Nothing Greater: Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Reinforcements
During the next few days, things picked up basically the same as when they left off. Drek and the others who had trained under Zenith used their get-togethers to teach what they had absorbed to their other Charizard brethren. Drek had also tried to teach them how to use the blue fire, but after much trial and error from everyone else, he and the rest of them came to the conclusion that only he could do it. That gave everyone else even more evidence as to why Drek should be the one to face Thael whenever the time came again; it was almost as though it were fated.
One thing still troubled Drek though. The first time that Thael showed up with his army, it was clear that they had a very precise plan. It was nice to have all these tips and strategies down, but it would be more beneficial to come up with a plan of their own to counter Thael's. It had to be something clever enough that Thael would think he was winning, and then they could essentially surround him and his minions to keep them from running away like the last time.
Not only would they have to trick him into thinking that he was winning the battle, but they would need something that would assure that they wouldn't lose. But what could they do to have that guarantee? It was definitely something that Drek had given some thought to over the past couple days, but for the time being, he had drawn a blank. The idea to have some of the Valley members in hiding and then to appear and overwhelm them with numbers had crossed his mind. But then again, since Thael had been there before, he knew how many there were in the Valley, so he would assume something was up if only half of them were there.
No, there had to be something new and unexpected, but so far, it had eluded him. He had tried to figure out a solution on his own, but he decided to ask Seria for ideas whenever he got home that night, because even though she didn't partake in battles, she was very clever. For now though, he had to concentrate on the class that he had inherited. Surprisingly, he was just as strong if not a little stronger than the others. Maybe all of his training as a Charmeleon had prepared him enough so that when he evolved, none of it went away. He had been able to hold his own against the others near the end of class, so evolving only would give him that much of an edge. In fact, in hindsight, it was probably better that he learn all that stuff before he evolved, because now everything was so much easier.
* * *
As Drek busied himself with the class, Seria and Darius had gone off together for the first time in a while. They hadn't really spent any time together since Zenith's passing, and Darius could definitely use the company after what happened. Sure it was nice to have his family with him, but he needed someone else. They had left Charc and Agro with Cara for the day, and with both of them in good hands, the two of them were free to be alone.
They weaved through the winding maze that was the Valley's outskirts, and eventually they came to a place that they had visited on a fairly regular basis. One would never know it existed without having been there before, because metamorphic rocks overhung the area almost like a canopy, so even if a Charizard flew directly over it, he wouldn't know the area was there. To their knowledge, they were the only two who know about it... at least they had never run into anyone else while they were there.
The area itself wasn't too special other than it was their personal spot. With the rocks blocking the sunlight from getting in, there were no plants of any sort. If they didn't have their tail flames to light the way, then they probably wouldn't be able to see anything at all. They sat down for the first time in a few days, and Seria broke the silence saying, "So how are you holding up?"
He responded, "I dunno. Every day it seems to get a little bit better I guess, but it still hurts every time I think about it."
"Yeah, that's how it was for me and Drek when our parents died. We made it a point not to talk about it for months, but in hindsight, I wish that we would have. You'd be amazed that when you know someone for basically all your life, when you don't talk about them for a while, so much stuff about them gets forgotten. I'm sure there were many things that our parents did that we would boast about today, but for the life of us, we can't remember. I know it's hard, but I would hate for you, Agro, Cara, or anyone in this place to forget anything about Zenith."
She saw a tear fall down his cheek, and he sniffed and wiped his eyes before he responded, "I've been trying so hard to hold these emotions back so that I can be strong for Agro. He's taken it the hardest out of all of us I think, and to see him cry just rips my heart apart. I don't want him to see me in a similar state, because I want to be strong not just for me, but for him as well. For his sake, I've held everything inside since it happened."
She leaned over and hugged him, nuzzling his cheek with her own before saying, "Well, Agro's not here right now, so anything that you need to let out, I'm here for you."
He returned her embrace, and he put his head on her shoulder as another tear fell from his face down her arm. He said, "Just... don't go anywhere."
She said softly back, "I won't."
The two stayed locked like that for only Arceus knows how long. The only sounds that could be heard were his sniffs and breathing. His tears came freely, and because he had been holding in his emotion for so long, they just kept cascading down his face. She had leaned her head down to rest upon his, and she too became teary-eyed just from listening to him. She remembered how she had felt when she and Drek found their parents dead, so she had some idea of what he was going though. She was also sympathetic to the fact that he had gone this long without letting it all go.
Being a twin as she was, she never really had a big brother in the sense that Agro and Darius were (though Drek did like to act as though he were). Maybe it was a boy thing to try and hold everything back. Regardless of what it was, he was letting his emotions out, and she would be there for every second that he needed her. As time passed, she closed her eyes and hugged him tighter, just as a small gesture to remind him that he wasn't alone.
A minute or two after she did that, he sniffed loudly and brought his head off of her shoulder. He wiped his eyes and looked at the watery mess he had made all over her shoulder and chest and he hurriedly said, "Sorry..."
She blinked away her own tears and said, "Don't be sorry. You needed that, and I am happy that I was here to give you comfort. Are you feeling any better?"
He sniffed again and nodded saying, "Yes... Thank you."
"You are very welcome. Now, did you wanna talk about anything? Or is it still too early?"
He breathed in deeply and let it out on a sigh before saying, "It's just... He's always been there for me... Throughout my entire life, he's just... been there for me. It may sound silly, but I used to play with him the same way that Agro did. He always let me win anything we did just so that I would feel better about myself... Now, I would look at them playing, and I would think that it was silly.
"I used to think, 'Come on Agro, you don't really think that you're beating him do you?' I was actually a little frustrated that he had tricked me all that time into thinking that I was stronger than I really was. I would ask myself, 'What was the point of all that? Isn't it better to be honest?' But now... I realize that he was instilling confidence in me. Even if I wasn't that strong, I believed I was.
"I had the determination instilled into my heart to keep trying as long as I was able, because I had the mental thoughts that I could do anything. I mean... it seems so silly now, but it wasn't until he..." He choked back another tear as he struggled to say the next words. "Until he... he died that I understood. He knew that he could protect our entire family from anything, but he didn't want us to slack off, because he knew that one day he... wouldn't be with us anymore..."
She reached over and hugged him again as another pair of tears appeared. She said, "He truly was a great Pokemon. He saved my brother's life, he saved Charc's life, and who knows how many lives he saved by having the insight to prepare us for that fight. I will forever be indebted to him for all that he's done for us. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that he's gone... If there's anything more that I can do for you, just let me know."
He forced a weak smile on his face and said, "Thanks for everything you've done already. Just being here with me means more to me than the world. Every moment I get to spend with you, good or bad, is a blessing, and I wouldn't change that for anything."
She smiled back and gave him another squeeze before saying, "I love every second with you as well. I'm glad you feel the same way. Do you wanna stay here a little longer, or do you wanna go back? I'm sure we're missed by our families."
"If I could, I'd stay here all night with you... but you're probably right. We shouldn't worry them, especially in these hard times."
The two of them got up and made there way back through the labyrinth of rocks until they were out from underneath the rocky overhang. They probably left at a good time, because the sun's light was fading, and they just barely managed to get back before night hit. They stopped by Darius's cave first, and they hugged good-bye, and before they broke off their embrace, he gently licked her cheek and said, "Thanks again."
She couldn't help but smile at the display of affection, and she merely stood there and watched as he disappeared into the darkness of his own home. She walked slowly back to her own cave, wearing a smile the entire way. As she got to her own cave entrance, she saw Drek first and then said out loud, "Oh, I forgot to get Charc!"
Drek heard her and stopped her before she could leave saying, "I already got him. You were gone when I got back, so I took care of it."
Sure enough, she looked past her Charizard brother to see Charc curled up on the ground behind him in his usual spot, and his stomach was slowly moving up and down as he slept. She sighed in relief and stepped inside. Drek continued, "I was hoping you might have an idea."
She raised an eye at him in confusion and said, "Yeah?"
He continued, "Well... it's about Thael. I know that he's gonna have some plan whenever he comes back, and we need to have a counter for him. The problem is that he knows all that we've got, so it's gotta be something that he would never expect. Did you have any ideas?"
"Hmm... Why not just set up a trap for him?"
"I've thought about that, and the only problem I see with it is that he'll most likely not go all out into the trap. He would stay back until he saw it, and then it wouldn't do any good. There has to be something that no matter what, he won't see coming."
"What about that Onix?"
He looked at her like she was crazy and said, "What do you mean 'what about that Onix?' Don't you remember what he did to me?"
"Yeah, but you didn't see when we showed up at first. He was truly sorry for ever attacking you in the first place, and he said if there were anything that he could do to make amends, then he would do it. Why don't we just explain to him our plight and ask that he help us?"
Whether he wanted to or not, she definitely had a good point. A Pokemon who didn't live in the Valley helping out in the battle would be something that Thael wouldn't expect in a million years. And one as big or strong as that Onix would be an even greater asset. The plan had a lot of potential, and after weighing the odds, he decided that it was crazy enough to probably work. The only thing that he would have to figure out would be how to hide such a massive Pokemon until the opportune moment.
He said, "Alright, you win. However, I don't know how to get there. Do you think that you could show me where they were?"
"I think I can do that. We can go in the morning before the class happens, and you'll be back in plenty of time."
"Sounds like a plan. I guess we should get some sleep then and get an early start."
"Sounds good to me."
The two of them went to their normal sleeping spots and got comfortable before falling asleep to the slow sound of Charc's breathing.
* * *
Morning came all too quickly for them, and in no time at all, they had dropped Charc off with Darius with a brief explanation that they would be back soon. They didn't go into too much detail because they weren't sure if for one the Onixes were still living in the same place, and also if they would agree to it anyway. But once they were on their way, they had an interesting flight.
Drek had never carried anyone before, so flying with Seria on his back made his wings tired quickly, and his movements were restricted greatly. Seria was also trying her best to remember exactly how to get to the Onix home the same way that she had told Zenith a few months before. It took longer than expected to finally arrive at their first touch-down marker, but after they had landed, Drek took the time to stretch his wings out and look at the surrounding area as Seria stretched her own legs on the ground.
It was weird seeing this place for him because in their long adventure to get to Charizard Valley, this was the closest that the two of them ever came together. The rest of the journey was taken separately and by different means, so to see how close they truly were to their goal for the first time was something that peaked his interest. Regardless of that though, they were here for a specific reason, and surprisingly, even after so much time had passed, there was still evidence from what happened that day.
As Drek took the little time he needed to fully recover from the flight over, he walked over to the side of the cliff that he had fallen over with the Onix. It looked a lot farther down than he remembered when he was falling, and in hindsight, he was thankful that he had escaped with just a broken leg. He stretched his wings one more time before turning his attention back to Seria saying, "You ready?"
She said, "You're the one carrying me, so are you ready?"
He smiled back at her and lowered his body so that she could climb back on. As she did so, she said, "You know, it's nice being able to fly around again. I only got to experience it the last time I was here with Zenith."
He joked back, "Well, maybe if you would evolve, then you could fly around yourself."
"And if you can tell me how, I'd love to hear it."
"You didn't seem to have any trouble last time I evolved." He stuck his tongue out at her as he recalled how she evolved into a Charmeleon randomly when they hugged each other.
She responded, "I'll evolve when I'm ready, now hurry up and get down there."
He pushed off the ground and glided down to the base of the cliff, and his entire body lightly vibrated under her as he couldn't keep from chuckling. When they touched down again, she pointed a claw toward one of the giant holes in the ground and said, "That's the one. Go in there and it should lead us right to 'em."
He said back, "Is this how you guys left also? Surely there's an easier way to get to this place."
"Well... yeah, we flew away when we left, but I was making sure that you weren't gonna fall off of Zenith's back or something, so I didn't see where we were. When we leave this time, we can see where it is."
"Fair enough."
He went over to the designated hole and jumped inside. He did as she instructed and followed the pitch-black path as it winded underground through the rocks. He was thankful for their tail flames because he probably would have ran into the sides multiple times if he didn't have the small amount of light. Nevertheless, he continued onward, and in no time, he saw the light at the end of the tunnel... literally.
As they came into the open, they weren't greeted with the presence of two Onixes like they thought they would be. Instead, they just saw a big open area with rocks that obscured it from the outside world. There was one giant opening in the stone, and Drek knew it well as the cave he had stayed in when he was injured. Either the Onix couple were in there, they were gone for now, or they had left this place entirely. They hoped for the first, obviously, but they wouldn't know until they checked.
Seria hopped off his back and said as loudly as she could, "Hello? Is anyone here?"
They both were caught off guard as the ground rumbled beneath them. They were delighted, however, that out of the cave, an Onix head appeared and gave them a menacing look. In a flash, the giant rock Pokemon's entire body was out in the open and looked at both of them as they they were there to cause harm. Seria could tell that they needed to do some talking or things might get ugly, so she said, "We aren't here to cause trouble. Do you remember that Charmeleon who had a broken leg?"
Drek raised a claw and continued, "That was me. I'm all better now and we just came to talk."
Upon hearing that, the Onix's expression immediately softened. He lowered his head and said, "Again, I'm sorry about all of that. I hope you've forgiven me."
Drek smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. I probably would have done the same thing if I were in the same situation. Speaking about that though, how is the family?"
The Onix turned the corners of his mouth upward into a smile and he answered, "We're never better. Would you like to see the others?"
How could they pass up the opportunity? Even if they didn't want to, saying yes would most likely make him more likely to help them out. But in this case, they would be all too happy to spend a little extra time to see a young Onix. They nodded their heads in agreement, and he turned back to the cave and said, "Hey you two. Come out and meet a couple of visitors."
They looked on in anticipation as two more Onixes appeared. One of them was significantly smaller than the other two... almost as small as Drek was surprisingly. And when they were in view, the male Onix continued, "You've met my mate, but you haven't met our daughter before."
The small Onix took one look at them and then got behind her dad. He chuckled and said, "She's a little shy but we love her for it. So, what brings you two here?"
Drek took the initiative and said, "Well... I can explain the whole story for you if you want, but I'll give you the shortened version for now. Basically, we and the rest of the Pokemon in Charizard Valley are in a little bit of a bind. An outsider has shown up, and he has already killed one of our brethren, and we fear that he will be back soon to deal even more damage. He knows everything that we have in the Valley, so we figured if we could get some outside help without him knowing about it, then we would have an element of surprise when he attacks again. Would you help us out?"
He bowed his head to them and said, "Even if it's just to repay a debt to you for harming you when you were innocent, I'll do it. Did you have any specific plans for me?"
"Well, we were hoping that you could stay hidden for the fight until things got a little involved, and then you could appear and turn what would appear to be a losing fight in our favor. We don't wanna give away the secret too early for fear that they'll retreat, regroup, and try again a different way."
He nodded and said, "Sounds good to me. But how do you suggest a Pokemon like myself stay hidden? You may not have noticed, but it's kind of hard to miss me even in the throws of battle."
Thankfully, Drek had thought about that on the way over. He said, "Well, we have no way of knowing when this battle is going to take place, and it wouldn't seem fair to separate you from your family for who knows how long until it happened. So I have an idea that you make a direct path to Charizard Valley. Once the path is made, then you can continue spending time with your family, and whenever the battle starts, we can send a signal to you. The time it takes you to get from here to the Valley would allow time for the fight to have gone on for long enough."
"Sounds like a solid plan to me. What kind of signal were you thinking of?"
Drek tilted his head up and let a small blue fire ball come out of his mouth. They watched as it went high into the air until it was almost out of their sights, and then it exploded in a flashy display before it fizzled out. Seria couldn't stop herself from asking and she said, "How did you do that?"
Drek smiled at her and said, "I've been playing around with it, and I learned how to make it do that. Don't ask me how I do it though, because I honestly can't tell you."
The Onix responded, "So how are you gonna send us that signal?"
Drek said, "That was a small dose of that attack. Whenever the battle starts, I'll give it all I've got and aim it in your direction. The explosion it causes should easily be seen by you even though the Valley is so far away."
He said, "Sounds fair to me. When should we look for this signal? I agreed to help, but that doesn't mean I'm going to spend every second of every day looking up at the sky."
"And I agree entirely with you, because that wouldn't be fair. Last time, the battle happened just before sundown. I assume that's when the next battle will occur as well, because that's when we're all tired and gives him the advantage. So just look for it during that time until the sun sets."
"I think I can do that. You've got a deal."
"Thank you very much. Continue on with your day, and take care, and I hope we can come back to visit soon."
They said their good-byes, and Seria climbed onto his back again before he kicked off the ground. He soared over the rocks and got a good idea of where they were before he angled himself back toward Charizard Valley. Sure enough, they got back around midday, and after dropping Seria off at their home again, he headed for the class. He decided to keep the whole thing a secret from the others, because if he truly wanted it to be a real element of surprise, then he couldn't have the rest of the ones involved in the battle to give any indication that help was coming. Thael and the others truly had to believe that they were winning before their secret weapon showed up.
* * *
Far away in a remote area, Thael had fully recovered from his arduous battle with Zenith, and he was in the midst of formulating a new strategy for their next attack. He was a little frustrated that he had not figured something out sooner, but he wanted to make sure that his plan was perfect like last time before he went in. This time, there wasn't going to be anything that he overlooked like the strength of his opponent.
He knew from what he saw last time and what he experienced first hand that the only thing he would have to personally worry about was the new Charizard that had stepped up. And even then, all he had was that one strange attack that he did, and that could easily be overcome the same way that he was so easily beaten in their first encounter in his mountainous cave. If he could just avoid that, then he knew he would be able to beat him.
Surprisingly to him, all of his minions had returned from battle except for the one that his direct opponent had taken out personally. The ones who had suffered any injuries during the last battle had recovered as well, and they actually eagerly awaited when they would get to fight again. Even though one of their own was gone, the thrill of battling and the knowledge that they were working toward getting a permanent home was driving them and giving them the adrenaline rush. They had no clue if their friend had died or if he just got lost, but they would use his absence to fuel their fighting spirit even more.
Thael's head was hurting from all the thinking that he was doing, and he decided to take a quick flight to get some water and clear his mind. One of the good things about being so close to a big group of water Pokemon was that having water nearby was pretty much a given. He reached a small pool of water in no time, and after landing and getting his fill of it, he looked up at the sun that was just overhead, and then he looked over to the east to see a small crescent moon creeping over the horizon.
He knew that in a few days, there wouldn't be a moon at night. He made a goal for himself that when that day came, he would have his plan finished, and come sunset, they would be executing it. Just from the excitement of having a goal in mind, some fresh ideas came to his mind. He quickly went over some of them in his head to see if they would work, but after getting involved, it became harder to imagine. He shook his head and decided to fly back where he could think about it in more depth. After taking one last look at the moon, he kicked off the ground and flew back to his temporary hideaway.