HOLY CRAP A CHAPTER

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Chapter 14: A Bite Out of the Big Apple

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The morning of the assault arrived. The anticipation around the militarized camp was high; everyone was involved in this battle in one way or another. From children gathering stones for makeshift bunkers in the camp to tailors weaving bandages, everyone was getting ready for the fight. Everyone was treated to a large meal the night before; for many of those who ate it, it would be their last.

Parker was standing inside his tent, pulling his bulletproof vest on over his undershirt. Pokemon didn't use guns, but the vest was good protection against projectiles of any sort. He proceeded to put on a reinforced jacket over the vest. Conventional means were the best they had for protection at the moment; they had lost the technology to create pokemon dampeners when the Black Hand was swallowed into The Void.

Parker heard a small voice outside his tent.

"Parker? Can I come in? Please?" It was Mia. It was still dark, and even though there were plenty of lights in the camp he was worried about Mia's safety at night. The children at the nursery must not have been able to sleep all night with the anticipation, he decided. She probably needed to talk to him to calm herself down.

"Of course, Mia." Parker said, his voice soft.

Mia walked in, her head toward the ground. Her movements were very precise and calculated, s if Parker's tent contained a minefield that would kill her if she stepped in the wrong spot.

Parker went down on one knee, "Is something wrong?"

The girl looked up at him, her big eyes wide with fear, "Are we going to die today?"

Parker sighed. Mia wasn't even seven yet and she's worried about dying. This was not a way for children to live. He put out his arm, a sign for Mia to take her place on his knee. She did so, and Parker took her hand in his.

"I'm going to be honest, Mia. A lot of people will die today." Mia's eyes began to fill with tears, but Parker wasn't finished, "However, I guarantee you this; neither of us will die."

"What about Matt?" Mia asked, a sob about to break into her voice.

"Him neither." Parker said. A small smile formed on his lips, "Mia, we're going to sleep in a nice hotel tonight, I promise. You'll get a big bed all to yourself! With big, comfy pillows and blankets!"

Mia's tears began to disappear, "Really?"

"Yes!" Parker said, his voice beginning to hitch in his feigned excitement, "And maybe we'll be able to fill up a pool with lots of water, and we can go swimming! Just like you hear the big kids talk about. We'll have New York City back, and we'll all live easier there." He smirked, "If it's still there, I'll even take you to the Toys R Us store!"

"REALLY?" Mia shouted, her excitement now totally taking over, removing any hint of sadness still left in her face, "Like the big kids talk about? With all the toys you can ever imagine in one place?"

"That's the one!" Parker said. Mia jumped off of his leg, Parker stood back up. He ruffled her hair, "Now, it's early, have you taken your bath yet?"

Mia looked at the ground, a guilty look on her face.

"That's what I smelled!" Parker teased, "Go on and clean up. We'll have breakfast before I leave, O.K.?" Mia nodded and ran out of the tent. She made there safely, he imagined she would make it back without an issue.

Parker sighed and fell onto his cot. He looked at his right hand and focused his attention to the golden ring on his fourth finger. He thought about Johanna. She was the only person on his mind for the last few days; he was aware that after he set foot on that bridge to Long Island he might never see her again.

As if on queue Johanna entered his tent.

Parker turned his head so that he may get a better look at his wife. She was still as beautiful as the first time he laid his eyes on her. Her body was muscular, yet elegant, her eyes gleamed like sunlight. She had an air of confidence about her that Parker found wholly attractive, and every time he was with her he experienced the same feeling he had when they had first met almost two years ago, when she was running from D.C. and he was helping gather survivors.

She approached his cot and sat on the edge of it, looking away towards the entrance of the tent.

"Parker..."

"Don't say anything," he replied, moving over and giving her space to lie down. She curled up next to him as he put her arm over her, "Just enjoy this moment."

"This won't be our last time together, Parker." She rolled over so she could lock her eyes with his. Hers were reassuring, determined, even. Parker's were wavering. He has had many brave and decisive moments, had been involved in numerous dangerous battles, but this one seemed to be the most decisive since D.C.

She smiled, "Everyone's morale is high. Our pokemon are battle-ready. Don't waste your strength on worrying. You've got a pivotal role in the upcoming fight." She lifted her hand and touched his cheek, "You'll do great."

At that moment she leaned in and kissed him, trying to drain away his worry and replace it with her love.

When she broke away, Parker's eyes had lost their worry and regained some determination. Not enough, but it was a start.

"That wasn't enough, huh?" She said with a devilish smile.

"What do you have planned?" Parker asked in a knowing tone.

Johanna got off the cot and closed up the tent. She crawled on top of him, "We have half an hour, right?"

"I believe so."

The devil smile reappeared, "You know exactly what we're going to do"

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Matt was standing on the edge of the bridge to Long Island, his ocarina in hand. He saw the swarms of bug pokemon moving back and forth on patrol when the water assault began. He first saw a large amount of electrodes and voltorbs fall from the sky. He assumed there were at least a hundred as they hit the water, large splashes were followed by deafening explosions. Bright blue electricity surged through the water, and he could hear screams of the hundreds of Gyrados as they were caught in the blast.

A bright purple flash followed the attack, and he saw hundreds of water pokemon appear in mid-air. They dropped into the water beneath, and soon all of the bomb pokemon were being led to shore by them. He sighed with relief. It worked.

Raikou appeared behind him.

Incredible.

"That's not the last time you're saying that word, Raikou."

I sure hope not. Hop on.

Matt climbed onto Raikou's back as Mew and Jirachi appeared next to them.

Jirachi, are you sure about your idea? Mew asked, We could use you at the front, but if you're positive you can convince her to help us that would be more beneficial to our fight.

Leave it to me! Jirachi said with a beaming smile, She'll help us. Just because you hang out in space your whole life doesn't mean you're not willing to help out those who need it most! I'll be back before you know it, with a powerful new legend at my side!

"Godspeed, Jirachi." Matt said with a nod. The legend winked at him as he disappeared.

The group looked at the bridge and saw the bugs scrambling desperately to defend themselves, but their defense was futile. The icy winds the water pokemon were creating were enough to cause the bug pokemon to hit the ground and lay unmoving. A thick mist began to cover the bridge, another attack from their allies. Their cover was set.

"Mew. We're ready."

Right. Mew said, expanding his consciousness, All squads, begin phase two. The first wave was a success. Repeat. The first wave was a success. Begin wave two.

Matt looked down at Raikou, who nodded. He played a few notes on his ocarina and felt a powerful wind behind them, ready to push them forwad.

"CHARGE!"

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Parker and Entei were teleported into a small neighborhood in the borough. Parker called out his Flygon and Illumise and asked them to scout the area and report back to Entei. They promptly set out.

Be careful, Parker. I guarantee you Celebi knew of our attack. We might see her today.

"I'm beginning to doubt that she's still alive; she was badly injured in D.C. and we've only heard of her since."

I would love to believe that. But you know as well as I do how resourceful she is.

"Don't remind me."

His pokemon returned and Entei conversed with them. The dog nodded and the other pokemon returned to Parker's side, waiting for their next command.

They said there doesn't seem to be a threat in the immediate area, but they spotted a mass of pokemon about six blocks from here. They think it's the base.

"Well we certainly got lucky, didn't we?" Parker said with a grin, mounting Entei.

Too lucky. We're sticking to the rooftops. I don't trust the street.

"Fine with me" Parker said. Entei nodded and made an enormous leap, reaching the top of a one-story house, then with another leap made it onto another, and another, and soon they were on their way.

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Matt cleared the bridge easily, only having to fell a few mothim along the way. Many squadrons of troops followed him to the edge and were now pouring out into the small business district in front of him, strategically moving into and securing buildings, making sure no pokemon were occupying them.

"This isn't good. The area seems empty..." Matt said.

I don't like this either. They must've seen our forces coming. Why aren't they fighting back?

"Let's just move. The sooner we get Long Island back the better."

The two began to bound down the center of the street when the ground began to rumble violently. Raikou lost his footing and stumbled, launching Matt off the pokemon and into the pavement below him, his left shoulder hitting first and getting most of the blow. He slid for a few feet before stopping and trying to get to his feet. His armor protected his shoulder from being cut, but the cloth concealing it was torn. He grunted. He was sure his shoulder was bruised. He looked back at Raikou and saw him stumbling back to his feet as the ground still shook.

"Goddamn it! They were waiting for this!"

We walked into a trap. Everyone in the buildings is at a large risk.

The earthquake began to increase in magnitude as time passed. Matt struggled to keep his footing, he could see soldiers pouring out of the buildings, trying to get out of the way of anything that could crush them.

The magnitude of the earthquake was intense, but it wasn't strong enough to topple buildings and it seemed to stop increasing in intensity.

"I think they want us all in the street..."

I sense something below us. Matt! WATCH OUT!

At that moment the ground in front of Matt broke wide open as a Steelix emerged in front of him, its maw grinning, revealing massive teeth. It dived down in an attempt to crush Matt, but Raikou swept him away before any harm could be done.

"This was the trap! Raikou, we have to get fighting, water, grass and fire pokemon in here, now!" Matt saw at least twenty onix and steelix appear from the ground, their attack supplemented by weaville that were supposed to clear out anybody who survived the onslaught of rock and steel.

Matt called out his hitmontop and told it to defend the soldiers being pursued by weaville. The pokemon nodded and deflected an attack but the steelix that just assaulted Matt, causing the pokemon to scream in rage as the hitmontop span away. It gave chase.

"How about those reinforcements?"

Mew said to wait a few minutes, but they're coming.

"Alright." Matt summoned his ocarina and brought it to his mouth, "I'm going to do the best I can to provide cover for everyone to get behind. Raikou, can you round up any injured you find?"

I can. Be careful, Matt.

"You do the same, Raikou."

And with that the dog disappeared into the chaos. Matt took the ocarina into his mouth and began to play.

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Parker's group arrived just outside the mass of pokemon that flygon and illumise had described. They were centered around the tallest office building in the area, with many machamp and lucario guarding the outside.

Entei crouched low on the building they were on, they were still only a story off the ground; easy enough for the pokemon to spot. Parker dismounted and hid behind a large electrical box. He looked at Entei, "What now? There's too many guards for us to handle this alone."

We wait. There's nothing else we can do yet.

"Are you sure? We need to end this fight as quickly as possible!"

Have faith. If we don't get help from the bridge in a few minutes, I'll create a distraction while you can ride Flygon to the top of building and launch an assault from the inside. Are you O.K. with that?

Parker nodded, "More than O.K. I want to do it now."

Patience. Your time will come.

"It almost sounds like you're talking about my death."

That, too, but I'm referring to your time to act.

"I caught that."

Then don't be a smartass.

Parker chuckled and settled his back into the metal behind him. He sat and waited. He prayed that Matt was doing alright.

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