Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)
Chapter 152: Lilian

Lilian Blackthorn hated skulking around like this, but it couldn't be helped. They needed proof beyond doubt of the Yamaguchi Group's misdeeds and couldn't strike until the time was right. 

She and her team were now in the borders of Route 16, in the sole harbor serving Celadon City. It was nowhere near as impressive as the bustling Vermilion Harbour, but there was still a decent number of containers scattered about, and more importantly, an excessive amount of guards patrolling the space. 

“According to the shipping manifesto, the ‘shipment’ will be arriving in one hour.” Lilian said when she retreated behind a corner and addressed the group of young trainers who were kind enough to follow after her whims. “The ‘merchandise’ will be hidden amidst containers of regular goods in disguise.” 

Honestly the unnaturally large shipment in itself was an irregular occurrence for a sleepy port like this. Hence why the Yamaguchi Group had outwardly acquired a shipping company with the pretense of making Celadon great again by usurping Vermilion City's crown as Kanto's trade center, even aggressively lobbying the Celadon City Council to that extent. It was all just a sham of course. 

Lilian pointed at a map of the docks that Purple Shadow acquired for her and addressed the overly excited Matsuri Himawari and Fuyumi Tendou. “The Yamaguchi Group has a joint security agreement with one of the dock's established gangs. I would like the two of you to assault this warehouse and take them out. They should be relatively lax and disorganised so it shouldn't pose too much of a challenge for trainers of your caliber.”

Despite her frivolous disposition, Matsuri Himawari was still a senior student of the Vermilion Flame and had the capabilities to match. And Fuyumi Tendou, while not as competent as Nina, was still a bona fide apprentice of the Cerulean Gym. So Lilian had utmost confidence in them. 

“What about you, princess?” Matsuri asked, eliciting a twitch from Lilian at the moniker. “Don't tell me you wanna take on the main baddies by yourself?” 

In response, Lilian turned towards Mash Hinatsu. Despite being from a branch family, the boy was still part of the great Summers Clan and currently favored as Sabrina's potential successor, so Lilian couldn't presume to tell him what to do. 

“I shall accompany the girls and double back to render assistance once my purpose is served.” Mash declared simply. 

Lilian frowned but did not argue, trying to influence an oracle was ill advised even in the best of times. So she reluctantly turned towards their final member, Cole Harrison. “Are you willing to join me in combat?” She asked, eliciting a snort from the boy. 

“Sure, why not.” He responded, in his usual belligerent demeanor. Cole Harrison had a poor reputation, but Lilian chose to trust that his family shaped him into a competent Pokemon Trainer at least. 

As her friend was prone to saying; beggars can't be choosers. Lilian couldn't afford not to use the entirety of the hand she was dealt, a thought that elicited a sigh from the girl, one that she held back. She harbored regrets for incapacitating the Student Council President in her blind rage. 

“Maybe I really should have waited for Nina…” Lilian dearly wished that her friend was by her side at this moment, only to tightly clench her fist to dispel such feeble minded thoughts. “No, what is done is done. I have no recourse but to move forward.”

After finalising a few more details, Lilian and her motley crew continued to lay in wait until it was time for them to move out to their designated positions. 

***

“Just to confirm again, you have no Flyers on hand right?” Lilian asked her companion as she tied up the pair of security personnel that they took down. 

As usual, Cole just snorted haughtily in response. “I come from a family of Rock specialists. What do you think?” 

Lilian held back the urge to roll her eyes and gave the cord in her hands a violent yank. “Then my Noibat and Flaaffy will defend the skies, I would like you to open a path for us with your Onix.” The girl instructed, earning a curt nod from Cole. 

Lilian checked the time and peeked around the corner of the container they were hiding behind. She couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation at the numbers they had to face. Just a measly two kids against what felt like an army of close to a hundred criminals lining the docks.

“If only I had Hattori with me at least.” Lilian lamented, but there was no point. The girl didn’t want to leave her dearest friend in a vulnerable position by taking her bodyguard away.

A salty sea breeze made humid by the summer air tickled at the girl’s luscious red mane as a blaring horn sounded in the distance, announcing the imminent arrival of the long awaited shipping vessel. The ship’s glaring spotlight cut through the darkness of the night, growing steadily from being a small speck in the horizon to becoming an encroaching carnival of lights.

Ideally, Lilian would have liked to wait until the ship was secured in the docks before beginning her assault. But evidently, that was too much to ask for as an explosion sounded in the distance, immediately putting their targets on high alert.

The Blackthorn prodigy sighed. Something must have gone wrong with the other team to force them into premature action. With a quick glance towards Cole, the boy released his Onix in a bright flash of light, prompting Lilian to do the same with her Noibat and Flaaffy as the two trainers climbed aboard the Rock snake and charged into battle.

***

“Burn them, Sapphire!” 

In response to her command, purple Draconic flames erupted from the maw of Lilian’s Dragonair, beating back the tide of encroaching Pokemon.

“Dammit, Blackthorn girl! Hurry up and cut through already!” Cole chided as the ground wobbled, causing Lilian to briefly falter and lean against the boy’s Onix for support. Cole had asked his Golem to use Earthquake. Unfortunately, as powerful as the fully evolved Rock Type was, the enemy had their own squadron of Gravelers to counter the move with their own Earthquake.

Lilian groaned, she didn’t care to hear any reprimand from the boy who failed to push them through in the first place. 

The initial assault on Noboru Yamaguchi had failed, only managing to take out a small number of unassuming grunts, because Onix was blocked by a team of Poliwrath. So now, the Rock snake was coiled up around the two trainers to serve as a makeshift bunker while they weathered an assault from all fronts.

Up in the air, bolts of electricity crackled and lanced through a few unfortunate Flyers as Aventurine the Noibat, split into twenty Kage Bunshins, and single handedly stalled their aerial assailants with support from Topaz the Flaaffy.

In front of her, Lilian’s Dragonair was fighting against a trio of Nidokings aided by a handful of Nidoqueens. The Yamaguchi Group's subordinates were no joke, a far cry from your average Team Rocket grunt, though there were some of those too. In fact, Lilian suspected that the bulk of the security force was made up of Team Rocket members and their ill-trained Pokemon.

Not that she took any solace in that fact. There was merit in numbers and it didn’t change the amount of skilled executives they had to deal with. Lilian almost wished that Noboru would attempt to escape via Fly. That way, she could try and bring him down with a combined Thunder from Sapphire and Topaz.

However, Lilian’s thoughts were interrupted by a Venoshock that slipped through their defenses and shot towards her, only to be intercepted by her shadow, which came to life and blocked it. This was Alfred’s Haunter that he left as an assurance for his mistress. It wasn’t as powerful as Hattori’s Gengar, but for basic defense it more than sufficed.

Lilian was tempted to send the Haunter on a direct assault against Noboru Yamaguchi, but unfortunately, the burly man in a white pinstripe suit also had a Ghost guarding his shadow, as evident by a failed assault from Topaz earlier. Not to mention the trio of bodyguard trainers surrounding him.

“Lady Blackthorn! Quite rude of the League to assault an honest, law-abiding citizen without cause, don’t you think?” The powerful voice of Noboru Yamaguchi boomed through the commotion with a taunt towards Lilian.

Lilian scoffed but chose to focus on the battle in front of her instead. “As if that man is anything but a crook.”

With a rage fueled cry, Sapphire slammed a powerful tail attack against one of the Nidokings, causing him to reel back in pain. The female Dragonair had taken inspiration from the target of her affection and came up with her own custom move. 

Though in her case, it was a triple combination of Iron Tail, Thunder Wave and Dragon Tail. It was still a work in progress and paled in power compared to Nairy’s Double Tail, but the paralyzing effect of the Thunder Wave more than made up for it. And with that, one of the Nidokings was now partially incapacitated.

“Get out of the way!” Cole yelled as he sent his Graveler in a Rolling Bulldoze towards a pair of Nidoqueen who were attempting to take the place of the fallen Nidoking in their joint assault.

The angry boulder of a Rock Pokemon crashed into the blue Ground Pokemon in a messy heap, like a bowling bowl against very sturdy bowling pins. The Nidoqueens were hurt, but largely unfazed as they moved to surround the vulnerable Graveler, exactly as Cole intended.

With a sinister smirk, Cole’s Graveler glowed a radiant light and blew up in a deafening Explosion, taking down all of the enemy Nidoqueens with it, and even severely injuring the remaining two Nidokings.

“Good work, Graveler.” Cole whispered as he returned the fainted Pokemon. The boy had asked his Pokemon to go beyond the safe limits of Explosion stipulated by the League, so he would need to do a thorough check of his health later.

Taking advantage of the opening afforded to her by her teammate, Sapphire finished off the remaining two Nidokings with a flurry of rapid fire Dragon Pulse.

“Noboru Yamaguchi! Give it up and confess to your crimes! Do so and I might plead leniency on your behalf.” Lilian demanded, only to receive a demented laugh in return from the man.

“HAHA! AHAHAHA! Girl, Blackthorn or not, you are way out of your depth!” And with the man’s words, more Pokemon were summoned onto the field to take the place of their fallen comrades, this time, a pair of Rhydons surrounded by a group of Sandslashes.

Lilian frowned, she was certain that the bodyguards were flaunting the legally permissible six Pokemon carry limit enforced by the League. But then, what else could one expect from a bunch of shameless criminals?

“Cole Harrison, I don’t suppose you have another Graveler handy?” Lilian quipped, earning a growl from the boy. Looking up, she could see a Thunderbolt striking her Noibat, forcing her to return the chiropteran Dragon into his Pokeball. An Electabuzz had joined the battle at some point, and despite Topaz’s best efforts, she was not able to divert the Electric Type attack aimed towards Aventurine.

“You’re supposed to be a rich girl right? Don’t you have more Pokemon?” Cole asked in return.

Lilian sighed and reassessed their predicament. She did indeed have her Magikarp and her newly acquired Charmander on her belt, but they were still too untested for such an intense battlefield. “Is this it? Do I need to sound the retreat?” Pushing forwards would be a struggle, but fighting their way back should be feasible.

However, just as Lilian was about to give up, a powerful bolt of energy whistled past and slammed into one of the Rhydons with an explosive blast, completely taking down the Pokemon with a single hit.

“NAAIIRRR!!!” 

Lilian jolted in surprise and looked behind her to see the familiar visage of Nina soaring through the skies, held up by her Golbat whose claws were clasped tight around her shoulders. Beneath her, on the ground, was Nairy the Dragonair and the girl’s Clodsire, joining hands with Cole’s Golem to clear a safe path for his trainer to land.

“Nair! Nairy! Dragonair!” Sapphire cried in return, her eyes glistening with affection.

Lilian’s face mirrored her partner’s, blooming into a radiant smile when Nina eventually rushed to her side, shielded by her Espeon’s Psychic barrier. Up above, Brucey the Golbat and a Venomoth took Aventurine’s place and defended against the enemy Flyers with Espy’s support.

“YOU RECKLESS FOOL!” Lilian flinched and shrank at Nina’s angry admonishment. “Are you that eager to get yourself killed!”

“S-sorry…” The Dragon Tamer stuttered, feeling like a child in front of her mother again.

“I called my uncle.” Nina continued, eliciting a quiver from Lilian. “Who got in touch with the Elite Four through Misty.”

Nina’s words were like a bucket of cold water on Lilian as she looked at the other girl in disbelief, only to be cowed by a stern gaze from Nina in return.

“This operation is a wash. But I’m sure you already know that,” said Nina. “Which is why I’m changing our objective.” According to Nina, the Sea Rangers were already mobilized to cut off the escape of the Yamaguchi Group’s shipping vessel. And once the Elites and Ace Trainers were ready, Sabrina and Bruno would lead a simultaneous assault on the docks and Yamaguchi Tower.

“So our new objective will be to keep Noboru occupied here until backup arrives.” Nina grabbed hold of Lilian’s tightly clenched fist and gave it a good squeeze. “I know this isn’t exactly what you wanted, but I care more about your wellbeing than the approval of your stupid elders.” 

Nina flashed a bright and captivating smile at Lilian. “After all, why should a noble Dragon care about the paltry opinions of some decrepit Caterpie? Isn’t that right, Lilian Blackthorn?”

Lilian gazed at Nina’s eyes with her mouth agape, feeling like her heart was set on fire as she tried her best to suppress an incoming blush. With a vigorous shake of her head, Lilian quickly regained her faculties and returned Nina’s sentiment with a confident smile of her own.

The two girls then gave each other resolute nods and turned to glare at the smug face of Noboru Yamaguchi, past the wave of Pokemon and enemy trainers standing in their way.