Scarcely had the words entered into his ears before Batoy's jaw dropped in shock. The concept of flying had not once occurred to him, and understandably, he was afflicted by a combination of eagerness and fear. “I… I've never flown before… wh-what're we gonna use?” he stuttered. “I didn't know that Amethyst City had an airport.”

Tim grinned. “It doesn't. We're not flying by plane. It's a lot easier just to fly on Pokémon!” To prove his point, he pulled out two Pokeballs and hurled them upwards. In a burst of light, the flame Pokémon Charizard and the fossil Pokémon Aerodactyl appeared, each roaring in a language unique to its own species. “Whenever Toby and I wanted to go somewhere, we just rode Charizard and Aerodactyl. Mia'll ride on Aerodactyl while I'll take Charizard.”

“And what about me? What am I s'posed to fly on?” Batoy asked, completely baffled by the suddenly secretive nature of his two newfound friends. “What am I missing out on?”

“Well, don't you have a Flygon?” Tim asked, a confused expression on his face.

“Well, yeah, but…” A sudden flush spread across Batoy's face as the solution finally occurred to him. “Ohh! You mean, fly on Vert?” Tim nodded, and Batoy pulled out the dragon-fanged Pokeball and glanced down at the sphere. Hesitation suddenly consumed the boy. Batoy'd always wanted to fly, but the opportunities had never presented themselves. He gulped. Maybe his chance had finally arrived. “Okay… here goes nothing!” With a blue burst of light, the Flygon appeared, stretching its wings as it glanced curiously towards its new owner.

“Hey, Vert… do you think that maybe I could… you know… ride on your back?” The dragonfly Pokemon glanced at him, confused at the question. Batoy sighed, building up his own confidence. “Mia needs to go to a town, and they want to fly there. I mean, I don't wanna force you to fly if you don't want to…” The Flygon grinned before chirping happily, and Batoy brightened as well. “So… you'll let me ride on you?” The mystic Pokemon nodded, and Batoy grinned as he straddled the Flygon's lower neck. Its skin was surprising dry and felt like fine sand.

“Well, now that you're through with that…” Tim muttered as he climbed on to Charizard. “Maybe now we can get going. You ready, Mia?” he asked, looking as the girl boarded on to the Aerodactyl. She nodded slowly. “Alright. Just follow me, and don't fly too high.” With a few flaps, the fire dragon took off into the air, followed shortly after by the Aerodactyl.

~Raawwgh?~ the Flygon asked, looking back at Batoy. The boy was shivering with excitement, and he could barely speak. “Y-Yeah… I'm ready! Don't worry about me! Let's go before we get left behind!” he exclaimed, holding on tightly to the Flygon's neck. The Flygon nodded before leaping into the air. Almost immediately, soothing notes drifted through the air as the two climbed higher and higher into the air. Batoy squeezed his eyes shut and held on for dear life until the Flygon's sharp ascent leveled off. There he finally opened his eyes.

“Oh wow…” he gasped as a wondrous view presented itself. The surreal feeling of omnipotent power that a person gets when the unreachable clouds are finally topped overwhelmed him instantly. The very clouds he'd feared and fled from where now underneath him, and for the very first time in his life, Batoy felt invincible. The sun was high in the sky, but the sky was a deeper blue than he'd ever seen it before.

The song of the Flygon's wings joined with the whistle of the wind, and even at that high altitude, Batoy's elation diverted his attention away from the cooler temperature and wind. He grinned and glanced down at the dragonfly he was riding on. “Thanks, Vert… this is incredible…” The Flygon grinned and sped forward, falling into a right flanking position behind the Charizard. Batoy called out as he finally pulled his sweatshirt on. “Hey, Tim! This is awesome!” he chimed happily.

Tim looked over his shoulder. “Yeah… It's pretty cool the first few times before you get used to it. Charizard and I have been flying for a pretty long time now,” he said, rubbing the Charizard's neck. The dragon gave a deep-throated purr. “Yeah… we've been together for a really long time, him and me. It's been, what, eight years now?” he asked, looking down at the Charizard, which nodded in response. “Yeah, about eight years since we first met.”

“That's really cool, Tim…” Batoy murmured, but at far too low a volume to be heard. His mind began to drift. “I hope I can stay friends with you for at least that long,” he said, grinning at the Flygon below. ~Rrrwwiiippee?~ cooed the Flygon and Batoy grinned and stroked its neck. The Pokemon's fine sand-like skin was perfect as far as he was concerned. It seemed surreal that such a powerful Pokemon had just been given to him, especially considering all the circumstances. But he wouldn't dwell on those thoughts too long.

Suddenly, he frowned. His fingers had brushed a physical mark that marred the Flygon's otherwise infallible surface. “Huh? What's this?” he asked, and immediately, Batoy felt the Flygon's body tense. Leaning over, he saw three faint markings, jagged, as if a claw had ripped through its flesh leaving the faint scars. “Vert? What happened?” Batoy asked, suddenly worried about the newfound scars. The Flygon shook its head, refusing to say anything.

“Does it hurt? Is this why you didn't want me to touch your neck?” Batoy asked, persistent. The Flygon shivered as it sighed before falling shaking its head. ~Raawwwggghh….~ it moaned. “Did… you get those scars when Seishiro had you?” Batoy's voice was low now, and he leaned over so that his mouth was close to the Flygon's antennas. The Pokemon nodded slowly, its reluctance speaking even louder than any words it could've said.

Batoy frowned, and his thoughts began to wander yet again. He idly rubbed the Flygon's neck. “You know…” he said, “I fought Seishiro before. I don't really know why I did, but I just felt that if I… well… that something I'd did was wrong, and it just seemed right to try to fight back. But when I did, he crushed me… no, that's not right. He crushed us; me, Jet, and Ollie. I thought he was gonna kill them… I could barely get to sleep that night, and I still think about it.” He groaned and leaned against the Pokemon. “I dunno… I guess what I'm trying to say is… even though Seishiro gave you to me… I wanna be your friend. I… I want you to like me.”

The Flygon nodded, and its eyes glistened from behind the red membrane shields. ~Gooon…~ it cooed softly. Batoy smiled and looked down below. They were racing just above the misty clouds as they grew ever larger and thicker; the flat humble Cumulus grew slowly into massive spires that rose hundreds and then thousands of meters into the air, forcing the sextuplet to swerve around them.

As a small child, Batoy'd always wondered one thing. What did the clouds feel like, so high in the sky? Where they as soft as cotton candy? How did the clouds hold the rain? He knew better now. Clouds were the bringers of punishment, the bearers of bad news. He felt guilty looking at the clouds in such wonderment when before he'd thought nothing but ill thoughts of them. He was now close enough to grab at the clouds, yet he didn't. `How can such wondrous things bring such misery and to people?' he wondered grimly, and he clutched the Flygon tighter, something the Flygon took notice of. ~Rooowwwggghh?~ it asked, glancing back. Batoy's darkened face lightened up. “Oh, don't worry about me… excitement's starting to wear off, that's all. The Flygon nodded before it plunged directly into a growing and already large white wall. A rush of moisture rushed passed the two, almost like a light mist was sprayed over them. They broke through moments later.

Two specks awaited them, hovering in the air with flapping wings, and the Flygon pulled alongside them. Mia looked terribly exhausted, and Batoy could barely tell that she was awake as she laid motionless on the Aerodactyl. “What's wrong with her?” Batoy asked, concern sneaking into his voice.

Tim shook his head. “She's just feeling a bit air-sick, that's all. We have a little problem, Batoy,” the boy said gravely. “Two, really….”

“Really? What?” Batoy asked.

“Look over there,” Tim said, gesturing towards the Northeast. Across several kilometers of steadily building clouds stood a gigantic, impenetrable fortress of heavy rain-laden Cumulonimbus. So massive was this wall of clouds that it extended well over their heads and expanded into a grand anvil that covered almost a fourth of that quarter of the sky.

“It's… a Supercell, isn't it…?” Batoy asked, staring at the massive formation. He dreaded those words. Outside a cyclone, there wasn't any type of storm Batoy could think of that was larger or more powerful. He couldn't remember any of the specifics at that point in time, but just from the sheer size of the beast, he knew it was one thing that he did not want to go closer to. “It's massive!”

“Yeah… and it's also blocking our way. Even if we were to go full speed, there's no way we could reach Oolite before that storm hits. It's gonna cross right in front of us.” Tim sighed. “Which leads to our second problem… I don't think Mia'll be able to last much longer at this altitude. We might have to take a break and rest, but if we do that, the storm will probably catch us.”

“So… what do you think we should do?” Batoy asked.

“Honestly, I was hoping you'd have an idea. We could really try to go around it or through it, but I don't think that'll work very well. I don't really know what to do,” Tim admitted.

“Well, I guess we should just head down and hunker down until the storm passes, huh?” Batoy said. “Maybe we can find a town or something? Is there one close by?”

“Well, there's Bauxite City a little more south, but I think that the storm might beat us there, too. And I… kinda worried about Mia. She hasn't said much since we left. I thought it might've been because she wasn't used to flying, but now I don't know, and I feel kinda guilty, you know?” Tim looked towards the rolling clouds. “She wanted to get some transportation, but I said that it'd be faster to fly. We had a bit of an argument before she finally relented, but now… I wonder if we really should've walked.”

“Well, there's not much we can do now, so let's just drop down and see what we can find, alright.” Batoy glanced towards the Aerodactyl. “Shouldn't one of us, you know, ride with her to make sure she doesn't fall or anything?” he asked uncertainly.

“No… I'm fine, Batoy,” a ragged voice spoke. Mia's breathing has rough, heavy and frantic, as if she'd been running for a long period of time. “Don't… worry about me. I just have a headache.” A flush spread across her face as a result of fever. Mia coughed before clinging to the Aerodactyl's neck, uttering a miserable groan.

“Yeah… we gotta get her down,” Batoy reaffirmed, and Tim nodded in agreement. The three flying Pokemon dove down gently and passed into the thick layer of clouds. As they descended, the clouds around them grew darker and darker, and Batoy cringed at the moisture that splattered against his face. He could hear the distance rumbles of thunder, and could barely see the flashes of lightning. The three Pokemon finally broke through the thick lower layer of clouds.

The area was dreadfully dark, and the massive lake above which the three Pokemon flew matched the turbulent skies. Massive waves rolled across the surface of the water as the clouds tumbled and crashed with lightning and thunder. Batoy shook his head at the surreal sight as the clouds swirled with cyclonic motion. “Where'd this come from?” he mused, frightened at the worsening condition. The Flygon glanced at the Charizard as they hovered, confused at where to go.

“Hey, Batoy! Let's go that way!” Tim called, pointing towards the southeast. Batoy nodded and patted the Flygon's neck, and the three Pokemon flew in that direction. A bolt of lightning ripped through the air, and Batoy could feel his hair stand on end. He clung tightly the Flygon's neck as the Dragonfly Pokemon sped up. The rain, which had only been slight when they'd first penetrated, strengthened into a powerful deluge, and within moments, both the humans and Pokemon were soaked.

They soared with frantic quickness, but no matter how fast they flew, the massive expanse of water seemed just too large for them to reach shore quickly. Batoy glanced to the side and simply by chance, happened to catch a glimpse of a strange structure overlooking the shore of the turbulent lake. Shaped like an octagonal dome, it stood alongside the shore, its pier battered by the tremendous waves. But it was too far away, and they had to reach land as soon as possible.

The Flygon suddenly yelped and went into a hard stop, and Batoy cried as he clung desperately to the Flygon's neck. “What's wrong, Vert?!” Batoy asked, panicked and the Flygon points towards the sky. A significant portion of the sky had lowered and large funnel began to dip down in front of him. The cyclone dipped lower until it slammed into the lake. A tornado had just touched down.

“I… I don't think we can go that way!” Batoy stammered as he veered off to the right, and the other two Pokemon followed. But their escape was cut off as another twister plunged in their path. The solo had become a duet, and then a quartet, and finally a sextet as tornado after tornado dropped from the sky. Such awkward weather patterns were far out of the norm according to what Batoy had been taught, but that thought was not what swarmed though his head. Rather, his eyes had grown wide in awe and fright as he, and everyone else, desperately searched for a way to escape.

~Char…~ the Charizard growled before it unleashed a plume of fire towards one of the twisters. But the pouring rain extinguished the flames before they even reached the swirling windstorm. The Charizard growled and tried again with the same results. The Flygon whimpered as it flew alongside the Charizard. ~Raaagon?~ it asked, confused at the Charizard's attempts, but the fire dragon ignored it, and tried again with no avail. Again and again, the Charizard attempted, but the force of the rain extinguished its powerful flames as though it was but a candle flame. Slowly, the Charizard grew weaker and weaker, and its flames diminished.

The Flygon flew in front of Charizard, but the Charizard shook his head. Both Tim and Batoy were silent, the latter less concerned with the Charizard's antics and more with Mia's condition. The heavy rain was bound to worsen her condition. Anxiously, he rubbed the Flygon's neck. The Flygon nodded and glanced towards the Charizard. ~Riaaggghh Gaahh!~ it called before diving towards the thrashing waves. The Aerodactyl followed and, with a moment's hesitation, so did the Charizard.

The three Pokemon flew in route directly towards the shore. The waves were large enough that none of the Pokemon could risk flying through them without hurting the humans that rode on their back. The twisters were close now, and Flygon glanced back at the other two Pokemon. ~Rrryppe!~ it called as golden trails of energy wrapped around its muzzle, and from its maw ripped a powerful stream of golden-blue of plasma. The stream pushed straight through one of the smaller twisters, ripping through the windstorm with great force. The tornado destabilized for just a moment, and the Flygon accelerated, golden light wrapping around its body.

But the twister suddenly reformed with a vengeance before the Flygon had passed through, and Batoy found himself staring straight into an incoming tornado. The howl of the winds as incredible; it topped a thousand Arcanines' roars. The tornado barreled closer and closer, and completely filled his vision before he was consumed.