Revival of the Burned

Act I: The Lightning that Strikes

Chapter 1: Burned

"The Brass Tower was built seven hundred years ago, along with its twin the Tin Tower, and stands ten stories high."

Seventeen-year-old Pokémon trainer, Nathan read the words from a colorful pamphlet. His two friends, Zach and Anna listened but Zach frowned.

"Nathan, nobody cares about your nerdy trivia. I just want to get to top to see Lugia."

"But, Lugia may not even be up there. Or it could be asleep. Or it could fly away when it hears your sour tone," Nathan rebutted.

"Or maybe it'll fly right into my Pokéball when it sees your ugly face," Zach jabbed.

"Come on, guys," Anna interrupted them. "We're here to see a legendary Pokémon not to battle each other."

Both boys smirked.

"A battle seems like a good idea," Nathan said.

"I agree," Zach pulled a ball from his bag pocket. "Go, Strike!"

A Jolteon materialized in front him with an eager howl.

"Booster, I choose you!" A Flareon appeared next to Nathan.

"Are you two serious?" Anna sighed. "Here? Right now? Why?!"

"There's never a wrong time for a Pokémon battle," Nathan laughed. "In fact, why don't you call out your Vaporeon so that it can watch its brothers fight?"

"Okay, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," she replied with a shrug. "River, let's watch these boys be idiots." Her Pokéball opened to unveil a Vaporeon, which cooed with excitement.

"Strike, let's start off with a Thunder Shock!" Zach commanded and his Jolteon summoned a charge of electrical power.

"Booster, use Quick Attack to dodge it!"

Flareon dashed forward with heightened speed and collided into Jolteon.

"Since you were so kind to come to us, Strike give him a taste of your Thunder Fang!"

Strike bared his electrically charged teeth and bit into Booster's leg, which sent the Fire-type reeling.

"Fight Fang with Fang! Fire Fang attack!"

The Flareon bit back with its own fangs, which ignited in flames. Jolteon jumped free and the two stared down one another.

"Booster use Ember!"

The Flareon's ears suddenly perked up, but it froze in place. It looked toward the nearby window with an ominous uneasiness. Jolteon and Vaporeon mirrored its movement.

"Strike, what is it?" Zach asked.

Anna followed her Vaporeon to the window. The soft patter of rain and wind greeted her.

"Guys, it looks like a storm just came out of nowhere. I swear it was bright and sunny just a minute ago."

Nathan and Zach joined Anna by the window. The afternoon sun that radiated moments ago had been replaced by thunderclouds as black as night. Several flashes of lightning broke through the sky. The three Pokémon at the trainers' feet simultaneously shivered as thunder boomed like drums.

"Strike normally enjoys thunderstorms," Zach noted. "If even he is this afraid, this storm is really bad. Guess we'll have to finish our battle later," he added as he turned toward Nathan.

"Figures you'd say that, since you were about to lose," Nathan teased.

A bright flash of lightning glowed throughout the room.

"Come on, you two. Don't start this aga-" Anna started, but was interrupted by a boom of thunder so loud that it made the tower shake. Or was that an explosion?

An alert siren screamed in the teens' ears.

"Fire on the tenth floor. Please evacuate in a calm and orderly manner," the automated voice repeated.

Everyone in the tower rushed out as quickly as they could. As Nathan and the others walked down the last flight of stairs, he noticed a little girl crying out.

"Pichu? Sentret? Where are you guys?"

"Did you lose your Pokémon?"

"Uh-huh," the girl sobbed. "I'm scared that they're hurt. We were playing and then..."

"Don't worry. I'll find them for you," Nathan said with a soft smile. "But they'll be really sad if you got hurt looking for them so you should follow everyone else outside. Then, I'll be out in a jiffy with your Pokémon. Okay?"

"Okay, thank you mister," the girl sniffled and ran outside.

"Booster, let's go," Nathan rushed off.

"Nathan, wait," Anna called after him. "What's the plan, here? Get yourself killed trying to be a hero?"

"Well, 'hero' is a bit much, but someone has to do something. Are you two coming or not?"

"You always bite off more than you can chew and expect us to help out," Zach sighed. "Come on, Strike. The sooner we save those Pokémon, the sooner we can save ourselves."

"Fine. For the record, I think we should let the fire department handle it, but fine. Let's do something reckless, instead. Okay, River. Looks like we have a search and rescue mission to complete."

The three teens and their Pokémon rushed back up the stairs. The rest of the people in the tower had already evacuated, so they were alone. They only made it to the fifth floor before they started seeing signs of fire and smoke. Smoke immediately filled their noses and made their eyes water. Urgency raised in Nathan's mind as he coughed and strained against the heat.

This is going to be harder than I thought. Why do superhero movies always make this look so much easier? He thought to himself as he ran up another flight of stairs.

Fifth floor, nothing. Sixth floor, nothing. Seventh, nothing. Where were those lost Pokémon? Was it too late? Had he somehow passed them already? What should they do if this was all for nothing? The smoke suffocated him, and the unbearable heat exhausted him. It finally dawned on Nathan that this was a terrible mistake. They should've let the fire department handle the rescue. They should've-

"I found them!" Zach shouted through his makeshift sleeve-mask. "Quick, they're trapped!"

On the eighth floor trapped under a fallen support beam, the tiny Pichu and Sentret cowered in fear. Everyone gathered around the collapsed structure and lifted with all their strength. Nathan and Flareon, Zach and Jolteon, Anna and Vaporeon, they all pushed the large wooden beam in hopes of moving it just a few inches. Fortunately, their combined efforts made it just enough possible for the two small Pokémon to pull free. Anna scooped them into her arms and held them tight.

"Okay, now we just have to get out of here, and fast," she coughed.

Another piece of burning wood fell from the ceiling and grazed past the girl and knocked her off balance. She gasped in pain and collapsed to the floor, but she kept the frightened and injured Pokémon held closely to her chest. Vaporeon splashed a small stream of Water Gun on her burned shoulder in an attempt to help.

"I'm okay, River," she tried to smile but winced instead.

"Anna?" Zach helped her to her feet. "Are you sure you're okay? That shoulder looks bad."

"Yeah. Come on, we have to- Oh, no! Look, the stairs are blocked now! How do we-" she started to cough as another wave of smoke entered her lungs.

"Can River clear an opening with his Water Gun?" Nathan asked.

"No, it's too much. And he's been spraying water on our way up here, he's too tired now for something that big."

Exhaustion overwhelmed them. There was no exit. No plan b. Nothing else they could do.

"G-guys…" Nathan started, "I don't think we're going to make it out of this. I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"No, we can't give up," Zach urged.

"Right," Nathan nodded absentmindedly. "But, at the very least, we need to put our Pokémon back in their Pokéballs. In case the worst happens, at least they'll be safe."

The other two trainers nodded. Nathan retrieved Booster's ball from his bag and held it up, but Booster resisted.

"Booster, you need to get in the ball. For your own safety."

Nathan looked his Flareon in the eyes. Those determined eyes looked right through to his heart and spoke out. In that dire moment, Booster wouldn't leave his trainer's side. Strike and River responded the same.

"Booster… Please, we might not make it… You have to…" The words escaped Nathan's lips as the heat swallowed his consciousness. The smoke blurred his vision. All he could see was Flareon's eyes, which shimmered with loving dedication…

"He's waking up," an unfamiliar voice said, almost as if close by and far way simultaneously.

"What happened?" Nathan stirred in the emergency stretcher. A light sprinkle of rain fell from the sky as the only remnants of the massive storm that had occurred earlier.

"There was a fire," the medic answered him. "The fire rescue team pulled you and your friends out of the wreckage. It's a miracle you survived."

"My Pokémon? Are the Pokémon safe?" Nathan asked with urgent concern.

"The Pichu and Sentret are safe. We didn't find any other Pokémon."

"Booster?! Where's Booster?! My Flareon! Did you find a Flareon?!" The panic rushed through his voice. He saw Zach and Anna sitting next to other medics who checked their vitals.

"Strike and River are gone too…" Zach said in a solemn tone. "No sign of their bodies, though."

"So, they could still be in there?! Hurry, we have to keep-"

"No," the medic held him back. "If anyone is still in the wreckage, the fire fighters will find them. You have to trust the adults to handle the situation. Although, its thanks to you three that the girl's Pokémon are safe. You were brave. Stupid, but brave."

Nathan found out later that the fire fighters were completely helpless to put out that huge fire. The storm's heavy rain was what finally put it out. As if by some magical, legendary power, the rain had controlled an unstoppable disaster. Neither Flareon, nor Jolteon, nor Vaporeon were ever found.