Blooming (a sunflower shipping story

Ghost Stories

Gold's POV:

"Well well well. Lookie here! A Champion!"

Groggy, I raised my head to stare at Giovanni. "Giovanni. Why?"

Giovanni's smile vanished. "Why? Because only Team Rainbow Rocket deserves to live, that's why! We're going to fire the Ultimate Weapon and there's nothing you can do to stop us."

I glared at him. "You know Ash, Steven, Cynthia, Iris, and my son will stop you."

He chuckled. "I don't think so."

He stepped aside to reveal my fellow Champions. I glared at him.

"You monster!"

"You don't know half of my plan, Gold. I know I'd never be able to capture your son, so I'm afraid he has to die. Oh, don't worry. You'll see him before that, though. Farewell."

He walked away and a door closed. We hung there for a while before Ash looked around.

"So, uh, anybody got any stories?"

I smirked. "Yeah, I've got one. It was really popular during my time with the army. It's a ghost story."

That got everyone's attention.

"Legend says, an army of about five hundred was attacking a hospital in the middle of the desert. The nation sent a team of fifty elite soldiers to hold them off. Over the course of three days, fifty became sixteen and both sides knew the soldiers defending those in the hospital won't survive another attack. So, the sixteen sent one of their own in the night to guide the civilians away from the fighting while the remaining fifteen laid down under the bodies of their fallen brothers. Their blood dripped down onto them and the sand blew onto them, changing them. When the enemy came at dawn, the fifteen rose from the dead and used an uncounterable stealth against their foes. When their guns ran dry, they used their knives. When their knives ran dull, they used their hands. The fifteen killed all but one of the enemy forces. He was found wandering the desert, dazed. The only thing he could say was how the fifteen were so unbeatable, it could only be supernatural. He called them 'Ghosts'."

The others looked at each other, then at me. Iris spoke.

"You don't believe that, do you?"

I smirked. "I do."

Finally, I picked the lock to my restraint and fell to my knees. Freeing my legs, I freed my fellow Champions one by one, then hid in the shadows next to the door.

Gladion. I hope you didn't lose my Pokemon.

A guard entered and looked at the empty restraints, confused. I slipped a mask over my mouth and nose, covering most of my face. The guard looked right and I reached up, placing my hands on the sides of his head. I twisted and grabbed his body, pulling it into the shadows. Taking his holster and knife, I put the weapons on, then grabbed his Glock.

Pulling the hammer back, I ejected the casing, then slipped the unsilenced gun into the holster on my leg. Looking back at my allies, I waved them on, staying low to the ground. I killed another guard and took his ammo and radio.

Coming across an armory, I grabbed a suppressor and screwed it onto my gun, glad to have something other than a knife. Sneaking to the center of the room, I grabbed my cellphone as well as some other special things.

Exiting the armory, I tapped a contact and raised my phone to my ear. My old friend picked up.

"What do you need?"

"Evac."

"Rog'. We have a lock on your signal and are sending in the masks."

"Copy that. I'll be out in about ten."

"Understood. Good luck, Corporal."

The call ended and I led my allies through the base, me somehow acquiring a silenced AK-47 along the way. We made our way onto an elevator and I sent it up.

"This is crazy." Ash seemed disturbed. Can't blame him.

"Drop your weapons!"

I looked up to see a bunch of grunts aiming down at us with an assortment of weapons.

Cynthia chimed in. "We're dead if we do."

I grimaced. "Trust me, we're dead if we don't."

Suddenly, they exploded into chaos, shooting every which way. Six men in masks peered over the edge and one chuckled.

"You're late."

"Your imaginary watch is fast."

Boots laughed, then looked at my fellow Champions. "Extras?"

"Yeah. Extras. Let's go, boys!"

Someone tossed me a better rifle and I took it, leaving the old one behind. We took formation, scowering for hostiles, as we walked towards the LZ. As soon as we were out of range from the base's anti-air defences, Soap lit a flare. The rest of us took cover behind piles of rocks as we prepared for incoming tangos.

"An words?" Laughter looked around.

I glared at him. "Cut the chatter."

"Yes sir."

Team RR grunts came strolling over, every one ready to shoot at a simple breeze. With my left hand, I gave the signal to open fire and the six of us let out a deadly hail of bullets. We fought for several minutes before the enemy pulled out all stops and sent out all their armor.

"Hostile armor inbound! Fall back!"

We got up and scambled back, shooting as we went. We were pushed back as far as we could and right before the armor was over us, our evac finally arrived. The heli made several passes, blowing up all the tanks and choppers on the field. After making its final pass, the chopper hovered over the flare and someone onboard kicked a ladder down.

"Go, GO!" We waved the civs aboard.

As soon as they were gone, I let my fellow soldiers on before I grabbed onto the rope. I was pulled up and as soon as I was aboard, the helicopter took off.

Ash looked at us, awed. "What was that about? Who are you guys?"

I looked at my team, then at the Champions. "We're Ghosts."

Kablam.

I don't have any thing to say.