Pokémon PrismGold

Chapter Fifty: "Shadow Lugia"

Mark watched the Shadow Lugia open its mouth to charge up for an attack. Which prompted Giovanni to yell out in a rush. "Mewtwo! Protect!" The strange pokemon in sleek armor leapt into the line of fire, raising its arm with rounded fingers to point at Shadow Lugia. Mark had never heard of a pokemon named Mewtwo, and thought Giovanni was stupid to have a pokemon like that go up against a legendary. Until the Shadow Lugia's hyper beam was unleashed. The blazing jet of golden fire shot forth and Mewtwo's eyes turned a bright blue in his helmet. Shadow Lugia's hyper beam slammed into an invisible force that rippled as it absorbed the attack and dispersed it. Giovanni then pointed at the Shadow Lugia to yell out rapid orders. "Mewtwo, Mirror Coat! Poachers, take your shot! NOW!" Mewtwo brought his hands together to create a ball of blazing golden light, then pushing its hands out toward Shadow Lugia, firing a hyper beam with twice the strength of Shadow Lugia's. The Shadow Lugia curled itself up, surrounding itself in a protective blue ball.

Mark's gaze turned to the Rainbow Rocket members that were jumping up into the other positioned carts. Some of them shoved canisters into place as others lined up the shot of their mounted ballistas. The men at the levers released the second the men aiming told them too, sending the canisters into the air. The canisters burst open to unleash large nets made of heavy chains. Shadow Lugia's attention turned away from Mewtwo to blast one of the nets back with its powerful hydro pump, but the other two nets slammed into it and brought him down before the shrine. The poachers cheered as the nets tangled around Shadow Lugia and nailed itself tightly into the ground. Shadow Lugia thrashed, then opened its mouth to use Hyper Beam again. Giovanni handed Moltres's jewel box to Nate, then yelled out. "Mewtwo! Disable him!" Mewtwo snapped his fingers and Shadow Lugia's Hyper Beam ended. Frustrated, Shadow Lugia tried his Hydro Pump, only to have Mewtwo snap his fingers to disable that too.

With everyone distracted with muzzling and capturing Shadow Lugia, Mark turned on his distracted guards. Whirling around, he kicked his guard back away from him. Sean's guard raised a gun to point at Mark, but Sean kicked his arm up and then kicked him back across the ground. Together, they bolted for the carts. The guards got to their feet to shoot at them, but the bullets struck the carts as they dashed behind them. The men reloading the ballistas briefly paused to watch them run by in confusion. One managed to grab Mark's tied arm to stop him. Mark responded by kneeing the guy in the balls and shoving him off balance with his shoulder. The guards rushed after them, firing another shot that should have hit Sean, but it hit an invisible wall. Up ahead was a cave within the mountainside and standing at the entrance was a Slowking with eyes that were blazing a bright blue. As they approached, the familiar Slowking stated out with his psychic powers. "Inside! Quickly!"

Mark ran into the cave with Sean at his heels, looking back to see the Slowking lower his arms and yawn loudly. The guards rushing toward the cave, suddenly stumbled and sank to all fours as they yawned. Slowking tilted his head a little and the guards fell across the ground unconscious. The men on the ballistas took notice of the Slowking and reached for their pokeballs. Slowking didn't move. He simply folded his arms behind his back and stood strong. Mark was going to yell something, when a bunch of war cries came from farther in the cave. Mark flinched as Locals rushed by with their war painted pokemon to attack the ballistas and the men that tried to stop them. Turning to face the locals, Mark smiled as the Shaman came into view. She moved up to Sean, pulling his gag free and used a knife to cut his bindings. Sean rubbed his wrists in relief, while the Shaman asked over the storm raging outside the cave. "Where are the jewels?!" Mark waited for her to set him free, letting Sean tell her shakily. "They have them in these weird boxes..." Cutting Mark free, she said with a smirk. "Well... Let's get them back."

Mark pointed to Sean, telling them as he headed out of the cave. "You get them. I'm going after Nate!" Mark didn't wait to hear their answer, he just ran out into the pouring rain. Outside, chaos was breaking out. Giovanni and a few of his men were locked in battles to keep the locals from freeing Shadow Lugia that appeared to be worn down by Mewtwo's efforts. While others were trying to shoot locals to save the carts and equipment from being damaged. Nate still stood by the shrine with only some of the cowering scientists. He was watching the scene unfold but appeared to have no desire or will to help them. Running up the steps, Mark reached out to grab Nate's arm, telling him in a rush. "Nate?! What are you doing?! Come on, we need your help to put that jewel where it belongs!" Nate carelessly dropped the box with Moltres's jewel to shove Mark back down the steps of the shrine. Mark tumbled down the wet stone steps, grunting as he hit the bottom. Rising on all fours stiffly, Mark snapped up at Nate. "Nate... Don't make me do this!" Nate didn't respond. Getting to his feet, Mark walked back up the steps and told him coolly. "Alright. I'll snap you out of this."