Fiery Lands and Stormy Seas (Pokemon Watty Award Winner 2014)

Chapter 12

APOLLO

The humiliation of being tricked by the Brightflames in Rustboro gave way to excitement and a hint of joy when Apollo Love finally led his men into battle against the armies of Mt. Chimney. If you could even call it battle, he thought. This is a rout.

Neither of the allied armies of Slateport or Mauville had had any break from riding. The winding, rocky hills between Rustboro and Verdanturf had taken them an entire day to navigate, but after that there was nothing but flat land ahead of them as they charged towards Mauville with a head of steam. Someone should cut through those hills, someday, Apollo had thought to himself of that first day's journey.

Apollo was apprehensive about what he would find when he finally arrived at Mauville, but was impressed that the city walls had held as long as they did save the one breach. There weren't five thousand men, not even three thousand, but the men on Flygon increased the value of some of their number. Still, it was not enough to combat the readiness and anger of the combined forces of Mauville and Slateport.

King Marcus Spark was the first man into the battle, when his Manectric came within sight of the city walls the golden armored Pokemon shot like a bolt of lightning into the fray. Apollo's men then broke off from the main host. Spark's men chased after the Mt. Chimney army that had fled at first sight of them (and that was most of them), while Apollo cut off the retreat from whichever stragglers he could find.

Apollo cut down ten common soldiers in battle that day, and Gallade another thirty while the Pokemon accompanying Mt. Chimney's forces fled at the sight of the Psychic Fighter. Strangely, the Chief of Oldale felt pity for these men who fought for whatever their King told them to do, and died at the whim of his sword arm. The blood of these men didn't get Apollo's adrenaline going, they died so easily. This is not even sport, he thought.

He was about to chase down another soldier to increase his total to eleven when the fleeing soldier seemed to grow an arrow out of his neck. Before the soldier was able to make a sound, he convulsed as a wave of golden electricity coursed through his body. He died before he hit the ground.

Apollo turned his head to where the arrow came from and he saw a fair-looking young lady holding a bow astride a Manectric of her own. Though she or her spirit Pokemon were not armored, she had six quivers of arrows draped around the saddle. Two of the quivers were empty. Apollo wouldn't have remembered her face from the feast in Slateport, but it was the Manectric that he was able to remember her as Sarah Spark.

He called out to her from across the battlefield. "The fight is won, Princess, now go back inside before your father loses his beard!"

She must have heard, though she didn't laugh. "I've got at least fifty arrows I need to retrieve, I'll go back when I've found them all."

This one has no sense of humor, thought Apollo. He wondered if she had really slain fifty men with her arrows. Judging from the arrows she was missing, and the precision with which she took number eleven from him, he thought it was likely. In any case, I can't let anybody know I was outdone in battle by a princess.

He smiled as he looked around for any other enemy soldier, or any other man who might give him a worthy challenge. His smile turned around as something caught his eye in the air. He strained his vision against the setting sun. It was a strange shape, flying north with the rest of the Mt. Chimney scum.

"Gallade! Come and share with me what that is!" The spirit Pokemon heard him and stared at the object, focusing on it. Apollo put his hand on the Pokémon's shoulder as they shared what Gallade saw.

"No... No, no, no, NO!" Six Flygon were carrying an unconscious Swampert that dangled from a net. "Girl!" he called to the Princess. He was going to have her shoot down the Flygon, but the Pokemon were moving fast, and the drop to the ground could mean death for the Swampert. If it's not already dead... He decided not to take the chance. "Kevin, KEVIN WOOD!" he called for his second in command. The man arrived in an instant with his Slaking. The huge gorilla Pokémon's fur was spattered with gore while the Chief of Petalburg wiped a drip of blood from his sword.