"Not a soul out here." Gad muttered to himself, looking around for a second "I'd expected the place to be crawling with goons, but no... Industrial silence. These guys are good with small team missions, from what it seems..."
A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he quickly turned his gaze - only to see (or did he only think he saw?) a flash of glowing eyes blink off like it never existed.
He turned his eyes, for a second, to the PokeBall he has detached from his belt earlier. Its colors, Black and Grey, were barely seen in the dark corridor. Smiling quietly, he uttered the two words.
"An'ya, Arise."
The Mightyena materialized by his side in a flash of black light. (was that a flash of glowing eyes again?) The instance she materialized, she took a sniff of the air, as if she read Gad's mind.
"This place is unfamiliar, although I can feel that we art indoors." she said "I can sense... Fear. Confusion. The humans trapped within those doors... It is abnormal, for thy kindred."
"It is." Gad agreed "We're inside the Devon Corporation building. The building's computer systems have been knocked out, so everything's locked down... People are trapped in their departments... But that's not what we should be concerned about. The people who did this are trying to get their hands on a certain crystal in one of the research levels - and we mustn't let them get it."
"I see... Yes, I can sense something else... Like the pack feels when they have managed to corner a desired prey... And... well, that is odd." An'ya growled "I sense something like I've never sensed before. It doesn't seem to belong in this world..."
"I have a feeling I know what it is." Gad said "Can you lead me in that direction, quickly?"
An'ya nodded and dashed off into the distance, Gad following in her footsteps.
Two glowing eyes lit up, turned a malevolent gaze to the trainer and the Mightyena, and blinked into nonexistence.
~*~
"The computer core of the building is deep underground." Mr. Stone said "The computer systems are entirely fail-safe - we weren't counting on an external hacker being able to go past our defenses. Thankfully, I kept a backup of our data... All we have to do is get to the computer core and upload it."
"But how are we supposed to get there?" Marie asked "The only way into the core is via the elevators, with a proper code - and we can't do that because the computers are locked down, they aren't accepting any codes, and the elevators won't respond!"
"Again... I have a backup." Mr. Stone smiled mysteriously, walking over to one of his display cabinets - which displayed precious stones and crystals. Specifically, to the touchpad which controlled the glass casing's door.
"Let's see... Crystal... Ruby... Sapphire... Emerald... Diamond... Pearl." He tapped a sequence of colors - sky blue, deep red, deep blue, green, white and pale pink.
To Marie's utter amazement, the glass casing did not open. it revolved completely and revealed something Marie never expected.
The cabinet was only a front. What lay on its other side was an elevator, which seemed to be completely autonomous from the rest of the system.
"Failsafes or not, it's always good to have backup." Mr. Stone said, taking a key out from one of his pockets and opening a small drawer in a nearby display case - which contained - among a few exotic and precious metals - evolution stones. Out of it, he took out - to Marie's further surprise - a PokeBall.
"Shall we?" he asked, gesturing towards the hidden elevator.
~*~
The wolf PokeMon dashed through the corridor, closely followed by Gad. She stopped every once in a while to take a sniff of the air, or changed direction rapidly. The criss-crossing, darkened corridors of the Devon Corporation buildings seemed to Gad, after a while, like a huge warren, but An'ya seemed to find her way extremely well. Finally, she stopped in front of a huge door. It was locked, but, to Gad's utter amazement, the card reader's lights were still active. Like a beacon in the darkness - or, if you wish, like an angry red eye.
"There be something beyond yonder door." she said "Something malevolent. And, by it, I senseth the signature that which ye seek."
"One of them, I reckon... With the crystal... I think that we should prepare ourselves for an encounter." Gad growled
"I feel the thrill of the hunt in ye." she growled fiercely "And, my friend, I shall battle alongside ye! To the pack! To victory!"
"To victory!" Gad grinned, pulling out the access card and swiping it through the reader.
The light blinked several times, then, its angry red changed to a peaceful green. The door opened with a faint whisper.
The Mightyena charged forward with a determined glare in her eyes, followed by the trainer, who looked around cautiously, only to notice something in the middle of the room that made him gasp with awe.
~*~
The elevator yawned open in chambers deep underground. It was unnaturally cold. Marie and Mr. Stone stepped out, both wearing heavy coats found inside the elevator ("For just such an occasion." Mr. Stone said "The temperature is being kept low in these chambers to prevent the computer systems from overheating.") and looked around them. The faint lighting that seemed to be attached to the walls was still lit, but there was something different in the air.
"We should get going. The central control room is in the end of this corridor." said Mr. Stone, and turned to walk in that direction, followed by Marie.
Behind them, a security camera swivelled in their direction. The person who watched them was incredibly amused.
"Now, it... begins." he said, a smile creeping up to his lips.
~*~
It was the crystal that he saw. A perfect sky-blue sphere, nestled amongst sensors and scanners upon a pedestal that seemed to belong in a different floor. Whatever took the crystal must have been unable to detach the crystal from the sensors, and so it ripped the entire pedestal and took it to this floor. It wasn't guarded. There was nothing in the room with the exception of the trainer, his Mightyena and the crystal.
"That was easy." Gad said "TOO easy. Almost as if they were expecting us to fall into a very obvious trap."
And then, the door closed behind them, and the card reader's light failed.
Something glared at them in the darkness. Something Malevolent.
A moment later, something dashed out of the shadows, its feet never touching the ground, and knocked An'ya over with extreme accuracy. The canine bounded to her feet in seconds, and glared menacingly at the thing that attacked her.
It was an Alakazam, but not of any sort she has ever seen before. For one, its armor plating was black, and adorned with strange orange line patterns. It did not carry any spoons - rather, its claws were wild, sharp and obviously very dangerous, and were painted a sinister black. The creature was NOT an ordinary Alakazam - that much was obvious. And judging by the appearance of the thing, Gad knew who it belonged to.
"If I'm right, this creature's been following us ever since we left the office." Gad said "I get the feeling that it's playing with us. Trying to figure out our strong and weak spots for someone. Well, I'd love to see it try."
The Alakazam did not move. Its eyes were closed, as in meditation. It just floated there. Something was awfully suspicious about it but Gad couldn't tell what it was.
The Mightyena charged, her fangs gleaming, her powerful jaws closing on... air. The Alakazam was gone, only to appear in a different corner of the room, a pale white aura surrounding it. It vanished again, appearing behind the Mightyena and taking a quick slash at it.
The Mightyena yelped, turning quickly to bite her attacker - but the psychic-type was no longer there. The creature appeared in midair, its aura getting stronger.
"So, it's playing games." Gad growled, "Normally I hate doing this, but this is WAR. An'ya, let's give it multiple targets, then, shall we?"
An'ya grinned in spite of the pain - clearly there was something in the creature's claws that wasn't normal - and closed her eyes, darting from corner to corner, producing at least three other An'yas. The illusionary pack howled challengingly at the floating Alakazam.
The Alakazam continued to float nonchalantly, its aura becoming much fiercer.
"Now!" Gad cried out, and the Mightyenas leapt up, preparing to crunch the Alakazam from all directions. Of course, only one attack would be real - but it would count.
The Alakazam opened its eyes - they were glowing white, And a blaze of white light dispelled the illusions in a second. The Alakazam could NOT, however, evade the fangs closing on it arm.
The creature screeched, its concentration broken, and plummeted from the air, vanishing before it hit the ground. An'ya landed in a nervous crouch, sniffing the air for any clues of her enemy's whereabouts.
It appeared right behind her.
It suited her just fine.
With a sharp twist, she launched a Shadow Ball directly into the Alakazam's Abdomen. The creature was too surprised by the impact to feel it until it slammed it against a nearby wall. It leapt back to its feet, growling and becoming bathed in golden light.
To An'ya's surprise, the scratches and bite marks on the Alakazam were gradually mending. She felt the PokeMon's mental energies boost its cells' regeneration factor.
And it made her mad.
With a single charge, she pinned the still-recovering Alakazam and sunk her teeth into its abdomen. With an audible crunch, A chestplate cracked.
The Alakazam howled in pain, knocking An'ya off with a flash of white light. But the dark-type attack must have hit something critical. The Alakazam did its best attempt to stand majestically up, and glare at the Mightyena with sheer contempt. Then, it whisked the Crystal away from the pedestal and vanished.
Two doors opened. One led to the exit, another to a flight of stairs.
An'ya growled "Cowardly psychic-type! Where hath it escaped? I shall break more than its armour next time!"
"I get the feeling that it was studying us." Gad said "Something is amiss. Can you sense him?"
"Yes, I can." An'ya growled "It's heading for the roof."
"Let's get back on its tail..." Gad said "I don't know what's waiting for us up there..."
"But we can take it!" An'ya howled determinedly, and dashed up the stairs, with Gad close in following.
"We better."
~*~
"So, you finally made it."
The door opened to reveal a the central computer core. The manual override console, usually unmanned, was flashing in various shades, showing that it was, in fact, very active indeed.
By it, sat a man wearing dark glasses - connected to the console via wires. Long, unkempt green hair obscured his face, until he turned his head and smiled thinly.
"Welcome to my domain." he grinned, his voice just as dangerous sounding as it had when he made the announcement over the public address system "Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Link, resident computer specialist for Project Rising Helix, and your local, how shall we say it... Ghost in the shell. I assume that you've come to stop me. How nice. A shame that it would not come to pass... You see... When everything in a building is connected to a central computerized system... It is much easier to control all aspects of said building. Of course, there are failsafes, but there always will be."
"Now, what have we here?" He asked, and within a second, the PokeBall that Mr. Stone was holding was in his hand. Mr. Stone gasped, wondering how it got there.
"Oh, I see. 'Backup'." he chuckled "You are obviously a grander fool than I have thought you were. You installed the backup for an entire system on an expiremental, unreliable semi-sentient creature? Well, it doesn't matter." he said, tossing the PokeBall away into a trash can "It wouldn't be able to help much. For after all, what good is a PokeMon, if the trainer cannot give it directions?"
Something black hovered Mr. Stone. Something LARGE and black. Then, in what seemed to be a split-second, the thing floated straight through his body, emerging on the other side, revealing itself to be a large, black gengar. It did not grin. In fact, it seemed downright murderous. A blue glow danced within its gaseous black depths. The Devon Corporation president's eyes widened, then he collapsed, utterly unconcsious.
"Trapped in his own mind." Link grinned "Having to face his worst fears... to re-live his greatest moments of pain and failure. I'm sure he has many of those, as the president of a large company. Now, as for YOU... I don't know. I think that you'd make a fine pet." he turned to Marie "But maybe it is best not to take any risks. Seize her, Youma!"
The Gengar transformed into the dark cloud and charged again, only to be stopped by a barrier of light.
Marie stood there, surrounded by what seemed to be a light screen. Her hair seemed to float in the wind, as if a draft was coming down from below her, but there was no wind. And the draft came from the thing she held in her hand.
The PokeBall cracked open, unleashing something with a form which did not seem to be of this world. Its red eyes oriented on the cloud, and its claws clicked in anger.
Its voice, two voices bound into one, uttered a word which Link - and his Gengar - have never heard before. A word that terrified them. A word which brought to their mind visions of two beings, their essences dancing around each other, bound to each other in a sort of fusion which turned them - in all aspects - into one being. A sentient core of energy within a metal shell, which only screamed out one thing.
Fury.
The dark glasses shattered in a shower of sparks, and the hacker - and his PokeMon - knew no more.
~*~
The trap door burst open, and out bounded An'ya, breathing the cold air of the outside world again. It was windy - no doubt about it. And standing by one of the dragon gargoyles, stood a man in black uniform.
The orange slashmarks/jagged lightning and line patterns, as well as the dragon sillhouette on the clip of his belt - betrayed his affiliation. More specifically, he had eerie-looking gold eyes, shortish black hair, a white stripe running from the back of his head and turning into a fringe on his forehead. He grinned, wielding the Crystal in his hands.
"So, you've come." he said, glaring at the trainer and the Mightyena "But you are too late, you see... We have the research, we have the crystal... We have ground backup... And you have nothing. Turn back now!"
An'ya growled.
"I don't think we have any intentions of doing that." Gad said, meeting his enemy's glare with one of his own. There was something deeply unsettling about the man's eyes... But he couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was.
"Unfortunate." he said, producing a PokeBall from his belt. "Truly unfortunate."
The PokeBall burst open revealing a huge bipedal lizard - Seeming like a cross of several prehistoric animals - or an undead Rhydon - or both. Metal and rock meshed together into one form... It was an extremely angry looking Aggron.
"But I think I'll stick around for a bit only to watch my Aggron pulverize you, just for meddling... Oh. I'm sorry about your Mightyena."
Gad and An'ya both blinked.
"Iron Tail." he grinned, and pointed
The Aggron charged, its metal plates gleaming...
Gad's eyes widened when he realized what the thing intended to do.
An'ya yelped as the hit of the powerful tail sent her into the air. She was vaguely aware that her fall was lasting longer than she expected, but she was too tired and weak to notice.
The Mightyena closed her eyes and plummetted down towards the streets below.
~*~
The Porygon2 emerged from its PokeBall, startled, and looked around in a confused way. There were three people in the room. One seemed to be stunned, another was recovering from what seemed to be a brutal mental assault, and one was helping the recovering man to his feet.
Then it felt another presence in the room. It was a Psychic-type, and with a single growl, it vanished - taking the fainted man and a shadowy existence that floated beside it away.
But that did not matter. The digital mind of the Virtual Reality PokeMon could feel the call of its kind. It could feel the data within it aching to return to its source. For the first time in a long while, it felt like it belonged.
The computer systems whirred back to life as its lifeblood - the data which has stopped flowing within its circuits - started flooding it again, re-energizing the building.
The lights returned. The doors opened, releasing trapped employees. The primary elevators awakened yet again.
The backup was installed. The Porygon2 was home.
Marie and a still dazed Mr. Stone walked into the primary elevator. Marie smiled to herself, knowing that no one would ever know what truly happened there, and which PokeMon it was she was carrying with her at all times.
They wouldn't have believed her if she told them, anyway.
~*~
Gad's eyes widened as he watched An'ya fall. He quickly drew his PokeBall and attempted to return her, but it was too late.
"A tragic fate, but what can one do? It knew the risk it was taking." said the gold-eyed man, and smiled cruelly.
That was enough.
Gad's eyes burned with anger. It was more than just anger. It was pure, unrefined rage.
And mirroring his eyes exactly were Yuurin's. The Treecko took position by his trainer's side, ready for battle.
"A Treecko? Against a fully-evolved Aggron? This should prove to be... interesting." he grinned "Crush it like the bug it is."
"You shall pay." Gad simply pointed.
The Treecko leapt at the Aggron in a cry of anger, echoed by Gad. The Aggron Growled, taking a swipe at the Treecko with its metallic claws. The Treecko changed direction in midair, avoiding the claws, and landed on the ground, glaring at its adversary, whose armor plates shined in the glow of iron defense. Closing his eyes, Yuurin sought the dragon inside - and found, to his amazement, another presence.
It was Gad. His presence was faint, but it was there. The synchronization was deeper than it had ever been.
"How...?" he thought.
But Gad said nothing. Only grinned determinedly, and gestured in the direction of the core of Dragon energy.
"We shall battle through this together. For An'ya." his trainer said in his mind.
"So be it!" Yuurin nodded determinedly - and both trainer and PokeMon reached for the Dragon core...
A burst of Turquoise-Green flame emerged from Yuurin's mouth to Gad's enthusiastic cry. The flames seared against the Aggron's plates, heating them up badly. Gad knew that Steel-types had a dragon resistance, but he was hoping for a different effect...
The Aggron's movement was slowed - it was clearly almost paralyzed, But it was still mobile enough to launch a powerful iron tail...
The Treecko changed direction in midair to avoid the attack, only to realize the attack wasn't aimed at him. It was aimed at one of the gargoyles, and it shattered the statue completely, knocking gigantic chunks of carved rock at the Forest Lizard PokeMon's direction.
The rocks came screaming in his direction - and while most missed, one seemed to be headed in direct impact course. Yuurin made a powerful twist in midair, whacking the rock away with his tail, launching it in the Aggron's direction. The Iron Armor PokeMon growled deeply, launching a punch that shattered the rock into tiny fragments.
Gad's eyes managed to catch the percise angle in which the Aggron's fist caught the rock - a natural weak spot. He recognized the attack as Brick Break - a fighting-type move. Which was just the sort of thing that would give him an edge against the armored behemoth. An idea formed in his mind, and the Treecko nodded, sizing the Aggron up. The spot which the Dragonbreath scorched seemed to have been weakened enough...
"Now! Try hitting it just like it hit that rock!" Gad growled, and Yuurin nodded, lunging at the Aggron with determination. The Aggron did not move. It seemed to be deeply amused by the feeble little creature attempting to attack it - And percisely at the moment Yuurin was close to impact...
The Aggron turned, revealing its armor-plated back. It was too late to change direction, and the Iron tail that followed was very painful indeed for Yuurin.
The Treecko crashed in a crumpled heap at his trainer's feet, and stumbled to its feet. A large bruise covered its leaf tail, and it seemed rather shaken. "He wouldn't last much longer..." Gad thought in horror, seeing the Treecko fall back to its knees, breathing heavily. The Aggron hit him where it counted.
"I'm NOT giving up..." growled Yuurin, "Not... as long as I can stand..." and suddenly...
Green flames seem to bathe his form. Determination filled his eyes as he suddenly stood up. His eyes were the eyes of a Dragon again - but his essence was that of a Grass-type. He has been weakened enough to trigger his Overgrow ability, and that was just the boost he needed...
The Treecko dashed rapidly forward, leaping onto the Aggron before it managed to realize what was happening. Green glow surrounded Yuurin as his Absorb attack kicked in, drawing more power from the Overgrowth. The Treecko's glow intensified as Absorb gradually shifted into Mega Drain... The Aggron growled, attempting to shake the Lizard away from its bulk, but no avail. The Armored beast's steel-type was enough to shield it from being hurt more severely, but it was enough for Yuurin to get himself back on his feet. He leapt away from the Aggron and landed in front of it, glaring into the large blue eyes of the steel monstrosity.
And then, The green flames of overgrow subsided as a flash of white light encompassed the small Grass-type, swirling around it and within the glow, the Treecko's form began to grow and change...
The light subsided, revealing the slender form of a forest-green Grovyle. Three large, almost winglike crests of blue leaves were attached to its arms, and a similar - yet longer - blue leaf crest adorned its dragonlike head. Where the leaf tail once was there were now two large blue leaves. Its eyes were still focused on the Aggron, as it unleashed a battle cry - echoed by Gad's exclamation of happiness. The Grovyle extended sharp, metallic-looking claws and growled, shifting into what could only be described as a combat stance. It sized up the Aggron. Suddenly, the fully-evolved Iron Armor PokeMon did not seem so tough...
Yuurin charged, its claws blazing, the leaves on its arms glowing a fatal green... melding into each other, becoming two great scythes of light...
The Leaf Blade Impacted the Aggron full force, knocking it off its balance. The Aggron crashed to the ground, clutching gashes the leaf blades made in its rock plates. It roared in frenzy, Thrashing on the ground until at last, it managed to pull itself back up.
And it was mad.
But Yuurin was even madder.
The two reptilloid PokeMon clashed - metal and rock against leaf and muscle. Fire danced in Yuurin's eyes. The Aggron roared, throwing all of its bulk on the Grovyle, but then, it was hit by a paralyzing stream of turquoise-green flame directly to the face. Yuurin Glared into the frozen eyes of the Aggron, its leaves melding yet again...
It was all over in one cross-slash. The Aggron collapsed, unable to move, Yuurin stood upon the large body of its fallen adversary, and unleashed a cry of triumph into the air.
And his trainer raised a fist into the air and unleashed a feral cry of victory as well.
The cooperation between Trainer and PokeMon that have brought forth victory against what seemed to be impossible odds.
~*~
She felt like she was falling forever... And suddenly, it stopped.
She couldn't feel the air around her, nor the sensation of falling, or anything.
Floating in a void. That was what she was. She opened her eyes vaguely, to see nothing but darkness, and in the distance, two red cores of energy, burning with intensity she has never felt before. Two that are one.
A feeling of peace surrounded her. She closed her eyes yet again, slowly becoming aware that her rapid descent has become somewhat of a gentle float, and that soon enough, she would be safely on the ground.
"Wolves were definitely not meant to fly." she thought bemusedly as her legs gently found hold on an open window's ledge and then, she stumbled into the building, collapsing.
"There." she heard a voice and felt a reassuring touch - a friendly touch. She vaguely recognized the voice as belonging to a friend. That young woman from the building. "Everything will be all right now..."
The Mightyena smiled, as she felt the light burn of a Full Restore sprayed on her fur. She closed her eyes, relaxing completely, and allowing the medicine to take its effect.
The two burning cores of red energy faded into nothingness.
~*~
The gold-eyed man withdrew his fallen beast into his PokeBall, and turned his gaze to Gad and Yuurin, their eyes now focused on him.
He was still holding the crystal.
"So, you also bite." he said "How wonderful. We may want to have a look at that Grovyle of yours someday... I'm sure his DNA would be a fine addition to Project Rising Helix... And so would have this been. A shame."
He raised the Crystal to the sky.
"What happened here is of no consequence. Even if you managed to defeat me or your meddling friends managed to restore control of the computer systems... It doesn't matter. We already extracted all data from their research computers... You've nearly taken out my Alakazam - he doesn't have the strength to teleport. Useless. And I'm afraid that my other escape route does not allow me to carry extra weight. We were hoping to get the DNA directly from the source, of course, but, well, we could do with Synthetic replacements..."
He smiled coldly, backing up towards the edge
"If the project won't benefit from this crystal... Then no one will."
And he threw the crystal into the air. Extremely powerfully.
Gad froze as the Crystal was thrown. He knew that if the crystal would fall from this height, it would be shattered completely.
Within seconds, Yuurin leapt into the air, spreading out the fans of leaves on his arms in a winglike manner, gliding upon a gust of wind... His arms were extended to their fullest, and his claws just barely caught onto the azure sphere. He somersaulted, landing on the ground in the crouch of a skilled martial artist, his head lowered and his eyes, like cold steel, focused in determination.
The crystal was nestled firmly in its claws.
"Great work, Yuurin." Gad grinned, and the Grovyle nodded, handing Gad the Crystal.
"Take it. It is unharmed... And it seems to be almost happy." he said, with a light grimace "Whatever it is, it's definitely semi-sentient."
The moment Gad touched the crystal, it washed over him - a wave of confusion, and yet of joy. The creature within was vastly confused about the events of the day, but it was happy to be away from those who think negative thoughts.
With a smile, Gad produced his Digital Storage Device and faintly touched the Crystal with it, drawing it in. He'll return it to Mr. Stone as soon as he can.
Standing by one of the gargoyles were Trainer and PokeMon, staring down into the streets. Both knew that there was no way the Mightyena could have survived that fall, and only now, they allowed themselves to mourn for the loss of An'ya.
"She was truly brave." said Gad, his mind racing to that night on route 102 where he first saw her, a proud leader, battling for the leadership with Keirin. The moment where she gained his respect.
"And a noble soul." said Yuurin, his eyes closing "As noble as they come."
"We shall never forget her... And her sacrifice would not be in vain!" Gad said, closing his eyes.
"That is just so lovely... But who be the fierce warrior whose funeral hath now I borne witness to?" said a voice which could not be mistaken.
Gad and Yuurin turned their heads to the origin of the voice. Marie stood there, along with a lightly bruised, but otherwise fine...
"Well, I'll be a Nuzleaf's uncle." Yuurin's eyes widened "An'ya! But aren't you..."
"Dead? Nay, not dead, for by some trick or devilry I hath been rescued." An'ya grinned. "Dost ye honestly believe that she which hath led the pack would be slain by an armored abomination?" ... Wait."
Gad froze.
"I can feel something... Faint tension... and..."
A green blur sped down from the sky, towards the ground. The two humans and two PokeMon dashed to the edge. Far down in the streets, Gad thought he could see bursts of fire...
That and Raab really wants Torchic back. ^^
