Day 45 of the journey to Kanto. Clear.
Morning came, and unfortunately, the weather was bright and clear. That would only make Pelipper's flight harder.
But there was nothing they could do. They had to fight for every second. Only once they reached Pallet Town would they be safe, and even then, they had to hope Professor Oak was actually there.
Judging by the timeline, Ash should have already collected his badges and returned to Pallet Town to train for the League. Professor Oak should still be there too, at least until the Indigo League opening ceremony.
So there was nothing else to say. Sorry, Pelipper. Fly faster.
By noon, they stopped to rest and recover their strength. Yukari could finally come out and relax for a while too. Staying inside Pelipper's mouth was not comfortable. It could fit a person, but it was still cramped.
"Do we really need to rush this much?" Yukari asked while eating hot instant noodles. Reiji kept urging her to eat faster, and he had Pelipper use Roost while digesting Pokéblocks, as if the enemy were right behind them. As far as she was concerned, they should have escaped danger already.
"Obviously. You're the young lady being hunted. Can you show a little urgency?" Reiji was speechless. They were racing death itself right now. If they got caught, it was over.
"I know, I know." Yukari pouted. She felt they had shaken off the pursuers long ago. They had flown all night and even changed direction. Who could possibly find them?
"Do you know why I changed direction last night?"
"Why?"
"Because Vicious was waiting for us at the coast." Reiji had no choice but to reveal a little more. He needed her to understand they were running for their lives, not taking a trip.
"How did they know we were going to the coast?" Yukari blurted out in shock. Only the two of them should have known that.
"Think. From the campsite the night before last to yesterday's cave, all they need to do is draw a line on a map. That tells them which direction we flew. Extend that line, and they know where we were heading."
"Who are you calling stupid?" Yukari lost all interest in her noodles and stared at him resentfully. She had only failed to react in the moment. She was not stupid. "They found the cave we slept in last night, didn't they?"
"Yes." Reiji felt a little awkward under her stare. He had said a bit too much, so he lowered his head and focused on eating.
Yukari was smart enough not to keep asking. Questions like how he knew the cave had been found were clearly things he would not answer, so she let it go.
The two of them quickly finished their noodles and drank some water. Then Yukari said she needed the bathroom and went into the forest with Venusaur.
Watching her leave, Reiji felt something in his heart crack.
So Nurse Joy had to use the bathroom too.
Damn. There went physics. There went the character image.
Did she have any idea how many Pokémon fans and players had just had their goddess shattered by that one bathroom break?
When Yukari came back, she felt Reiji looking at her strangely. It was just the bathroom. That was normal. Did he really have to look at her like that?
She could not figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it and climbed back into Pelipper's mouth. Reiji mounted Pelipper again, lightly patted its beak, and they flew toward Pallet Town.
A little over an hour after they left, things played out exactly as Reiji had expected. The fires from their morning and noon rest stops were both discovered by the pursuers.
Standing beside the still-smoking fire, one of Vicious's subordinates pulled out his phone with a grim expression and called him.
"Boss, they didn't go to the coast. I found the fire they used to cook. It still hasn't gone out."
Reiji and the others had been in a hurry and had not bothered dealing with the fire properly. Since they were planning to fly straight to Pallet Town in one push, they did not have to chew on dry bread anymore and could afford to eat something hot. That smoking fire ended up giving them away.
"I see." Vicious took out his map, marked the two new locations, and drew a line between them. Then he extended the line in both directions.
Extending it backward, he estimated that the two had changed direction around three in the morning.
Extending it forward, the line pointed straight at Pallet Town.
"Damn it. They're going to Pallet Town." Vicious stared at the destination at the end of the line. One endpoint was Pallet Town, and beyond that was Cinnabar Town.
If they wanted to escape pursuit, reaching Pallet Town would be enough. That was a town even Giovanni did not want to provoke.
Once Nurse Joy escaped there, Vicious would have no way to touch her. Worse, the fact that they had hunted her would be exposed. After that, all they could do was run from the League.
He might be feared inside Team Rocket, where everyone had to call him a top executive, but if the League launched a full-scale hunt, Lance would be the one coming after him.
No, thank you. Absolutely no, thank you.
So Vicious made his decision. "Matori, dispatch a helicopter from the nearest base. I want the fastest tilt-rotor aircraft you can get me. Move fast."
Faced with Vicious's roaring demand, Matori could only arrange the aircraft for him, and not just any aircraft—a twin-rotor one.
These people were really going to chase Reiji and Yukari with an aircraft. Reiji knew nothing about it. He had underestimated how shameless they could be. They were bringing aircraft into this. There was no honor left at all.
Reiji, still riding Pelipper, had no idea an aircraft was coming after them. They flew until evening before stopping for dinner.
After a quick meal and water break, Pelipper rested properly for half an hour, and then they set off again. Pallet Town was already close.
Now that night had fallen, even if the enemy caught up, they would not be able to see them. Aircraft radar would not help either, unless they searched with the eyes of Pokémon that could see in the dark.
So flying at night was safe. At least it let them avoid visual tracking.
By eleven at night, they were already near Pallet Town. Reiji did not fly straight into town, though. There was a Dragonite enforcing a no-fly zone here, and if he flew in, he might get knocked out of the sky.
He had Pelipper land outside Pallet Town. Once Yukari climbed out of Pelipper's mouth, he fed Pelipper several Pokéblocks and recalled it into its Poké Ball to let it rest.
Then he walked over to Yukari and called, "Get on. We're here."
"Why not fly in?" Yukari did not refuse. After spending the last few days together, acting coy now would be too fake.
"There's a Dragonite here. It doesn't let Trainers ride Flying-type Pokémon into town. We have to walk." Reiji explained while carrying Yukari on his back and slowly making his way toward Pallet Town.
It was past eleven at night, and most houses had already turned off their lights. Reiji did not dare use a flashlight in case someone saw it. He entered town slowly by moonlight.
His caution was justified. All day, a sneaky scout had been following them from behind, reporting their progress to Vicious from time to time.
Vicious was on his way by helicopter. If the aircraft had not needed to pick him up and refuel, it would have caught up with Pelipper and the two of them long ago.
Seeing them enter Pallet Town, the scout grew more anxious than anyone. He kept calling Vicious, urging him to hurry. If Vicious arrived any later, it would be too late.
But Vicious hung up on him. Just as the scout was wondering what was going on, the sound of helicopter rotors came from the horizon.
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
"Finally. Just in time. Those two really can run. They covered over a thousand kilometers in just a few days."
At the same time, Reiji heard the rotors and every alarm bell in his head went off. Without looking back, he carried Yukari and sprinted desperately toward Ash's house.
When he reached the front door, he had no time to wait for anyone to open it. He kicked the wooden door open.
The crash woke Ash and Delia. Both rushed downstairs to see what was happening. Ash even grabbed his Poké Balls, excited at the thought that a burglar had broken into the house.
Reiji dumped Yukari on the sofa without even looking at the two people clattering down the stairs. Then he rushed back outside and looked up at the helicopter overhead. Its searchlight was already shining in his face.
A Poké Ball opened.
Gyarados appeared, energy already gathering in its mouth as the beam fired.
"Hyper Beam!"
"Gyaaa!" Gyarados raised its head and fired an orange-yellow beam straight into the sky, striking the hovering helicopter.
Before Vicious and the others could even force a landing, the helicopter hit by Hyper Beam immediately lost balance. Its rotors spun wildly as it crashed into the grassland some distance from Ash's front door.
Boom! Boom, boom!
The moment the aircraft hit the ground, it exploded. Reiji had to hide behind Gyarados while Gyarados used Protect to block the shockwave.
Crash!
Ash's wooden house was not as lucky. The blast swept over it, and the windows shattered instantly, glass raining onto the floor.
Ash and Delia, who had just come downstairs and still had no idea what was going on, could only cover their heads and scream. Yukari curled up on the sofa and screamed too.
When the three of them came back to their senses, another blinding flash erupted outside. That was Gyarados using Hyper Beam again.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Roar!
From the burning wreckage of the aircraft, a terrifying beast walked out. Every step it took made the ground tremble.
Reiji stared at the monster. It raised one arm and blocked Gyarados's Hyper Beam without the slightest effect. The Elite Four-tier pressure rushing toward him without restraint made him step back instinctively, again and again, until he bumped into someone and stopped.
"Are they insane?" Ash had never seen a crash site before. Even after Reiji bumped into him, he did not react. He just stared blankly at the explosion in the distance.
Only after bumping into Ash did Reiji realize they had come outside. What were they standing at the door watching for? Did they have a death wish?
"Run! Go to Professor Oak's place! Run!"
That familiar shout snapped Delia back to her senses at once. She grabbed Ash as she ran out, heading for Professor Oak's Laboratory on the hill.
Yukari saw Delia run, but her legs had gone weak. Reiji could only release Pelipper and have it carry her.
He turned back toward the approaching Tyranitar, with Vicious and the other Team Rocket members behind it.
It was not strange that they had survived the crash. In that situation, having Pokémon carry them out and jump was the best choice. Even if they had not jumped, a Pokémon using Protect would have let them survive the explosion.
"You've got guts, kid." Vicious looked at Reiji standing in front of Ash's house and gave a savage grin. "Tyranitar, Hyper Beam."
"Gulp. An Elite Four-tier Hyper Beam. That's an Elite Four-tier Hyper Beam." Reiji saw the terrifying energy gathering in Tyranitar's mouth and had absolutely no intention of staying to block it.
That thought had never even crossed his mind. How could Protect from an Advanced-tier Pokémon possibly block Hyper Beam from an Elite Four-tier Pokémon? They were not on the same level. Taking that head-on would be suicide.
He had only one path left.
Recall Gyarados into its Poké Ball, send out Scyther in the same instant, cling to Scyther's leg with everything he had, and shout, "Run!"
"Scy!" The moment Scyther appeared, it nearly lost its soul from fright. There was no time to think. Swarm was screaming danger at it, and it beat its wings at full speed, flying out of Pallet Town.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Scyther had barely escaped when Hyper Beam swept through Ash's house. The wooden building broke apart like a stack of toy blocks, pieces flying everywhere.
Fortunately, Ash had his Pokémon with him, while the rest were at Professor Oak's Laboratory. Brock and Misty were also staying at the lab, not at Ash's house. Otherwise, even the Poké Balls would have been vaporized by Hyper Beam.
Seeing Reiji flee and Scyther vanish in the blink of an eye, Vicious stopped paying attention to him. He turned to the subordinates behind him and shouted, "Two of you go after him. I want his corpse. He's ruined my plans again and again."
"Yes!"
Two subordinates answered, immediately sent out Flying-type Pokémon, and chased after Scyther.
Once they left, Vicious turned toward Ash, Delia, and Yukari, who were fleeing toward Professor Oak's Laboratory. Pelipper had flown for so long that it had thought it could finally rest. Now it had been sent out again to carry someone, and it was not much faster than Delia and Ash on foot.
Watching the three figures in the distance, Vicious had already lost all interest in capturing Latias. This entire mess had happened because of that one Pokémon, and now all he wanted was to leave no witnesses.
"Tyranitar, Hyper Beam."
"Roar!" Tyranitar opened its mouth again. Terrifying energy gathered, then fired as a devastating beam toward the three fleeing people.
Held in Pelipper's grip, Yukari looked back and saw it coming. She closed her eyes. She knew there was no way to dodge. What a pity. This Pelipper, and these two strangers, had all been dragged into this because of her.
"Draaa!"
A roar sounded behind her, but the ending Yukari expected never came. A round, orange-yellow beast spread its arms and blocked the beam in front of the three of them. Tyranitar's Hyper Beam crashed into Protect, split down the middle, and blasted the grasslands on both sides.
Boom, boom, boom!
The shockwave knocked all three of them over. Ash, Delia, and Yukari could only press themselves flat against the ground to avoid being hit again.
Once the blast passed, Dragonite lifted a hand and wiped away cold sweat. That had been far too close. If it had arrived even one step later, those three would have been erased from the world.
Footsteps rushed over.
Feeling the shockwave fade, Ash, Delia, and Yukari lifted their heads and saw five people running toward them: the white-haired Professor Oak, Ash's rival Gary, Gary's sister Daisy, Misty, and Brock.
[End of chapter]
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