HELLOOOOOO FANFICTIOOOOON~!
This is the most awesome author you will ever read a story from (although he CAN'T do anything original for his life D:), AXEEEEEEEEL NIGHTBLAZEEEEER!... (chugs bottle of anti-craziness potion) ...Okay, I'm done being weird.
My brother, Aeron Solo, works together with me on a series of fanfics. To clarify, this one comes after Rise of the Forbidden. Got it? Now read away! :D
AND REVIEW!
Eterna City...
"Hey! Wake up, Axel!"
Axel Nightblazer, still in bed, just rolled over and muttered, "More sleep, thank you," ignoring the shouts of the Mouse Pokémon hopping on his bed.
The Pikachu sighed. "God, can't you get a sense of duty for once...?" The real Tower Tycoon, Palmer, had left recently to train or something, and they hired Axel to take his place until he came back. Glancing worriedly at the clock, which Axel had completely forgotten to set, the Mouse Pokémon continued to worry about how late they'd be for their challenge, and how it was impossible to wake Axel up usually. Good thing he could use electricity.
"Alright, Axel, you leave me with NO OTHER CHOICE!" the Pikachu growled, bouncing onto the desk in Axel's room, then climbing up the bookcase nearby. He turned once to see if he would jump in the right direction. "Here we go..." he declared, and then jumped off the bookcase to crash down on to Axel's stomach with Volt Tackle."COWABUNGA!"
ZZZZZZZZZT!
"YAAAAAHHH!" Axel yelled. He furiously burst out of the bed, whirling to look at who attacked him.
"Hi! " the Pikachu said, putting on his best cute image while sitting on Axel's stomach.
"Come on!" Axel groaned, smoothing his frazzled hair. "Niko, I told you! You don't have to Volt Tackle me to wake me up! You use Thunderbolt!"
"You were snoring so loudly, I figured I'd need Volt Tackle to do it. :3" Niko smirked. "And anyway, you're Tower Tycoon, so you can't afford to sleep in, can you?"
"If I knew you would do this, I would never have become Tower Tycoon..." Axel sighed as he got of bed. "Okay, give me a few moments." Axel pulled on a pair of jeans, a blue T-shirt with a hood, and his blue and silver sneakers. Next, he reached over to his desk and picked up two Pokéballs. "Almost ready to go..." Axel muttered, grabbing a bagel for breakfast.
"You take all day," Niko muttered, beginning to walk out the door. "Well, at least we're going now-"
"NO, WAIT, STOP!" Axel shouted, causing Niko to jump in shock...I mean surprise. Axel looked around with horror. "Oh crap, where did I put i-OH! Here we go!" He reached over to the clothes he wore yesterday and plucked out a pair of gleaming blue and silver headphones.
"You really need to take better care of them if they're that important to you," Niko sighed.
"Okay, okay, so I'm too lazy to clean up. You don't have to nag me about it," Axel grumbled. But his face brightened as he ran out the door. "Alright, Niko, ready to go?"
"Ready if you are," Niko replied, leaping onto Axel's shoulder.
"THEN HERE WE COME!" Axel shouted, jumping into the air and landing on his dark blue motorcycle, with streamlined blue plating covering from above the front tire to where he was sitting, and an oversized back tire. Niko leapt on to the back, and they raced off to the Battle Frontier.
Several hours later, at the Battle Frontier…
"FINALLY! WE'RE HERE!" Axel shouted, bursting into the Battle Tower. Everyone in the waiting room jolted when they heard him burst through the doors. Axel stopped to catch his breath, then noticed the stares. "Okay, so a Tower Tycoon comes late. So what?" No one said anything, so Axel just hurried to the elevator and rode up to the Battle Room on the 21st floor.
Axel stepped out of the elevator and was surprised to find a challenger already waiting for him. Whoa, someone made it to the 21st battle already! he thought.
"You're late!" shouted the challenger, irritated. He had silver hair and a green headband, and wore a black and red shirt and pants. A green bag was over his shoulder.
"Sorry, overslept," Axel replied, scratching his head guiltily. "And you are?"
"I'm Michael, from the Hoenn Region," the guy replied, grinning. "Nice to meet you! I'm looking forward to getting my Silver Tower Print today!"
"Well, that's pretty modest," Axel muttered sarcastically. "But back to the point. Let's begin!"
Pokémon trainer Michael would like to battle!
"Go! Ken!" Axel called, raising his Pokéball and pressing the button, releasing a Samurott, the Formidable Pokémon.
"Go! Swellow!" yelled Michael, tossing his Pokéball to release the Swallow Pokémon. "Fly!" Swellow appeared in the air, and immediately began to ascend even higher.
"Hydro Cannon!" Axel shouted. Ken roared, and water swirled into a sphere at the tip of his blade head. He blasted it at Swellow at alarming speed. Swellow tried to dodge, but to no avail. She nearly spiraled out of the air, but quickly recovered and flew at Ken, striking him backward.
"Swellow, use Heat wave!" yelled Michael. Swellow began to flap her wings generating hot winds, and then blasted them at Ken, but the flames were extinguished with a Hydro Pump. "Aerial Ace!" Michael continued. With one swift strike, Swellow attempted to hit Ken-but then the Formidable Pokémon unleashed his own Aerial Ace, and the two cancelled each other out. "Sky Attack!" Swellow began to glow with a white light, but Ken jumped into the air and poured water down in a waterfall before she could finish this.
Swellow flapped her wings again and sent a slashing wind at Ken, which the Formidable Pokémon dodged, then rushed at Swellow with water surrounding him, crashing hard into the Swallow Pokémon. "Scald!" Axel commanded. Ken blasted a stream of heated water at Swellow, burning her. Wings shining with a metallic light, Swellow charged at Ken, but he parried each of her strikes.
Ken suddenly lost his footing and was sent flying back, and Swellow began to pursue the Formidable Pokémon, shining with a dark energy. But Ken saw her coming, lowered his head fired a beam of freezing light from his head blade which kept Swellow far away. "Okay, this is taking too long. Wait a sec! I know how to take care of this problem!" Michael grinned. "Swellow, WHIRLWIND!"
"Oh, CRAP! Ken! Ice Beam!" Axel ordered. Ken lowered his head and fired another beam of pale light which struck Swellow just as she flapped her wings and sent a gust of wind which blew Ken away, back into his Pokéball. Immediately, Axel's other Pokéball activated, sending out a Chikorita. "So Fleur was dragged out..." Axel muttered. Fleur also looked a bit confused as to why she suddenly appeared there.
"Ha. A Chikorita? This should be easy, considering she isn't evolved," Michael bragged. "Swellow, attack with A-"
"Toxic!" Axel declared almost automatically. Fleur sent spinning orbs of poisonous energy at the Swallow Pokémon, and Swellow screeched in pain from the toxins. "Now Ancient Power!" Axel continued, as the Chikorita sent shining rocks from the ground flying at Swellow. "Leaf Storm!" Axel ordered, and Fleur swung her leaf around, sending a storm of leaves at Swellow. However, the Chikorita's power quickly diminished as more leaves flew.
"...okay, have NO idea what just happened," Michael muttered. "But anyway, Swellow! Aerial Ace!" The battered Swellow swooped down at Fleur with claws outstretched. But Fleur was prepared for this, and immediately shining rocks rose from the floor again, ramming Swellow. Then suddenly, Fleur glowed with a bright light, revealing her stats had been boosted. "Oh, no!" Michael panicked, realizing that Swellow was in a VERY bad place to be.
"Finish it!" Axel shouted, punching the air. "FRENZY PLANT!" The Leaf Pokémon let out a cry, and roots burst from the ground, spearing Swellow multiple times. Swellow shrieked and fell, unconscious now.
The referee blew his whistle and announced, "Swellow is unable to battle! Fleur wins!"
"Your Pokémon are really strong!" commented Michael, calling back Swellow.
"I know, right?" Axel grinned TOTALLY modestly (not). "But remember, this is just the start."
"Yeah-the start of my victory. Go, Metang!" yelled Michael, pressing the button and releasing the Pokémon.
Metang? Didn't see that coming... Axel thought. He wondered if he should switch Pokémon, but then decided against it. "Bring it on!" he shouted, confidently smiling.
Somewhere outside Snowpoint City...
Ash Ketchum groaned from the cold as he trudged up the snowy slopes towards Snowpoint. He pulled his jacket tighter around himself to protect himself from the cold. "While the rest of Sinnoh is warm, this place...ugh," he muttered.
Pikachu, on his shoulder, also huddled close and muttered something. "Yeah," Ash agreed, a bit shakily. "I don't see why he'd want to battle here at this time of year..."
Currently, he was on his way to Snowpoint to meet up with his old rival, Paul. They hadn't seen each other for a while, so they wanted to get together and have a battle.
But then Ash suddenly noticed something, as he continued up the path. "What the-what's going on over there?" he asked. Pikachu looked where he was pointing-and gasped. There was smoke coming from the place where Snowpoint should have been!
"Pikapi? Pikapikapikachu?" Pikachu asked, worried.
"I don't know, Pikachu. Let's go check it out!" Ash replied, dashing in the direction of the smoke. Hope everyone's alright...but who did this?
Again with the Battle Tower...
"Niko, use Volt Tackle!" yelled Axel, thrusting his hand out for emphasis.
"Take this!" Niko shouted, releasing tons of volts. His opponent, a Sceptile, watched in shock as Niko spiraled at him, but then raised his arm, merging his leaves into two blades and slashing at Niko. However, the Mouse Pokémon suddenly grabbed his arm and swung around it, kicking Sceptile in the face and discharging all the volts. Niko dropped to the ground as Sceptile crashed next to him, unconscious. "VICTORY!" the Pikachu cheered.
"Sceptile is unable to battle! Niko wins!" the referee guy shouted. "The winner is Tower Tycoon Axel!"
Axel breathed a sigh of relief; it had been an intense fight. Fleur couldn't win against Metang, but used Leech Seed to fight for a bit more. From there, Ken picked up where she left off and defeated the Iron Claw Pokémon. Unfortunately, Sceptile had shown up, and despite Ice-type moves, Ken could not defeat him. Niko had come in afterwards, and had utterly destroyed Sceptile. "Sorry, Michael. Better luck next time," he sighed.
"Yeah, okay," Michael muttered, obviously not pleased by his loss. "Well, I'd better go now." He began to head for the exit.
At this moment, a guy walked into the room and headed to the spectator stands. "Hi," he greeted.
"Hi," Axel replied. Then he suddenly went up to the guy and gave him a (totally fake) battle entry brochure. "Sir, just sign here, here, here, initial here, sign here, here, here, and lastly, put your DOB, Reason For Challenging, and Why You Are Cool. Failure to complete this within five minutes will result in...A PIE IN THE FACE!" The last words were said in a very dramatic tone to freak the guy out.
"Uh...what?" The guy was confused by everything Axel said, particularly because all this was said in the span of 5 seconds. Niko facepalmed at Axel's complete randomness.
Then Axel suddenly noticed Michael staring out the window in disbelief. "Wait, what the heck?" the trainer asked with a look of confused surprise.
Axel ran over to the window next to Michael. "What do you mean, what the heck-OMG WHAT THE HECK?" Both of them saw many armored men and women causing havoc in the Frontier, attacking facilities and people with their Pokémon.
"That armor...they could only be Cipher Peons! Oh, god, don't tell me Cipher's here?" Axel groaned. "Come on, Niko, we're going!" He dashed over to the elevator and slammed the button to go down to the ground floor.
"Hey, wait! What do I do?" asked Michael.
"Just…hide somewhere!" Axel shouted before the elevator closed. Michael muttered something and sat down in the stands next to that other guy.
Axel burst into the waiting room of the Battle Tower and found people already being attacked by the Cipher Peons' Pokémon. "Dude, TOTALLY not cool!" he shouted, bringing up his Pokéballs.
"THERE'S NIGHTBLAZER! GET HIM!" one of the Cipher Peons shouted, pointing at Axel. Immediately, all the attacks flew at Axel.
"AAAAAAAAAAAA HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP!" Axel screamed, rolling out of the way to avoid the assorted attacks. "Urgh, it's nice to see you guys again too...GET 'EM!" he shouted, tossing both his Pokéballs mid-roll. Fleur and Ken promptly unleashed Energy Balls and Hydro Pumps all around the room, smashing the Cipher Peons away...and also, everything else. "Uh...whoops," Axel muttered sheepishly, looking around the room. He actually ended up breaking even MORE of whatever else was in the waiting room than the Cipher Peons. "I'll have it fixed!" Axel called sheepishly, pressing buttons on (what was left of) the PC, transporting three Pokéballs, and running away before anyone could start screaming at him.
"Well, wasn't that a smashing performance," Niko muttered, a bit amused about how Axel tried to stop the Cipher Peons from damaging the Battle Tower, and yet did even more damage than they did.
Fleur and Ken laughed about this as well. "I see what you did there," Ken laughed to Niko.
"Do me a favor, and SHUT UP," Axel growled, noticing Cipher Peons on the path ahead. Ken and Fleur rushed ahead to battle them. Suddenly, they noticed a Solarbeam zooming towards them. "Ken, use Hydro Pump-on the Solarbeam! Fleur, use your own Solarbeam!" Axel ordered. Ken nodded and blasted the Cipher Peons with water, but that water also scattered the Solarbeam, allowing Fleur to catch its light on her leaf, and blast the Cipher Peons with bright green light.
"AAAAAAHHH! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT!" they screamed, getting fried by the intense light.
"Sheesh, they yell too much," Pikachu growled, placing his hands over his ears.
"Really?" Axel asked innocently, ears covered by headphones. "I can't hear anything." Pikachu grumbled something and went back to zapping people. "Anyway, we'd better help the other Frontier Brains deal with Cipher's minions," Axel decided. "What do you think, guys?"
"I agree!" Pikachu replied, raising his hand for emphasis. Ken nodded as well.
"You think the other Frontier Brains are having trouble?" Fleur asked, concerned.
Axel shrugged. "We'll know when we get there." Immediately, another Cipher Peon suddenly burst out from behind him. "Get him!" Axel shouted. Ken howled and unleashed a Blizzard which froze the guy dead in his tracks. "Let's hope those guys stay there for a while," Axel muttered, recalling his Pokémon, as Niko jumped on his shoulder. "And who knows where else Cipher's wrath has struck?"
In Snowpoint City...
Could my day be going any worse? Candice thought to herself with a disgusted expression. A few moments ago, two men in weird armor came into the Gym and dragged her away, and as they went she could see more of them mugging people. It made her furious that they were forcing everyone to give up their Pokémon, but she could do nothing about it.
Presently, they brought her in front of the guy who apparently was in charge, since he was bossing everyone around anyway. "You found her? Good work," he complimented. Then he eyed her with amusement. "You, a Gym Leader?" he chuckled. "You're only a scrawny little girl."
"Shut your mouth!" Candice snarled at him. It was bad enough that she couldn't go anywhere and her city was being mowed down, but she had literally known this guy for all of 10 seconds and he was annoying the crap out of her already.
"Oh, you want to challenge me? Too bad you won't be doing anything while my men are there! Ha!" the moron laughed. Then he reached for her pocket. "Now I'll be taking your Pokémon..."
"Don't you dare!" Candice hissed, and as the armored guys were only holding her arms, her leg went up and kicked the boss hard in the face.
"Oh, that does it! Release her!" the boss roared with fury (and through a bloody nose). "I'm gonna rip her to shreds in a battle!"
"Challenge accepted." Candice replied, as her arms were released. She raised two Pokéballs and prepared to fight...
Gym Leader Candice would like to battle!
"Go! Weavile and Mamoswine!" Candice shouted.
"Go! Magneton and Misdreavus!" shouted the captain.
Candice immediately knew something was wrong, judging by the cold looks the two Pokémon were giving her. Even for a loner, that's really extreme. "Mamoswine! Earthquake!" she ordered. Mamoswine let out a roar and stomped the ground, causing it to shake violently.
"Ha! Magneton, Magnet Rise!" the captain laughed. Magneton used his magnets to rise away from the ground, and Misdreavus was levitating, so she wasn't hurt at all.
Candice wasn't discouraged at all. "Weavile! Faint Attack!" she shouted, and Weavile attacked without warning, blowing Misdreavus towards Mamoswine, who roared and, along with Weavile, called down a heavy rain of snow, trapping Misdreavus completely. However, Magneton fired a Thunderbolt at Weavile, then shot a flash of steely light at Mamoswine, buying enough time for the Screech Pokémon to escape.
"Now I've got you! Magneton, use Shadow Bolt! Misdreavus, use Shadow Crash!" the captain shouted.
Candice was stunned. She had never heard of those moves in her life. But instantly, shadowy lightning and a massive wave of shadow crashed into Weavile and Mamoswine. Her two Pokémon were knocked out in one blow. "...return," she finally managed weakly. But what just happened?
"Now! Finish her! Use Shadow Bolt and Shadow Crash!"
"W-what?! I haven't even called out a Pokémon!" Candice protested, Weavile and Mamoswine's Pokéballs still in hand.
"That doesn't matter," the captain retorted. "You-a Gym Leader-are in the way of our goals, and we must eliminate you! WIPE HER OUT, MAGNETON! MISDREAVUS!"
To her dismay, Candice suddenly found herself paralyzed with fear, and slowly turned her head to see a Crobat staring at her with glowing eyes. No...they even had a way to prevent me from escaping? Her eyes darted back to the oncoming attacks. Crap...sorry everyone...
BOOM!
Candice was sure she'd been obliterated...and suddenly her eyes opened wide, because she hadn't. There were sparks everywhere, but she was unharmed. The Crobat lay on the ground, unconscious. "Hey! Get out of my way, punk!" the captain yelled.
Candice was surprised to see Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu in front of her, having deflected the attack with electricity. "A-Ash!" Candice shouted. "What are you doing here?"
Ash opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything before he suddenly had to dodge a blast of shadow. "You!" the guy yelled. "You're Ash Ketchum. I'm glade you came; now I can tear you to bits."
"I doubt you could do that if you tried," Ash replied, and Candice had to wonder if he was mocking him. "Your skills aren't exactly right for that kind of job."
"OH THAT DOES IT!" Golva hollered. "MAGNETON! SHADOW BOLT!" Magneton began to charge purple lightning again, but then suddenly was blasted with flames. "Wait, what?" Golva's eyes followed it to see an Infernape. "Infernape?"
Ash slowly drew out another Pokéball, and his face was VERY hard and cold. "You'll be the one to pay-for blowing up Snowpoint City. Hope you've got insurance."
"Ash! Wait! This guy's really strong! I know you're strong too, but-" Candice began to argue.
"I've dealt with Cipher before, and I know how to beat them. Don't worry." Ash turned to face the Cipher Captain. "Hope you're good at fighting without as much of a major advantage of having Shadow Pokémon; or else you might not stand a chance."
Cipher Commander Golva would like to battle!
Magneton recovered from the flames, and glared with hate at Infernape, who stood ready to battle him and Misdreavus. "Go! Staraptor!" Ash shouted, tossing his Pokéball and sending out the Predator Pokémon. "Aerial Ace!"
Staraptor surged forward and slashed Misdreavus with his claws, then dodged Magneton's Shadow Bolt and unleashed Close Combat, striking Magneton many times. Magneton struck Staraptor again with a Shadow Bolt, causing the Predator Pokémon to fall. However, before Magneton could take advantage of this, Infernape's fists flew like bullets, barraging Magneton and forcing him away. Then Infernape surrounded himself with bright orange fire and smashed into Magneton with Flare Blitz, ignoring the flames that burned at himself.
"Nice moves! But strike all you want; there's no way you can defeat my Shadow Pokémon!" the captain laughed. "Wait-what the heck?" he yelled when he saw two Pokéballs zooming towards the two. An orange, claw-like aura flared out and enveloped the two Pokémon. Candice's eyes widened as the Pokémon zoomed into the Pokéballs.
"Yes, I probably couldn't defeat them, but I can steal them." Ash said. "I don't like stealing, but it's the least I can do. I can't let those Pokémon stay in your hands." Candice and the Cipher Captain stared for a long moment at Ash's arm. There was a new armor on it, which looked strangely familiar for the Cipher Captain.
"Your Snag Machine? So there's the abominable device!" the captain exclaimed, first in surprise, then a look of triumph on his face. "Don't get cocky, though, 'cause I have others-" He sent out a Flareon, an Absol, a Lombre, and a Dugtrio, all of which were shadow.
Ash sighed and shook his head. "Do you never learn? Infernape, Flare Blitz!"
Infernape ran towards the Cipher Captain's Absol, orange flames whipping around him. He leaped over the Lombre's Water Gun attack, and then smashed headlong into Absol. Ignoring the recoil again, he opened his mouth and unleashed a stream of flames, overwhelming Absol.
Ash raised his hand (the one with the device on it). A Pokéball whirled into it, and then an orange light filled it. Then he threw the Pokéball at the Absol, pulling it in. Candice watched apprehensively as it shook once…twice…three times…then several sparkles emitted from the Pokéball.
"All those Pokéballs caught a Pokémon that already belongs to a trainer?" Candice gasped.
"No!" Golva shouted. "Lombre, use Hydro Pump!" Water swirled around Lombre…but it was mottled purple.
"Staraptor, Brave Bird!" Ash shouted. Staraptor unleashed massive blue energy and smashed into Lombre. Ash threw another Pokéball at the Lombre, and it caught as well.
"Dugtrio, Rock Blast!" Golva shouted. Dugtrio generated a rock that was strangely shimmering with purple, and then blasted it out towards Staraptor. But then Infernape smashed it with his fist and smashed Dugtrio in the face. Another Pokéball thrown…another Pokémon caught. Brimming with rage, the Cipher Commander shouted, "Flareon, use Flare Blitz!" Flareon, a fiendish look in his eyes, generated dark red flames and rushed towards the two Pokémon.
Dark red? Candice thought. Is this what Shadow Pokémon can do for real?
"Staraptor, return!" Ash suddenly shouted, pointing the Pokéball at the Predator Pokémon and pulling him back in. "Now go, Floatzel!" Floatzel came out, and unleashed a huge torrent of water, extinguishing the Flare Blitz and knocking the Flareon back. Then he surrounded himself with water and smashed into Flareon. Immediately following that, another Pokéball flew. The Flareon was sucked into the orange claw, and the ball rolled on the floor, flashing. And just like that, the Cipher Commander's entire team was stolen.
"Dang it!" he yelled, frustrated. "Why? Why do you interfere with us? Ash Ketchum!"
"That's because you and Cipher are evil," replied Ash. "Pokémon training is all about making your Pokémon stronger while being friends with them. You don't value Pokémon one bit. You make them all heartless fighting machines. That's why I try to stop you."
"Well, you won't try anymore!" the Commander yelled, running towards Ash. Not flinching, Ash held up his hand (the one with the Snag Machine), moved it back, and then thrust it out.
KA-BLAMM!
The Cipher Commander was sent flying out of Snowpoint, blasted out by the wake of Ash's palm thrust. Candice watched him fly off, shocked. "What on Earth is that?"
"It's the Snag Machine. Those Pokémon are corrupted into heartless, emotionless machine-like fighters, and this lack of feeling makes them exceptional at fighting. I use this to take them and turn them back into regular Pokémon. It's not my style, but we can't really let them stay corrupted," Ash replied.
Candice considered this. "You're right. But how did you know they were all shadow?"
"He mentioned that the first two were shadow, but for the rest, I just sensed their aura."
Deciding not to ask about how he could sense Aura, Candice looked around. "The Cipher Peons are still on the loose. You think you could help me take them down?"
"Is there really an answer for that?" Ash replied, alreday walking away to combat them. "Let's go!"
Back at the Battle Frontier...
A Cipher Peon tried to have his Quagsire use Earthquake, but Axel had already noticed. "Fleur! Solar Beam!" he shouted.
Fleura whirled and blasted a beam of green light from her leaf. "Nailed him!" she shouted cheerfully. "Did I do great, Axel?"
"Just wonderfully," Axel replied, bending down and patting her on the head. Then he heard shouts from behind and pointed. "Ken! Blizzard!" Ken blasted a Blizzard attack and iced the Cipher Peons over, ensuring they wouldn't be blowing anything else up. "There we go!" Axel breathed a sigh of relief. "Ken, Fleur, return!" He turned to his colleague, Thorton, the Factory Head. "Alright, Thorton, this area's clear now."
"Thanks," Thorton replied, giving him a thumbs-up. "But we definitely have to let the Pokemon League know about this. Go to the Gym Leaders, Champion and Elite Four and warn them about what's coming."
"Can you guys handle the rest of whatever happens here?" Axel asked.
"We'll be just fine. The Battle Factory has a bunch of strong Pokémon in there," Thorton grinned. "Now go! We can't let these guys run around unchecked like we did Team Galactic."
"Right," Axel replied. He jumped onto his motorcycle, grabbing Niko and starting it up immediately. "We'll head straight to the Pokémon League," he decided. "This is something all of them will have to get involved in!"
Oreburgh Mine...
The air felt thick and full of dust. Roark mopped his forehead, feeling the heat. We're going deeper and deeper, he thought, tired. Eventually it's going to be too deep for us to dig anymore safely... Ignoring the pain, he helped cart more of the coal up to the conveyor belts up to the surface.
Things were getting worrisome, though. Because the mines extended so deep, now the conveyor belts were getting expensive to maintain. And if a cave-in occurred while miners were down here...everything would be a disaster for Oreburgh. They'd have to take even greater care while mining.
At this moment, he suddenly heard the sounds of a Shadow Ball being fired. Roark suddenly felt his spine go cold; it could very well cause a collapse. "Sorry, could you guys take the load without me for a bit?" he asked quickly. The workers barely had time to nod when he ran over to where he heard the Shadow Ball. "Hey! That's dangerous at this de-"
But Roark had to stop. There was a Dusknoir, and next to him was a fallen Zubat. The Dusknoir's trainer was a teenage boy with green hair and eyes. His T-shirt and cargo pants were also green, and he had a yellow backpack. "Oh, hey Roark, what's up?" he asked.
"Ben? Didn't expect to see you here," Roark commented. "But what are you doing all the way down here?"
"Well, I thought because Oreburgh Mine was deepening, I could explore any new caverns that appeared," Ben replied, grinning. "Just cause I can."
"Well, yeah, I see what you mean. But just be careful; you could start a cave-in with your Pokémon's attacks if you mess up! And then you'd be trapped, and I'm not sure if we could help you," Roark warned. With that, he headed back to work, waving a goodbye to Ben over his shoulder.
But it wasn't long before a worker came to Roark with an excited face. "We found something strange in Tunnel 3, sir! It's some kind of altar or something! You gotta see it!" Fascinated, Roark followed the worker down the tunnel.
But they never saw it.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Roark and the worker stopped short when they heard the noise. "We don't use explosives, do we?" the worker asked. "Then why did that just happen?"
"I don't know who decided to use explosives here, but there's only one thing that can mean," Roark replied grimly. "RUN!"
They had barely taken a step when cracks started to appear in the ceiling. Then rocks began to pour down on Roark. The Gym Leader looked up frantically. "Go! Aggron!" he shouted desperately, and the Iron Armor Pokémon appeared just in time to catch a falling rock. But more stones poured from the ceiling. "Rampardos, you too!" Roark shouted over the rumble, tossing another Pokéball.
Rampardos caught another rock and smashed it with his head. Aggron fired a beam of freezing light at the ceiling, keeping the rocks from collapsing for just a second, giving Roark and the worker enough time to run.. "We can't keep this up forever," Roark muttered. Suddenly, another HUGE rock fell, and Rampardos was too busy to notice. Roark shouted in surprise, but Aggron grabbed it and tossed it away.
Suddenly, a Salamence was above them, a green barrier extending from it around them. On top of the Salamence was Ben! "Roark! What's going on?!" he demanded over the din. "Why would you use explosives? You told me some of the rock wasn't stable!"
"The workers didn't!" Roark shouted back, as Rampardos and Aggron crushed the boulders in front of them. "Someone else must have done it! But who, I wouldn't know..."
"We can ponder that question later!" Ben replied, standing up. "But for now, we need to hurry and get out of here!" He pointed two more Pokéballs. "Empoleon! Infernape! We need your help!" The Emperor Pokémon and Flame Pokémon had barely even left their Pokéballs and already were attacking the rocks in front with steely fins and lightning-fast punches and kicks.
"Are any of the tunnels collapsed?" Roark asked, squinting off into the distance. It was hard to see even with Infernape's bright flame, and he still couldn't see from the falling rocks when he switched on the lamp on his hard hat.
"How should I know? We were both on the lower levels!" Ben retorted, grabbing Roark and the worker and pulling them onto Salamence's back just before a rock smashed down nearby. "But this is gonna be a wild ride. Empoleon, Infernape, return!"
Roark wondered what Ben was doing, but quickly recalled his Pokémon as well. "Why did you do that?" he was about to ask, but the words never fully came out before Salamence rocketed through the tunnels at high speed. Ben and Salamence looked forward with a grim expression, knowing that one collision would spell doom for them.
Salamence suddenly fired a Hyper Beam, clearing the rocks for a few moments and allowing him to race through a tight corridor without much trouble. "We should almost be there, right?" Ben asked. "The next tunnel shou-OH CRAP!" The tunnel he was about to turn into was blocked! Salamence made a U-turn, but more rock had fallen, squeezing the area Salamence could fly freely in. "Almost there, Salamence..." Ben growled.
"Wait! What's that?" Roark gasped, pointing at a sparking piece of metal in the rubble. The two realized it was part of the conveyor belt system! Scanning the area hard, Roark spotted another one going up another tunnel. "Hurry! That way!" he shouted, pointing.
Salamence threw out a leg and caught onto a stalactite, pulling himself into a tight turn to avoid another rock. The Dragon Pokémon, weary, surged on for a few final meters and collapsed...in an ice-coated tunnel. "Wait...ice?!" Ben muttered, looking around. The cracks had all been frozen over by ice, and in an expert way; nothing was breaking. "Who could have done this?" Ben wondered, recalling Salamence and walking across the cold floor.
Roark shrugged, and looked at the frozen conveyor belt. "It's going to take a while to repair this..." he sighed. "I suppose we'll have to literally start all over again."
"Never mind that," Ben comforted, patting him on the shoulder. "You already dug the tunnels; it won't take as long." His voice suddenly trailed off when he thought he heard shouting noises. "Hey, did your workers do this because they were trying to find you?"
"I didn't know any workers with Ice-type Pokémon," Roark replied, shrugging. "But then who could have done it?"
Ben and Roark had no time to ponder, because then the voices became louder, and then two armored men arrived on the scene. "What the-?! What are you doing here?" they shouted.
"I should be asking you that," Roark replied, gazing warily at their outfits. "What kind of getup is that? And who are you, anyway?"
Ben narrowed his eyes at them. I feel like I should know who these guys are...who were they? "You act like we shouldn't be here, and yet Roark is the supervisor of this mine," he noted. "So how can you act that way?"
"It's not safe to be in here," one of the armored guys replied. "After all, there was just an earthquake, and-"
"Earthquake? Those were clearly EXPLOSIVES!" Ben suddenly raised his voice, growing increasingly enraged by those guys. "Any explanation for THAT?"
"Sigh...I guess we've been discovered already," the other armored guy muttered. A sneer crossed his face next. "We are Cipher! We're here for something in your mine, Gym Leader!"
"What would you want in here?" Roark demanded, more than a little annoyed at being called "Gym Leader."
"That's not for you to know," the Cipher Peon replied automatically. "But since you're the only opposition we have, we'll just crush you right now!" He raised a Pokéball and released a Frosslass, while his partner sent out a Mightyena. "Problem?"
"I'm just fine with that," Roark replied, sending out his Aggron. "My concern is if you have a problem."
Ben stepped up next to Roark. "Shall we do a tag battle?" he asked, and was answered with a quick nod. "Go, Dusknoir!" Dusknoir appeared and immediately charged up a Shadow Ball, blasting Frosslass's Ice Shard to pieces. Annoyed, the Snow Land Pokémon retaliated with an Ominous Wind, slashing Dusknoir. The Gripper Pokémon responded with two fists to the face-one flaming and one surrounded with ghostly energy. Ruthlessly continuing, dark energy gathered in front of Dusknoir, and he fired it at Frosslass, downing her in seconds.
"What?! Already?!" the Cipher Peon shouted in disbelief. "Well, whatever. Go, Rapidash! Flame Wheel!" The Fire Horse Pokémon appeared, and immediately generated flames around himself, galloping at Aggron. However, a green barrier separated them, and then Aggron caused rocks to enclose Rapidash. Then Aggron sent small stones flying at Rapidash, striking critical points and doing huge damage. "Rapidash, Flamethrower!" Rapidash unleashed flames from his horn, burning Aggron.
"Dusknoir, stop Rapidash!" Ben shouted, but then Mighteyena bit down hard on Dusknoir, who angrily unleashed a Focus Blast, but Mightyena swiftly dodged and fired a Dark Pulse, causing Dusknoir to stumble. Then Mightyena leapt at Dusknoir with another Crunch. Desperately, Dusknoir began to fire many Focus Blasts, overwhelming the Bite Pokémon. Then Dusknoir pointed at Rapidash and fired a Shadow Ball, disrupting the Flamethrower. However, Mightyena recovered and bit down again, this time with electrified fangs.
Aggron shot Mightyena with Ice Beam, freezing the Bite Pokémon. Now free, Dusknoir charged up another Shadow Ball and shot the Fire Horse Pokémon, but Rapidash suddenly broke out and dodged, then fired a bright green laser which missed. However, the light began to ricochet around the ice-covered cave, and Dusknoir had to frantically dodge the bouncing Solarbeam. Aggron Protected himself, and stopped the Solarbeam by doing that.
Rapidash tried to jump at Aggron, but the Iron Armor Pokémon dodged, and Rapidash slid across the icy floor into the wall, dazed. Aggron and Dusknoir wasted no time and attacked with Stone Edge and Rock Slide, causing Rapidash to faint. A Torkoal was sent out next, who unleashed a huge cloud of smog. Dusknoir roared from the poison, but Aggron was unaffected and marched up to Torkoal, preparing a Rock Tomb. However, then Torkoal blasted lava at ALL Pokémon, causing them to faint immediately.
Ben muttered something and called back Dusknoir. "Should I use...?" he began to wonder, and then suddenly shook his head. "I'll save that one for last. Go, Empoleon!" Torkoal's Flamethrower completely missed as the Emperor Pokémon swiftly moved out of the way and unleashed a raging torrent of water from his beak, defeating Torkoal almost instantly.
Roark sent out a Golem, and the other Cipher Peon brought out a Skarmory. Skarmory slashed Golem with his wings, while Golem tried to strike him, but his Rock-type moves were ineffective. However, Roark was undaunted. "Always prepared," he muttered with a smile. "Golem! Use Fling!"
"Fling? What will that d-OH CRAP!" the Cipher Peon shouted when Golem brought out a heavy Iron Ball and threw it at Skarmory, who buckled from the weight, landing on the ground. Wasting no time, Golem called out an Earthquake, damaging Skarmory and the only-just sent out Relicanth. Ben saw the Earthquake, and quickly called Empoleon back before it could hit, then sent out a Torterra, which unleashed his own Earthquake, damaging Skarmory and Relicanth more, while Golem Protected himself just in time.
However, Relicanth brought out a giant wave of water (where he got this water I WILL NEVER KNOW), and Golem was washed out in one hit (not helped that he had taken lots of damage from Skarmory). Torterra braved the hit, and retaliated with a storm of leaves from his tree, defeating Relicanth. Ben was a bit surprised about how well these guys battled, but continued on. "Torterra! Earthq-" he began, but then suddenly heard a cracking, and then suddenly the ice above their heads broke! "RUN!" Ben shouted, grabbing Roark and recalling Torterra, then hurrying outside. The Cipher Peons also decided it was time to run and dashed away as well.
They all bolted through the entrance of the mine just in time, as rocks poured from the ceiling to block the tunnel. "No! How will we get in there now?" the Cipher Peon shouted in dismay.
"That's the least of your problems," Roark replied, pointing at the police. "If you try to make an effort to escape, we can just take you on again."
As the Cipher Peons were taken into custody, Ben suddenly got a call on his Pokétch. "Yeah?" he asked.
"Hey Ben, this is Flint. Could you come back to the Pokémon League quickly? A guy called Axel Nightblazer's here, and he wants to meet yo-"
"Axel?!" Ben repeated excitedly. "Okay! I'll come right away!" He sent out his Salamence and jumped on, flying away. "Been so long since we last saw each other," Ben smiled. "Wonder how he's doing? But..." then he looked back at the Cipher Peons and his face darkened. "I have a feeling we'll see more of these guys in the future..."
The Pokémon League...
"What?! Cynthia's disappeared?!"
"That's right," Flint replied, scratching his head. "We don't know what happened to her, but she disappeared this afternoon without a trace."
Axel and Ben looked at each other a bit nervously. "You don't think this is connected to Cipher's appearance, do you?" Ben asked.
Axel shrugged. "I wouldn't put it past them. Though what they intend to do with Cynthia is something which would be a mystery even to me."
"You'd best try to find her. From what you've said, it sounds like Cipher doesn't exactly have her best interests at heart," Flint suggested.
"Come with me, Ben," Axel immediately offered. "Just like the old days with Team Galactic, they won't be able to stop our combined power."
"Okay, hold on, I'll get my motorcycle," Ben replied, and headed out to a shed outside the building and opened the door just a crack. Immediately, the shed suddenly collapsed. "NO!" Ben screamed in horror. He dug through the debris, and found to his relief that his bright green and red motorcycle was still intact. "Phew." Ben muttered. That's when he noticed. "No! The paint got scratched!"
Axel rocked back on his heels. "You make a big deal about it just because the paint got scratched?!"
"Oh, whatever." Ben sighed and tried to pulled it out of the shed wreck. "Argh, this thing is heavy..."
"Oh my god, Ben," Axel groaned. "Well, it can't be helped." He threw up a Pokéball. "Come on, Leo!" A Lucario burst out of the Pokéball and walked over to the wreckage. He pulled most of it off the motorcycle and threw it off somewhere.
The motorcycles zoomed off, and out of the Pokémon League. But as soon as they left, they noticed helicopters in the sky. The helicopters were armed with somewhat poorly concealed missile launchers and laser blasters, and were piloted by two Cipher Peons each.
"Just wonderful. Ciphercopters!" Axel groaned. When Ben looked at him in confusion, he explained, "They're special helicopters made by Cipher. They're used to capture Pokémon to be made into Shadow Pokémon. And with all the artillery on them, you can guess what other purpose they serve."
"That's not good," Ben commented. "We'd better do something about them." He raised a Pokéball and pressed the button, sending out his Salamence. "After all, what would happen if they just went and caught all the Pokémon without any qualms?"
"Exactly! Niko, Thunderbolt!" Axel ordered. Niko stood on the handlebars of the motorcycle as he began to charge electricity, and then he unleashed a huge amount of volts. It struck one Ciphercopter, knocking it out of the air.
Then another one swooped down. This time, Niko jumped off the motorcycle. "VOLT TACKLE!" he cried, bursting into, um, electricity. He blew a sparking hole in the Ciphercopter as it passed by. It exploded shortly afterwards. Niko landed on the motorcycle and grinned proudly.
However, there were a LOT of Ciphercopters, and they all were firing missiles at the motorcycles. Axel and Ben had to carefully dodge each one, but it was tough. "We can't make do with just Niko!" Axel decided. "Go, Hiita! Leo!" He pointed both Pokéballs into the air, and a Ninetales and Leo burst from a flash of red light, howling. Fangs burning, the Ninetales leaped upon one of the Ciphercopters and slashed it with them, then jumped away as the Ciphercopter fell in flames. Leo charged up an azure blue sphere in his hand and threw it at the Ciphercopter, which was struck in the rotor blades and spiraled out of the air.
Well this is a fine mess you've gotten into today, Hiita commented, as she and Leo landed smoothly and started to run alongside the motorcycles, never stumbling once. I suppose they're back to their old tricks again? Leo said nothing, but warily gazed at the Ciphercopters.
"What do you think the answer is to that?" Axel retorted, popping a wheelie and sharply turning down a fork in the path to avoid a missile. Hiita and Leo nimbly leaped over it, and Ben was completely out of the blast range. "Hiita! Heat Wave! Leo! Dark Pulse!" Axel ordered. Leo raised his hands, and dark energy gathered in his hands, which he blasted at a Ciphercopter, blasting it to smithereens.
Hiita gathered flames in her mouth, then leaped into the air and shot them out, striking all the Ciphercopters and causing them to fall, flaming to the ground. Now that's skill, she thought confidently. Leo gave her a glare, but still said nothing.
"I'm gonna help too!" Ben declared, tossing two Pokéballs into the air. "Salamence, Dusknoir, go!" Salamence and Dusknoir flew out and blasted meteors and blasts of darkness at the Ciphercopters, downing them quickly. "Aerial Ace! Go!" Ben shouted. Salamence swooped at a Ciphercopter, but a net entangled him. With noticeable difficulty, he slashed it to pieces with his claws.
Next, one of the copters fired a red bolt of energy. Leo swiftly dodged, but Hiita was struck by it, and she fainted on the spot. Axel growled and recalled her. "Stun bolts. Totally unfair," he growled, then popped a wheelie to avoid another bolt. "Leo, Bone Rush!" Leo pulled his hands apart, revealing a bone composed of aura. Leaping between trees with Extreme Speed, he deflected the stun bolts, then jumped above the Ciphercopter, and brought the bone down on the rotors, destroying them. The Aura Pokémon jumped away as the Ciphercopter fell to the ground, flaming.
Ben had to swerve away, but Axel continued on, body close to the motorcycle. Then he ramped over the wreck, sitting upright to spring up even higher. His spinning front tire crashed into a Ciphercopter, shearing it in half and causing the pilots to fall to the ground. Before another Ciphercopter could shoot at him, Axel thumbed buttons on his motorcycle, throwing tiny blue blasts of energy at the copter and knocking it away. "Timing is everything," Axel grinned to a baffled Ben as he landed.
"Um, right," Ben replied, sweatdropping. Then he saw another Ciphercopter training its missile launchers at the two. "Salamence! Draco Meteor!" he shouted. Salamence fired a meteor into the sky, which split, the fragments falling on most of the Ciphercopters, causing them to fall. One wreck fell in front of Axel and Ben, and they both had to drive over the wreck. As they went over it, they bumped into each other. "NO! THE PAINT GOT SCRATCHED AGAIN!" yelled Ben as if this would end the world.
"QUIT YELLING ABOUT PAINT!" groaned Axel in disgust. Suddenly, he saw another missile flying at them. "Look out!" he shouted. Axel zoomed away in a tight turn, going a different direction, as Ben drove the other way. The missile exploded behind them.
"This is taking too long. Niko, take over," Axel muttered. He jumped off the motorcycle, and Niko grabbed the controls. Suddenly, Axel's clothes melted into a very dark blue Shikahusho (Shinigami uniform) with white socks and sandals, a sleeveless Captain's Haori with a kanji five on the back, and a sheathed dark blue and silver katana on his back. Axel unsheathed the sword, a fiendish smile crossing his face. "I'll show you my best Fan Service!"
Crossing his arms in front of his face, he brought his right arm back and threw his sword blade into the air. It boomeranged back at Axel from behind in a crescent moon-like projectile of silver light. Without turning, Axel extended his right arm outwards. The energy splashed across his arm, and solidified quickly into a gauntlet of hexagonal plates going back to his elbow, and up to his hand. "Rule over the midnight heavens!" Axel shouted as he spun around, and stood in a battle-ready pose with his right arm in front of his chest. A blade of silver energy flew from the plate on his wrist, sending brilliant silver-blue light around. "Shiruba-Getsu (Silver Moon)!"
"Wait, WTF did he just do?" Ben gawked in surprise. Niko facepalmed at Axel's mention of Fan Service.
Axel raised his fist, which began to glow silver-blue. "Tsukiren! (Moon Ripple)" He punched at the Ciphercopters and launched a silver wave, blasting them out of the sky. With much difficulty, Niko and Ben swerved to avoid the falling wrecks. Axel landed on the motorcycle again smoothly, his clothes melting back into his normal ones. "I'll tell you about it as we go," he replied to Ben's unasked question. "It's a very long story."
"Um, right..." Ben muttered. He had no idea what just happened, but only now had he realized that Axel had a side he never saw before...and this fight would show him this other side in full.