A Boy and His Dragon Book 2: Secrets and Lies Unraveling

Book 2: Chapter 53

"Lie!" Liepard shouted as she tackled houndoom to the ground. Giving off a growl houndoom knocked liepard off himself.

"Flamethrower." Emma commanded as flames flew from houndoom's mouth. Liepard easily jumped around the flames as she zig zagged out of houndoom's range. Emma bit her lip as she called for smog and the arena began to fill with the purple smoke. Jack walked out of the center as he zipped up his backpack. Zorua trotted at his side as he walked over to where the others were.

"Alright I'm all set and ready whenever you are." Jack stated as liepard darted out of the smoke as her claw was glowing with the black smoke. Striking out at houndoom the fire type rushed forward. His teeth glowing as he caught the incoming attack. Breaking it apart the two were thrown away from each other.

"I think that's good. We should get going." Emma said as she called houndoom to her. Liepard rushed over to Ryder nuzzling his hand as he nodded.

"When's Izzy supposed to meet up with us?" Ryder asked.

"Mom said they would be here soon." Ryder nodded as Emma smiled at Jack.

"So what are we going to do for her birthday?" Emma asked.

"I have no idea. Do we need to take her to Lumiose?" Ryder questioned.

"I think that's up to her. She should be here soon." Jack said as he leaned against a fence.

"So if we aren't heading to Lumiose. Should we head straight to Snowbelle City?" Ryder asked as the two others nodded. A car drove up beside the center as Izzy clambered out of the backseat. Raichu jumped out beside the young girl as she waved to her mother in the front as she shut the door. Olympia nodded before driving off back in the direction of Anistar city.

"What did you do while we were gone?" Jack asked as Izzy smiled.

"Later. So we going to keep going." Ryder nodded as he pulled away from liepard. Emma recalled houndoom as she nodded her head.

"Let's go." Emma stated as they started down the road. The cool wind blew along the ground, kicking up a bit of the dirt as they walked. The leaves on a few trees fluttered as the bird pokemon chirped and the bugs screeched. It was almost peaceful. A faint thumping came from behind them, causing the group to stop. Looking in the direction they had come, they could hear something coming and it was coming fast. Liepard gave off a faint growl as her tail lowered and her ears flattened.

The thumping turned from a faint noise to one of pounding as claws pierced the earth. A dodrio rushed along the path as its three heads bobbed back and forth. Screeching to a halt the dodrio lowered its heads, allowing the rider to smile down at them.

"I didn't expect to see you guys here."

"Zack!" Emma yelled as the ranger slid off the side of the pokemon. Emma wrapped her arms around her brother as they two embraced.

"What are you doing way out here?" Jack asked.

"I've gotten word of missing pokemon in this area. I came to figure out what was going on. What about you guys?"

"Were heading to Snowbelle city." Zack gave them a confused look.

"Didn't you fight Valerie?" Ryder dug out his badge case and showed the badges. Zack chuckled before smiling.

"Alright then. I'm heading to the swamp, if you guys want, you can join me. The more eyes the better." Ryder nodded.

"Why not." Emma chirped with excitement as Zack chuckled. Patting dodrio on the side the pokemon rushed off. Fixing the styler on his arm, they headed in the direction of the swamp.

"So what's going on?" Izzy asked.

"A lot of trainers have been saying that they can't get into the swamp without being attacked by bug type pokemon. As far as I remember there weren't many in the swamp to begin with. The base wanted to check it out." Zack stated as the group nodded.

"Why would the pokemon suddenly attack?" Ryder asked.

"That's what I'm here to investigate." Zack responded as they group kept moving. Stopping Zack looked around the area before noticing a starly sitting in a tree. Aiming the styler up the small capture disc flew out wrapping itself around the starly. The starly glowed for a few seconds as Zack smiled.

"Starly look and see if there are any pokemon in the swamp." The starly nodded before taking off into the air.

"That was so cool!" Izzy shouted. Zack chuckled at the statement.

"Got to like the stylers." The group of five continued to walk along the path before veering off to a less walked path. Vines and grass sprouted up along the dirt road making it harder to see. Starly flew back to them after a bit and gave a shrill call.

"Nothing huh?" Zack asked as the bird nodded. "Thank you for your help starly." Zack said as the normal type flew off into the air.

"I guess it isn't that big a deal." Emma stated.

"No it is." Zack responded as the edges of the swamp came into view. A bridge laid further along the water's edge as the group headed towards it. They could see the vastness of the swamp as it sprawled out in many directions. Some closer to the cliff edge then they would have liked.

"Careful of the edge." Jack said as he pulled Izzy a bit towards him. She nodded as they kept moving and headed further into the swamp. Still not a single sign of pokemon in the area. Zack was nerved by the sight.

"Somethings wrong." Zack responded. They kept walking as the water splashed around their feet and the swamp laid for miles around. "Call out your partners." Zack stated. Ryder grabbed greninja's pokeball releasing the water type. Emma called out infernape as Jack released bisharp. Zorua jumped down from his arms and walked beside the three other pokemon.

"Stay close." Zack advised as they kept moving. A faint buzz filled the air, as Zack pulled at the styler preparing it. The buzzing was growing louder until a horde of beedrill and yanmega came into view.

"Zack?" Emma asked.

"Run!" Zack responded as they all turned to sprint back the way they had come. The yanmega sent air cuts flying at them kicking up dust as they group ran.

"Why don't you befriend them?" Ryder question.

"Too many." Zack shouted back. Rushing through a dust cloud the bridge came into view as they kept their pace. Another cloud blocked their vision and Izzy stepped a bit too close to the edge. The ground at her feet gave way as Jack heard his sister scream.

"Izzy!" Jack yelled as he dove in the direction of his sister. Her hand slipped through his as she fell down towards the rushing water.

"Jack!" She screamed as the dust settled and greninja jumped over the edge. Diving down after her he grabbed Izzy pulling her close as the two hit the water. The buzzing grew louder as the group came to a stop.

"Flamethrower." Emma shouted. Infernape sent the spiraling column flying as it struck a few of the pokemon but not all.

"We can meet her down river." Ryder said as another round of air cutters hit around them. Grabbing Jack's arm, he pulled him up onto his feet as the green haired teenager looked around.

"Where's zorua?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys. So it's coming to the end of the semester. I am going to try to keep my update schedule on track as possible. However, if I don't update on time, please forgive me. My finals week is approaching in the coming week. So please be patient, I'll try to stay on top of it as best as I can. If I don't get to it the day of my regular upload, I will do my best to upload it the next day. Like I said, though, please be patient.