Pokemon: Next Generation

Chapter 2: The Race

Chapter 2: The Race 

We all took off, leaving the ground and all its luxuries behind. Heading east toward Mahogany Town, I was in last place. Cloud had the hardest time starting up, especially with me as extra weight compared to Fortis who had a huge wing span and body. No wonder Anthony was in the lead. I gritted my teeth. "You can do it, Cloud! They're not too far ahead." 

I felt him surge with speed as soon as we were stable at about two hundred feet in the air. Fortis in the lead, on the other hand, was slowing down. His broad wings were better for coasting, not speed. Daniel, Amanda, and I soon sped past him while Anthony seemed pretty at ease with being last. Coasting was something they enjoyed together- a content, leisurely freedom that wasn't supposed to be rushed. 

Even with our newfound speed, Smoky and Fenrir were ahead of us, tied neck and neck. Fenrir seemed to be concentrating hard. I heard Amanda croon, "You're doing a wonderful job, Fenrir! Keep it up!" 

Smoky's nostrils flared and he rose above Fenrir, who forgot to flap momentarily, distracted, and fell a little behind. 

"How's it going?" Daniel yelled above the wind.  

Amanda frowned and chose to ignore him. "Don't worry about them, Fenrir. Keep flying." 

Fenrir's tail whipped back and forth, flexible and strong, helping him find the perfect wind currents. Daniel and Smoky fell behind ten feet. 

"How's it hanging?" I smiled at Daniel and waved as we passed him- Cloud was building speed. Daniel and Smoky both had shocked expressions and I laughed as Smoky began flapping faster. 

"Come on, Smoky! Full speed ahead!" Daniel encouraged, but to little avail as they became further and further behind. 

"Cloud, you're doing great." I patted his side and I heard him let out a content cry.  

We were nearing Amanda and Fenrir who had gained a lot of ground. I knew they had a long endurance. 

"Hi, Amanda!" I called from right next to her. She jumped a little at the sound and looked over at me. 

"Wow, you got up here quickly." She smiled. 

"It's just the two of us." I clenched my legs closer to Cloud's side and leaned down. We sped up. 

"Don't count us out yet!" a voice called from behind us. Daniel was catching up. 

"How'd you do that?" I shouted at him. He was close. Smoky made some sort of throaty sound that sounded like laughter. 

"Whatever." I growled, "Come on, Cloud!" 

"Keep it up, Fenrir!" Amanda leaned lower as well, her hair streaming behind her. Fenrir's speed increased and we were neck and neck. Smoky was literally right on our tails to the point where I was surprised he wasn't getting whacked in the head by Fenrir's longer tail. 

Suddenly, Fenrir veered to the right and made a complete ninety degree turn. Amanda exclaimed, "Hey, we're going the wrong way!" 

I didn't look back to see what was going on. Smoky was closing in-

WHAM! 

Cloud let out a horrible, screeching cry that sounded so painful that it made me want to rip my heart out and felt my body whiplash forward against his. Something was terribly wrong. We'd run into something solid two hundred feet in the sky. Something invisible? My heart dropped. 

In fact, my entire body, including Cloud's, began dropping. 

"Emma!" Daniel yelled. Smoky had had to swerve straight up quickly to avoid Cloud's crumpling body. 

We were falling. I fumbled with my bag, grabbing a Poke Ball and tossing it. Zuko appeared on Cloud and we fell faster. I rolled my body so we were facing the ground. A hundred feet to go. "Zuko, use Flamethrower on the ground! Hurry!" 

Zuko let out a large blast of continuous fire, which decreased our descent. By the time we were ten feet from going splat, we were hovering. I unstrapped myself from Cloud, still gripping tightly to Zuko with an arm and to Cloud with my legs so none of us would fall, feeling my muscles tremble from the exertion. Zuko gently let his Flamethrower minimize and we sank slowly to the ground.  

"Oh no," I said quietly as I examined Cloud's body. 

Daniel landed with Smoky, looking white faced. "What happened?" 

It was the most serious tone I'd ever heard him use before. I swallowed. It felt painful going down my throat. "I don't know. We ran into something solid in the air. There's something there. I think Cloud is hurt pretty badly." 

I couldn't continue after that. 

Zuko sniffed Cloud who stirred feebly.  

"Cloud?" I stroked his feather softly, not wanting to hurt him. He opened one eye, squinting as if it was too painful to move even his eyelid. 

Anthony and Amanda landed next, dismounting quickly. 

Anthony hurried over and examined Cloud himself. His mom was a nurse and he'd spent some time studying medicine with her. As far as I knew, he planned to be a Pokemon doctor when he got older. I felt a little better as he quietly felt Cloud's wings, chest, and face. 

He stood up. "His left wing is broken at the very least. We need to get him to the Pokemon Center right now." 

Amanda, who had been lingering away from the group with Fenrir, said quietly, "Felicity can get us there." 

She took out a Poke Ball and threw it. Her Gardevoir appeared in a flash. Amanda said, "Felicity, I need you to teleport all of us to the Mahogany Pokemon Center, ok?" 

Felicity nodded and hummed, her eyes glowing. Suddenly, a huge flash of light illuminated us all. Our feet left the grass and thudded onto harder dusty ground. 

"Oh!" A feminine voice exclaimed, "What happened?"

Hey guys! 

Well, now you know who won. Or lost. Or whatever you'd like to call it. I should be posting these chapters once a week so if you ask when I'll update, I'm probably going to repeat that over and over. 

Pokemon Question of the Day: Should Pokemon be modeled after inanimate objects? (For example, keychains and lamps) 

Thanks, as always, for reading. It means a lot :) Vote, comment, and/or follow if you like my story so far. Have an awesome day.

-Flips