WotCH ch.11

War of the Clashing Hearts
Ch. 11
Some say that money is happiness. Others say love is the key. I think differently. Happiness cannot be obtained. It can only be discovered after a lifetime of searching. - Drake.

"Okay," Cameron said as he slid out from under his machine.

"That should just about do it. Alright guys," he called over to the Pokémon resting under the oak tree in the front lawn.

"Finally," Scratch said as he got up.

"I know. I thought we'd be sitting and waiting for him for another hour," Sibelius responded as he stretched his wings.

"C'mon, let's go see what the brainiac has done now," Rupert said as he tossed his last empty soda can to the side.

The three got up from their spot to go see what exactly Cameron had done. As the three got close, though, they all stopped dead in their tracks with both shock and wonder.

Cameron merely stood back and admired his work.

"What…is it," Rupert asked, but the only sound Cameron heard was him repeating his species name. It didn't matter though.

He figured exactly what the frog Pokémon had asked.

"This, my friend, is the Calvary," Cameron announced with a wide grin on his face.

This was going to make things interesting.

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Ross sobbed uncontrollably for what seemed like hours. In reality, it was only five minutes, but to Napoleon, being the ever impatient one, it felt like hours.

He felt sympathy for the mouse, and that was saying a lot coming from him, but this crying was really starting to wear on his nerves.

"Ross."

Sob.

"Ross."

More sobs.

"Ross!!"

Even more sobs.

"Dammit Ross, shut the hell up!!!"

*Sob-cough-splutter-sniffle*

There was a silence between the two, save for Ross's occasional sniffle, until Napoleon was sure he wasn't going to break down anymore.

"Ross, listen. I can't say I feel your pain, because frankly, I can't even imagine what you must be going through."

He paused to see if Ross would respond. He didn't, so he continued.

"I know you haven't seen anything like this. Hell, you didn't come here expecting it to be just like any other gym battle or random wild Pokémon we have faced in the past. Here, now, they will try to kill us. Not knock us out and leave us. No, they are here to kill us.

I'll be totally honest, I didn't want to think about it, but I knew it was true. I'm scared Ross, I'm truly scared, but I can't let it get to me. The same way you can't let it get to you."

Ross merely sniffled slightly before wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

"I know," Ross responded hoarsely.

"I know I shouldn't, but every time I see blood. Every time I see one of them dying," Ross began as he looked up into Napoleon's eyes.

"I can't help but feel afraid that the same fate can happen to Saria. I love her. And I know everyone on the ranch knows, but I love her with all my heart. I don't want to lose her."

"I know you don't. And I don't want to lose Cotton either. That's why we are here. To make sure that doesn't happen. We have to be strong if we want to save them."

"You're right," Ross said clearly, finally out of his sobbing fit.

"Come on," Napoleon stated as he stood.

"We have some people to save."

Ross stood as well. He reached down and grasped his plasma weapon firmly in his hands.

The same hands that had killed those bios.

The same hands that would save Saria.

With these hands, he would not fail.

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Malcolm held his sides as the fit of laughter had passed.

"Hey, don't laugh. It was a very traumatic experience," Jenna said, trying her best to sound serious through her own giggles.

"Very serious indeed. Tell me again, where exactly was your lucarios tongue again," Malcolm managed to say through large guffaws.

Jenna couldn't resist and also began to laugh loudly. The two had decided to swap funny stories from their adventures.

Jenna, by far, had the funniest stories of the both of them.

From being chased by garchomps, to her sableye practically stealing Christmas like the Grinch.

After the story of her lucario, Vincent, getting his tongue stuck to her infernape, Veruka, chest plates, he could feel his sides about to burst with mirth.

"It took me and half of my strongest Pokémon to keep Veruka from beating Vincent to a pulp. Man, she was angry all the time we were in snowpoint city. She practically melted all the snow with a twenty foot radius of her body in every direction."

Malcolm began to laugh again at the thought of snowpoint being flooded with melted snow.

The two sat in mirth. They had decided to enjoy the little time they had together.

Their laughter helped mull over the curtain of gloom that had set not too long ago.

Jenna, being the upbeat person, did not like to be the one whom would let dread overtake her. She had faced situations that came with so much pressure that it near made her give in, but she didn't.

She pushed on.

She persevered, and it made her the champion she is today. So what if she was trapped.

So what if the world was on the edge of Armageddon and she was probably would be the first to die?

She would smile and never show fear or defeat to the bitter end.

And that's what made her and her Pokémon strong.

It's what made her survive.

And it would keep her alive now.

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Drake leaned his beaten body against the wall to keep himself on his feet.

With his battle wounds from earlier still bearing heavy on him, this didn't tide well with him.

He looked on at the carnage of the room. There were bios scattered around the room. Some unconscious, others, well, weren't as lucky. He wasn't kidding when he said he would kill for his friends.

He craned his neck over to his brothers and sisters in arms. They weren't fairing to well either.

Veruka, whom had raced into the fray along with Drake, sustained heavy wounds and cuts just as he did. They hadn't been very deep and hadn't cut any major arteries, but it would hurt like hell to stay standing.

Saria, who had played more defensively with Cotton, was bruised from head to toe. Nothing too bad, but it would definitely be sore by tomorrow. Besides that, she was okay.

Cotton was fairing the best out of everyone. Her flexibility and reflexes had kept her out of harm's way for the most part. The most she had as an ugly bruise on her cheek where a machop had given her a nasty right hook when she wasn't paying attention.

Arthur was out cold from exhaustion and battle scars. He had been using his dig ability to full throttle. He would tunnel underground, then pop up at random moments and strike down a bio with a fierce mach punch before disappearing again.

Johnny, whom had a variety of of attacks to choose from, was, at most, the one who caused the most damage. His random array of attacks was more surprising than Drake had imagined. He would let lose a hand full of lightning bolts, then unleash a harsh blizzard attack that from bios in their tracks.

It was a sight to see.

Drake smiled wearily at his teammates as a quick wave of relief came over him. He was glad that everyone was alive. Badly beaten, but alive.

"What now," he heard someone ask. He turned to see Veronica. Her golden fur was disheveled and matted with a mixture of her own blood, sweat, and the blood of other bios.

"I don't know…I was determined to get Vincent, but…"

"But what," Veruka asked as she pushed herself into a full standing position.

"Well, to be honest, I really don't think any of us has any energy to go and start a full battle with the doc. I thought we could take him together, but with the way we are now? I don't think there's enough energy to equal one full Pokémon."

"So, we still have to fight," Veruka argued. She wasn't going to let Vincent go without a fight.

"Of course we should," Drake challenged back. "But we need to go about this more intelligently. Just taking out the doctor isn't enough anymore."

"What do you mean," Johnny asked, as he had finally given up on trying to wake Arthur.

"We need to destroy this whole base."

As if on cue, everyone, minus the slumbering munchlax, stared at Drake as if he had grown an extra limb.

"What?"

"Are you crazy," Veronica growled.

"About what?"

"What do you think?!?! You're trying to take out an entire base filled with bio monster hybrids!! I could understand taking out the doctor, but you've gone to a whole another level!!!! There is no way in hell we could pull that off. Our chances of getting out of here alive between none and are you the fuck serious!!!!"

Drake, who had been listening to her rant, had finally mustered enough strength to stand fully on his two feet and turned to face her.

"So?"

That simple word seemed to diminish Veronica's burning anger down to a simmering flame.

"So what if we are out matched? Both in power and in numbers. So what if the doctor had Vincent? We still have to fight. We still have to live. And if not."

Drake took his final step and was now face to face with Veronica.

"If we die, then we die fighting."

Veronica frowned, but it was quickly replaced with a small smile.

"You never give up, do you?"

"Nope. I didn't become Cameron's strongest Pokémon by giving up."

"But here, simple strength isn't enough to do anything."

"I know, that's why we're using a plan this time."

"Didn't we have one last time?"

"Yes, but is wasn't thought through all the way."

"And what makes this one any different," Cotton asked.

"Because this time," Drake started before a loud explosion shook the entire underground fortress.

Drake merely smiled.

"We have back up."