Xaiver waved away the leaves, spluttering. "Where is that plate?
Give it to me now, and I'll heal your friend. I know someone who
can instantly cure the poison, but I'm not giving up that
information without the plate." He was breathing rather difficutly,
with the ice entering his system. As a Dragon Type, this was rather
draining, and he stumbled once.
Despite feeling like she had swallowed a Trubbish, she tried to
prevent herself from laughing aloud and muttered telepathically to
the others, "Pecha berries. I'll be fine." She began to back away
from Xavier, taking deep breaths in hopes that the fresh air would
help clear her system somewhat.
Xaiver laughed weakly. "Berries will not save you. That poison is
deadly. You would need a lot of berries to counteract that poison.
You might as well just give up now and give me the tablet." He took
a step forward, hand outstretched. "Make this easier for the both
of us and give me what I want, no?" His eyes glowed yellow. "I can
still attack if need be."
She shrugged. "Not worth it." They were in Celadon City, for
goodness sake. If there was ever a place to get poisoned, it was
here. She had only breathed in the toxins, anyway; plus she was a
Psychic type. She only hoped the others would know enough to not
give in.
Xaiver sighed. "You really like making things difficult for
yourself, don't you? I know how weak you are. One hit and I could
take you out of the sky. Just give me the tablet. NOW."
Tidal glared at the Zekrom, a prick of indignation in her stomach,
though she knew it wasn't the time for this. If he only knew what
she was capable of...
She forced herself to stand up straight, waiting for a signal from
the others to run.
Riko slipped the tablet behind her own back. A part of her wanted
to scream at Xaiver that she had it, to get his attention off
Tidal, but she needed to keep this plate, not wanting to loose yet
another. She glanced at Mystin, ready to bolt if he gave the signal
An idea suddenly flickering into her mind, the Lugia kept her good
hand behind her back and began to sidle away from Riko, Meka, and
Kate whilst moving backwards towards the nearby forest. "What makes
you think I'd give it to you, anyways?" she growled at the Zekrom.
She was grateful that her speech, at least, now seemed normal.
Xaiver grinned. "Because I know that you want to obey Arceus and
bring back the plates. But what you don't know is that I can bring
down a Thunderbolt that will cause much, much more damage than the
last time. So give me the plate, and I won't do it." Mystin
nerviously glanced at them, then Xaiver. "Sorry," he said, but
we'll be going now." He summoned a Ice Beam to freeze his feet
before shouting, "Now!"
Riko pivoted on her heel and bolted the hell outta there, clutching
the plate to her chest. She wasn't sure where she was going, but
she attempted to stay with her companions.
The Lugia turned and launched into the treetops, bringing her hands
in the same motion as Riko so as to not reveal that she, in fact,
no longer possessed the plate. She immediately found herself
concealed amongst the leaves. The dizziness was beginning to
return, but she was confident that she could handle it. She was
able to see her friends through the flickering branches. Despite
how desperately she longed to go down and help them or to turn
around and fight Xavier as a means to hold him back, she knew she
would be no help to them if she was captured. She shot into the sky
after about 5 tree lengths, making herself visible intentionally.
Still, she knew that she was able to fly faster than the Zekrom,
and was counting on her aerial agility to help her, even in her
weakened state.
Xaiver yelled out in frustration. He broke through the ice rather
easily, but a flashing movement caught his eye. "Even a bird can't
fly close to the sun without being burned!" he yelled. He sent
rocks crashing through the air as he also lept into the sky, the
power of his tail in Pokemon form still working as a human. "You're
only making this harder, Lugia!"
The Zekrom's words gave her an idea and, as much as she was
beginning to fear for herself and the others again, she felt a
thrill of adrenaline as she added a steep incline to her flight
path while she darted around the falling rocks. One hit one of her
temporary wings, but since they were not actually connected to her
body, she wasn't fazed. As much as she loved the sea, the air was
truly her element, and she felt completely at home far above the
clouds, which was where she was headed.
Riko watched Tidal go, grouping up with her other companions. She
attempted to locate Mystin, and ask what to do. She wasn't sure
with the way Tidal was headed
As she climbed through the air, Tidal darted from side to side
sporadicly, making it impossible for any of Xavier's potential
attacks to hit her. She used her bleary mind to her advantage,
changing direction on a whim, dipping down and soaring up again.
She occasionally would level out, hoping that the Zekrom would be
encouraged. As she reached the clouds, she grinned. She glanced
down briefly, but her friends were mere imperceivable specs far
below. The Lugia began to cause the clouds to churn around her. The
humans told stories about the 40 day storms created from a single
stroke of her wings; she knew she wouldn't be able to come anywhere
near that sort of power in this form, but she could certainly try.
Xaiver was trying to adjust to Tidal's errant flight pattern, but
it wasn't easy. "Gah, this is why I hate having to fly with my
tail,' he muttered. But Xaiver kept going, though it was clear that
he was weakinging-the ice had done serious damage to him. Still, he
pressed on. He wasn't going down that easily.
Mystin stopped for a minute. He glanced back at the others, saying,
"We need to get into Celeadon City, regroup, and help Tidal." He
gave a "c'mon!" kind of gesture, hurrying torwads the city.
Her eyes beginning to glow blue again as she used Psychic, the
Lugia manipulated the clouds around her, creating a raging storm on
the inside of them while leaving calm weather on the outside. As
they changed from condensed to thin and back again, rain began to
pour down from the upper clouds but broke off as the molecules
separated near the lower and became vapor once more. The cavernous
space she had created was filled with roiling, dark cumulonimbus
formations. Once she was satisfied that Xavier could be
sufficiently confused, she concealed herself amongst the edges of
the storm, waiting for the Zekrom to enter.
Xaiver barreled through angrily, his eyes glowing yellow. His pride
was hurt, and he was going to exact revenge upon the Lugia, no
matter what. Temporarily he forgot about the plates, and was
completley focused on stopping her.
Mystin led them into the city, stopping behind a Pokemart. He was
very tired, running was not something that he was used to as a
human. "We-all here?" he gasped, hands on his knees.