Pokémon : Black Rising

53. Finally... the Sky!

I still couldn't believe my eyes. Bryan, the insanely strong guy who beat me mere hours ago is on the floor, immobilized! The guy who stole the air outta me! The guy who kidnapped me! The guy who... uh, tried to kill me?

" Uhh... This isn't some kind of act, is it? If that's the case, you're quite good at it. "

Bryan tried to stand but failed. I gulped and slowly approached him. About two feet away from him, I crouched to his eye level. His eyes were closed but sweat covered his forehead. So he was in pain after all!

He said, " What now? "

" What'd ya mean? "

He grunted again. Perhaps trying to convey words through emotions. I got the feeling that he wanted to say, 'What are you gonna do with me?' so I filled him in.

" For starters, I have a few... questions which need answering. I won't bother asking about your aims and such rubbish so rest assured."

He grunted in response. I asked, "Are you human or not? If you are, then how did you become like this?"

There was silence for a long, long time. I sorta felt stupid for asking the man-of-few-words about this. But he eventually replied, "Pokémon conversion. That's all you need to know. "

Well, that was too brief for anything. I decided to pry some answers later so I thought on what to do next. Hand these people to the authorities? Tie them up and leave them here?

An explosion from the other side broke these train of thoughts. "Stay right here," I said to Bryan before running over to the side of the battle of the Legendaries.

To be honest, everything seemed under control. Ho-Oh was taking care of Suicune while Entei and Riolu were taking out Raikou. By the time I arrived, Ho-Oh smashed Suicune into the wall and Entei's Fire Blast did the same to Raikou. The duo didn't stand after that.

Ho-Oh cried out and flapped her wings, golden sparkles and tiny embers falling all around the scene. The bruises on Suicune and Raikou healed themselves. Entei and Riolu were energized. After a quick glance, Ho-Oh directed the rest of the sparkles at me. Breathing became a lot easier and my back didn't kill me any more. The cuts on my arms and legs disappeared and I felt pumped up.

I sighed in relief and thanked the rainbow Pokémon for the heal. Ho-Oh nodded and looked behind me. When her eyes widened, I knew something was wrong. Summoning all my power, I swung my right arm back and the knuckles hit Bryan square in the cheek. A bit of blood was splashed on my hands as he reeled sideways from the force of the blow.

That was... unexpected. I knew that Bryan was faking the pain but still... How did he get up? (And I sound like an idiot now.)

I wiped the droplets and looked at the spot where Bryan was. He was out cold. Nose bleeding, his cheeks turning a shade of purple and mouth slightly open, I comfirmed that Bryan was down for the count.

I saw Ho-Oh sighing in relief and Riolu tackled me into a hug. I chuckled and ruffled his fur before Entei smacked his forehead on mine.

Tyler! I'm glad your are okay. I am really, really, really sorry for leading you into that trap. I should've known better than charge in here.

I grinned. " There's no need to worry, Entei. It was definitely not your fault so don't beat yourself up about it. "

He chuckled. Right. You are a good kid, kiddo. I am glad to make your acquaintance.

I smiled. " Me too. "

Now if you'll excuse me, Ho-Oh wanted to talk to you. Don't worry, she just wanted to say thanks.