so I could see that she was in some kind of forum, about Water-Type Pokémon, I presumed, based on the name 'WaterWifes'. At least, I fucking hoped it was about training Water-Types. "It's a PokéNav, from Devon Corp. in Hoenn. It's got all the basics the PokéDex has, except the whole scanning and connecting to Professor Oak or Silph Co. databases, but it's just a portable phone with internet. They're still pretty expensive, and hard to find outside of Hoenn – or even in Hoenn, to be fair – but it's quite nifty. Uncle says he would literally have killed for one during the rebellion. Speaking of my family, though."
She put her PokéNav, which I now recalled was a Gen 3 thing after she said it, and fully turned to look at me with narrowed eyes and crossed arms. "What the hell did you spend so much time in Cerulean for? You were supposed to just train before your Gym battle, yet you stayed for over a week extra. Why? I didn't think you liked my sisters, and how'd you meet Walter?"
I leaned back a little at the intensity in her eyes. "Your sisters aren't that bad." Based on the disbelief on her face, those weren't the right words. "I mean, they're nothing compared to-"
"DRREEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO!"
"-eeeeooooo."
I stopped mid-sentence, straining my ears as the faint noise faded away. Using sound to pinpoint direction was nearly impossible due to the mist and water, which replicated any noise repeatedly…
But that didn't sound like it came from the lighthouse.
"Did you hear that?"
"What, the echo? Don't try to get around this, the fuck do you mean my sisters aren't that bad!? What the fuck were you doing in Cerulean!?"
"No, seriously, shut up!" I held up my hand, maneuvering around her to slap Bill on the shoulder for his attention. Brock and he were the only ones who hadn't flinched at the long wait time, staring patiently out into the white clouds. It was only at my prompting that they looked my way, Bill with clear annoyance in his eyes, though he tried to hide it. "Hit it again."
He was obviously skeptical, yet did it anyway, either to score more points with me or because he didn't think it would hurt.
"DRREEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO!"
"-eeeeeeooooOOO!"
Everyone heard it that time, a faint repetition from far away, much further than our echo had ever reached. Quivering with anticipation, Bill began spamming the button rapidly.
"DRREEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO!"
"-eeeeeEEOOOOOOO!"
"DRREEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO!"
"-eEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Something shifted in the corner of my eye. I turned my head to look, and my jaw dropped to my chest. Mechanically, I reached out and poked the nearest person, which just so happened to be Misty. She, along with everyone, including a freshly awakened Ash, was staring out into the mist with their heads on swivels, and she ignored the first prod against her ribs. And the second.
It wasn't until the third one that I'd finally bothered her enough to get her attention.
"WHAT!" She seethed through gritted teeth, trying to keep her volume low, yet still drawing the eyes of everyone on the lighthouse.
I pointed up and behind them, making them turn around and freeze.
Which was fair, because. Holy. Fucking. Shit.
At first glance, there was nothing to see, just like there hadn't been for the last 30 minutes. The mist was a slightly darker color in that area than the others, but that wasn't unusual in the undulating fog. Likewise, the crashing of waves had been a constant companion throughout our wait, so it was hardly noticeable that it was ever so slightly louder than before.
Until the hue darkened further and the splashing became louder.
A silhouette grew increasingly distinct, a rounded shape with a protruding point in the center. Two wavering lengths stretched like Gyarados out to either side, each as long and wide as a tree. Spotlights kicked on around the lighthouse, all directing at the monstrous figure coming our way, and reflecting off a pair of triangular shapes that shone white. The extra light bounced off the droplets in the air, ironically making it harder to see the building-sized wings that shadowed the horizon as far as the eye could see. The body was hidden in the mist and distance, only a rounded torso that disappeared into the darkness.
"DRREEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Marvelous…" Bill uttered breathlessly, seemingly lost in the once-in-a-lifetime sight before him. Still, the man was a professional, and it didn't take him long to knock himself from his stupor and hit a different button than before.
"DRREEEAAAAAAOOOOOOEEEEEEE!"
The enormous shadow cocked its boat-sized head at the new sound and approached even closer. A rumbling shook through the lighthouse as the true titan took a step, a splash! and crash! like an underwater explosion went off. Over 10 seconds passed before the sound repeated, each movement covering hundreds of feet, yet taking an eternity to complete.
It was only then that I realised that the monster Dragonite wasn't close and it hadn't snuck up on us as it grew larger and larger. Its head was bigger than Pewter Gym, and hung above us like a planet, blanketing the sky entirely. It repeated the new cry as it surveyed the lighthouse, the noise enough that I heard the retracted windows crack and Eevee whimper at my feet. I didn't feel an ounce of guilt when I recalled her to her ball without asking, nor did I feel as much as a wiggle of protest.
"For years I have looked for you…" I highly doubted the Dragonite could actually hear Bill muttering, but it also seemed more directed at himself than anyone else. "Billions poured into research that went nowhere, thousands of hours spent tracking down any errant scrap of information. Dozens bribed, hundreds coerced, entire islands bought out just for one story of your magnificence… they said it was folly. They said that you were just a folk tale, an exaggeration for the kids, that even if you were real, it wasn't worth the generations of wealth lost in the pursuit… how wrong they were. I would have paid double to stand here today."
He pressed the button and the imitated female Dragonite call sounded out one last time. However, with Dragonite so close, that also meant it could now pinpoint exactly where they were coming from.
Leaning closer to inspect the large speakers, the Dragonite snorted. A hurricane blast of wind erupted from its hidden nose and washed over us. Cursing, I was forced to hold on tightly to the railing as I felt my feet leave the floor from the gale threatening to blow me off the platform. A short scream from beside me made me lash out and grab onto Misty's arm as she clung to the metal fence herself, though her grip wasn't as firm as mine. On the other side of her, I could see Brock doing the same, preventing Ash from flying off while the kid held onto Pikachu as the Electric-Type shook like he was in a washing machine.
By the time the storm had settled and everyone was back on their feet, the Dragonite had apparently figured out that there wasn't any titanic dragon pussy to be found and was in the process of turning away.
"Wait! WAIT! DON'T GO, PLEASE, I BEG YOU! THERE IS SO MUCH I DON'T KNOW YET!" Bill screamed to the creature from ancient sagas come to life, yet to little effect. Dragonite didn't seem interested in anything that didn't get him laid. The scientist yelled in frustration, helpless to do anything as the object of his obsession left him behind.
Which was when one of my PokéBalls shook violently. My eyes widened, caught completely off guard and unable to do anything as Betty freed herself from her chains and cried out her freedom.
Everyone stopped, which most worryingly also included Dragonite, who turned back around at the squeaky shout and leaned back in for a closer look. The couple of seconds it took my brain to process the monumental danger we were suddenly in proved to be plenty of time for my dear Bagon to prove how suicidally stupid she truly was.
Inhaling deeply, Behemoth unleashed a fierce Dragon Breath with a warbling screech of challenge. The green-blue faux flames roared through the air in a plume of steam as the mist evaporated in its path. For a brief moment, scales individually bigger than a human were illuminated to show their deep orange hue – much darker than the pictures I'd seen of regular Dragonites – before the Dragon-Type attack washed over the natural plating and dispersed.
The Dragonite blinked down at us blankly, showing no reaction to being struck. Betty stared back wide-eyed at her attack being absolutely useless, dumbstruck at her efforts being shaken off like never before. No one had ever been able to ignore her.
Good. Hopefully, the moron would try to have just a single thought in the future.
The Dragonite snorted again, though the angle thankfully meant we were only caught by the edge of the blast and merely stumbled a bit.
Then it inhaled, the mist swirling and vanishing before our eyes as it was sucked into Wailord-sized lungs.
Fuck.
"MISTY!" I recalled Betty as fast as I could, seeing another flash of red as the Physic starfish materialized. Brock had the same thought, thankfully, and had an arm wrapped around a struggling Bill – who was demanding to be let go and still crying out pleas for the Dragonite to stay around – and the other pushed Ash towards me. Grabbing the boy, I felt Misty's hand on my shoulder at the same time as the cartoonish sucking sound suddenly halted. Time seemed to slow down as Brock reached out his hand for mine, and it felt like hours before our fingertips graced each other-
-and we were yanked into the fabric between dimensions, swirling around like being flushed in a toilet bowl as existence itself flashed by. A rave of colors exploded and disappeared in an oscillating kaleidoscope of insanity and madness. My insides were seized in a vice and twisted, pushed and forced through a straw as imagination and reality mixed-
-before my feet hit the grass and I stumbled, feeling the contents of my stomach rebelling against my body. Beside me, several retching sounds told me that my fellows had lost that fight. But there was no time for vomiting. Spinning around, I tried desperately to orient myself, though it wasn't exactly hard to find the mountain-sized dragon and the lamp-filled lighthouse.
Looking upwards. I was just in time to see the Dragonite exhale, much more gently than I thought. It was more of a puckering and a tiny puff of air, rather than a full breath.
Not that it mattered.
A torrent of dark blue energy ripped through the air, howling as it tore the heavens asunder with a sonic boom. The sky lit up like aurora borealis, and the foggy night turned clear as day as the moisture evaporated in an instant. Even over a hundred feet under it, I felt the heat washing over my skin as the stream traveled across the atmosphere. The flames poured over the top chamber of the lighthouse and covered it from view completely. By the time the attack vanished as quickly as it came, nothing remained of the peak. The edges of the half-ruined room under the one that had housed Bill's holographic computer were smooth and rounded, more melted than torn apart. Not even debris rained down; the stone effortlessly atomized.
The enormous eyes, each bigger than my whole body, turned downwards and landed on us as we huddled by the base of the beacon. Seeing the gash that served as the obscured giant's mouth crack open once more, I opened my own to call out to Misty again – if Starmie was even able to take us, based on the truly shit-tier Teleport – yet it was too late.
A short, quick expulsion of air was rapidly followed by another, and then another. It took me a moment, but eventually the bell rang.
The fucker was laughing at us.
A humongous, shadowed limb lifted, sending the mist that was slowly creeping back in into a flurry of motion as the air was forced to move with the arm. Shaking it back and forth, the monster Dragonite waved at us while continuing to laugh. Then, it turned around and went back the way it came, each titanic, slow step bringing it further out and lower down as it retreated back to the sea. For minutes, we continued to watch as what had to be one of the largest Pokémon in existence disappeared into the darkness from which it came.
And then it was gone.
Air exploded from my lungs as the breath I'd held was finally released. Collapsing on my ass, I rubbed my face with my hands while groaning.
Fuck that Chuthulu shit. So much better to watch it on a screen.
Soft footsteps beside me made me look up tiredly, right in time to dodge a fist aimed at my head.
"EY, WHAT THE HELL, MISTY!"
"THAT'S MY FUCKING LINE, YOU MORON! YOU ALMOST GOT US ALL KILLED! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, LETTING THAT BATSHIT INSANE MENACE OUT!" The Waterflower was bright red in the face and looked completely ready to try to hit me again.
"Okay, first of all, I'm the only one that can talk shit about my Pokémon, so shut your fucking mouth! Second, I didn't let her out; she let herself out! I'll talk with her." Not that I expected that talk to do much, but she needed to never fucking do that shit again.
"YOU THINK THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH!" Misty was not placated, which, to be honest, was fair. Betty did almost get us all killed, and looking over at Starmie lying flat in the grass in exhaustion, it was clear that being forced to Teleport five humans and a Pokémon, even just down the tower, had taken a lot out of it. Still, I was pretty keyed up myself and wasn't in the mood for fairness.
Fortunately, for my relationship with Misty at least, Ash chose to be an unknowing bro and tank the hit for me.
"Geez, Misty, do you have to be so loud? Your voice hurts even more than the Dragonite's."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU LITTLE SHITSTAIN TWERP!?"
"DON'T CALL ME A TWERP!"
"SO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU'RE A SHITSTAIN!?"
Leaving the two to it before I got dragged into it and probably just made it worse, I chose to approach Bill instead. The billionaire was standing at the edge of the cliff, staring out into the mist-covered ocean with a far-off look in his eyes. I was a little worried the guy was going to jump off, and I'd feel bad if I just watched.
Though he was kind of annoying.
"Uh, Bill? You good?"
He didn't respond for a moment before taking a deep breath. Holding it, I watched incredulously as he slowly got more and more red in the face, and then blue at the edges. As I was beginning to think he was trying to commit suicide by asphyxiation – which I was pretty sure was impossible through merely holding your breath – he finally exhaled explosively, sucking in new air greedily. After a few seconds of panting, he sighed and answered.
"Yes. Yes, I am."
I raised an eyebrow, really doubting that. "Uhu, sure you are. How about we just take a few steps back from the edge of the cliff?"
He scoffed, waving me off. "Please, I have no intention of offing myself, if that is your concern. I truly am fine. Yes, it is not the ideal outcome, but it is still much more than I thought." A grin slowly started growing on his lips. "Just this morning, the existence of giant Pokémon was nothing but a theory, one ridiculed by the scientific community. Less than a day later, I have definitive proof, the first in the world to document the phenomenon, conclusively put to bed that… yes, that Colossal natured Pokémon are real and caught on camera. So yes, I am more than fine."
I nodded, believing him a little more with that explanation. I suppose if nothing else, the last two years of his life had been validated. Gazing up at the tower as a small piece of it came tumbling down, a thought struck me.
"... you have backups, right? Like, the cameras were connected to external servers somewhere else? Right?"
Bill looked at me for a moment before turning back to his ruined lighthouse. Specifically, the destroyed part that had housed his computer, and where the footage was being stored.
Then he collapsed to his knees.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
I had to suppress a smirk. I knew that the small camera I bought would come in handy. Surely the fucker would be willing to turn out his pockets for his precious proof.
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I'm unsure if the last bit was too silly, so do let me know. Also, still no Jessie and James. Curious.
Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed. If you REALLY liked it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 5 chapters ahead.