Storming the Base
It all went wrong when they heard the explosion.
"What was that?" snapped Jupiter.
"Sounds like it came from above," answered one of her many underlings.
"Of course it came from above," said Saturn. Team Galactic had built this base four thousand feet below Lake Acuity.
"Incursion at Section K," a researcher confirmed, reading from a monitor.
"I'll go," said Mars.
"Alright," said Cyrus. "Keep working, everyone."
oOoOo
The explosion had allowed a heavy metal door to open, despite heavy security. Two dozen police officers had entered the base.
"Stay alert," said Officer Jenny. "We have no idea how big this place is."
"But it's big," said Heulwen, Jenny's partner. "Team Galactic ordered over a thousand beds this year, and we're guessing they've all ended up here."
Towards the back, two newer officers – Kate and Francis – exchanged a look.
"They're living here?" said Kate.
"Explains why they've been so quiet," said Francis.
oOoOo
Back in the experiment chamber, a siren sounded.
"Someone shut that off," said Saturn.
"Shouldn't we locate the source?" asked one of the researchers.
"Oh, good point," said Saturn. "Yes, let's just do that. I wonder what could have set off the siren? Could it be the huge explosion we just heard?"
The researcher deactivated the siren.
oOoOo
And that's exactly what Looker of the International Police had hoped would happen.
He smiled at Sarah, the technician who'd just opened the door to Section B. "Good work."
"I'm needed with Cynthia's team," she said. "Will you be alright?"
"I have no idea," said Looker. Nobody knew what awaited them in this base.
oOoOo
The grunts' bedrooms were too deep for their occupants to have heard the explosion. But the siren had sounded throughout the base.
Two Galactic grunts in particular, Alice and John, had been sleeping in room 303.
"Should we go up there?" Alice had asked. But then the siren had gone off.
John had gone back to sleep without a word.
Not long after that, Alice saw something from the corner of her eye.
"What?"
A redheaded girl appeared out of nowhere – teleported in by her abra.
"John, wake up!"
Alice was out of bed, grabbing her pokéball.
"Go, Stunky!"
The girl – whose name was Mira – sent out a sandshrew. As the battle started, Alice was too distracted to notice the abra teleport back out of the room.
oOoOo
One of the secretarial staff – a new employee named Jeff – approached Cyrus.
"Sir, the research team asked me to tell you that the explosion disrupted the, um, test subject. Should we postpone this phase of the experiment?"
Cyrus gave it some thought.
"No," he said eventually. "But keep me updated. We don't want to risk losing the test subject."
oOoOo
"Stop!"
Mars had reached Section K.
"You are under arrest," said Officer Jenny.
Mars laughed.
"Go, Purugly!"
oOoOo
The grunts in the surveillance room were going out of their minds.
"We've got … is he from the international police?"
Another grunt looked at the screen.
"This is big," she said. "We can't possibly handle this many ..."
She trailed off. The screen had gone blank.
"How did he do that?"
"He didn't," said a voice behind them. Cynthia, champion of the Sinnoh region, had arrived. "Go, Garchomp!"
oOoOo
"Finish it off with scratch!" called Mira.
Alice's stunky went down.
Abra arrived back, teleporting back with a grey-haired woman. Bertha, master of ground pokémon, and a member of the Elite Four.
"Nicely done," she said. "Now. We need to head upwards. I can heal your sandshrew if you need it."
oOoOo
In the experiment chamber, Cyrus received a coded message. It had been sent from the surveillance room.
"Oh, this is all I need," he said to himself. He raised his voice to address the room at large. "We have no CCTV. I repeat, we no longer have any surveillance of the base. We are now on maximum alert."
Saturn, Mars, and Charon immediately organised strike teams, and headed in different directions.
oOoOo
Looker reached a security door. There was no way he could get through, but he knew someone would come through the door sooner or later.
This was good news in one sense, though – Looker now had more information about the layout of the base. He sent a message each to Iris and Dawn.
oOoOo
Saturn reached the offices of Section F. He'd always suspected that some of the grunts used a network of hidden tunnels in this area to smuggle contraband into the base.
He was right. There were three trainers, boldly checking information on the various PC terminals. Two of the trainers were strangers to him – just kids – but the third …
"Dahlia?!"
The frontier brain of the Battle Arcade.
"You don't look happy to see me," she said. "Don't you know luck comes to those who are happy?"
She reached for her pokéballs.
"Brock, Misty – keep searching." Then she sent out her Pokémon. "Go – Dusknoir!"
oOoOo
Cyrus was inundated with messages.
"This place is crawling with police," he said. "And strong trainers from all over Sinnoh. And beyond."
To the surprise of the gathered staff, Cyrus actually smiled.
"But they'll never get in here."
oOoOo
And all over the base, Cyrus was being proved right.
Officer Jenny's team reached an enormous door, and none of their tools or weapons could dent it.
Bertha and Mira found an identical door at the opposite side of the base, trapping them in the sleeping quarters. Abra couldn't even teleport inside, thanks to a powerful limitation field surrounding the central area of the base.
Iris and Dawn had mapped the place thoroughly with information from their various teammates, but they couldn't see any way into the experiment chamber in the middle, apart from the impenetrable doors.
Misty and Brock found nothing of use in the offices, and Dahlia confirmed that yet another huge door blocked their entrance too.
Cynthia's whole team of pokémon had unleashed their most powerful attacks on the chamber door that led from the surveillance area, to no avail.
oOoOo
"Sir." It was Jeff again.
"Yes?" asked Cyrus tetchily.
"The researchers asked me to tell you they'd suggest postponing the experiment."
"NO!"
Jeff took a step back.
"Don't you know what's happening? We're surrounded. We're safe for now, but we've got a matter of hours before they find a weakness in the security. We have to finish this phase of the experiment, because as soon as they get in here, we have to execute Operation G."
Jeff knew exactly what Operation G was, of course. He may have been new, and he may only have been a lowly secretary, but this was the operation Team Galactic had been working on for the last three years.
Operation G. Erase the old world, and replace it with a new one. Recreate the world in Galactic's image.
They would do this with the power of the test subject. Jeff had no idea how Galactic had managed to capture the creature, but there in the centre of the experiment chamber …
… was Dialga, legendary pokémon of time.
"I'll tell the researchers to continue with the experiment," said Jeff.
He approached the researchers calmly.
Quietly, he told them, "Cyrus wants you to pull the experiment."
"Are you sure?" asked the lead scientist.
"He doesn't want the results to be compromised."
"I think I'll ask him myself …"
"Go, PIKACHU!"
Jeff released the pokémon, but not from a pokéball. The pikachu had been hiding in his coat.
"What?" The action caught Cyrus's attention. He looked from Jeff to the pikachu. "It's you!"
Jeff pulled off his wig.
"It's me. Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town."
Cyrus looked to the lead scientist.
"It's too late. Don't let this kid ruin everything. Execute Operation G!"
"We can't," the scientist replied. "We haven't got all the components ready."
"You've got enough," said Cyrus. "Maybe we can't recreate the universe – but we've done more than enough to recreate the planet."
"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!"
The pikachu electrocuted the scientist, but another researcher replaced him.
"Get that pikachu!" said Cyrus.
Grunts rushed towards Ash and his pokémon from all directions.
The machinery started to hum. Ash knew that Operation G had started.
He ran towards Dialga.
"Don't do it," said Ash. "You can resist it – I know you can. Don't let them use you …"
Pikachu dashed between the legs of the Galactic grunts, zapping them with electricity along the way.
Something was wrong. The world was tingling. Ash felt like he had pins and needles in his entire body.
The hum was unbearable now.
"You're too late!" laughed Cyrus. "Operation G is a success."
And that was how the world ended.
That was how the new world began.
That was the birth of the Galactic Empire.