Chapter 4: The Last Scheme of Ghetsis Harmonia
"Welcome to the Plasma Frigate." said the man. He had sleek blonde hair and a long blue strain wrapping around his head. He wore a lab coat.
"Who are you?" asked Nico.
"I am Colress, the former leader of Team Plasma."
"Gramps told me about you," contributed Benga, "you captured Kyurem, froze Opelucid, and nearly unleashed hell on Unova!" Nico and Benga let out Skarmory and Volcarona. Volcarona flared.
"Easy, Gentlemen. Please, come join me onboard and let me explain." Colress turned and walked out of sight. Nico and Benga cautiously made their way up the ramp.
At the top Colress was standing by the mast. "Explain yourself." ordered Benga.
"Very well. It is true I partook in those events, though the true mastermind was Ghetsis Harmonia. My ambition has always been to unleash a pokemon's full power. In my research a gifted young man showed me that that the key to success was love and compassion. Yes, the old cliche of love being the secret ingredient was the truth. Ghetsis found my conclusions disdainful. He planned to dispose of me but was defeated before he could do so."
"So you plead guilty, but had a change of heart. That's so touching. You know, you should just walk free." said Benga sourly.
"Perhaps the reason I am here could give you reason to mean those words. Ghetsis had plans for the world, far more than just Unova. Have you two heard of Teams Rocket, Aqua, Magma, and Galactic?"
"Yeah, Aqua and Magma's feud nearly destroyed Hoenn and could've been worse than that." stated Nico.
"And Team Rocket is the largest criminal organization in history, but Red brought it down. All I know about Galactic is that is that they went after ancient dragons to destroy the world or something like that." added Benga.
"Well Team Galactic was the most dangerous. Had Cyrus' Red Chain not disintegrated we would all be dead, but that is beyond your concern."
"What ever happened to "Cyrus?" No, forget that. What is the point of this history lesson?"
"Because without me these teams will rise again, harder and stronger than ever before! Ghetsis found Giovanni, the former head of Team Rocket, hiding in Tohjo Falls. Ghetsis found Archie and Maxie exiled in the Sevii Isles with the remains of their teams. Cyrus was tricky. With help from his former underling Charon," Colress winced at the name, "and I, Ghetsis was able to locate the Adamant, Lustrous, and Griseous Orbs. Ghetsis then infused the power of the orbs with Kyurem creating a rift through SpaceTime. Cyrus was glimpsed and it was learned he was transported back to our world at Turnback cave. Ghetsis' hypothesis that Cyrus would appear where the orbs were was wrong which is why Cyrus is not with us now."
"So a defeated man found other leaders. So what?"
"So what! What could happen in a meeting of them? Think about that. I'll tell you what Ghetsis' plan was, to unite them. They are on their way here now. Each is being led here by a member of the Shadow Triad, and one by Zinzolin."
"But Ghetsis is gone." argued Nico.
"And his legacy remains. These people have been living in hiding, they do not know what we know. Make no mistake, even without Ghetsis, these people will see the opportunity."
"Give us a minute." Nico and Benga walked to the other side of the ship.
"Holy shit." whispered Benga, "What do we do?"
"Drayden will be here soon, I think we should wait it out. Colress won't be able to leave and Drayden can deliver justice to all the criminal bosses. Well, shit. That's not going to work. Look."
From the same cave opening the two young men had left a half-hour ago two figures emerged. They made their way down the slope using a path the two young men must have overlooked. They would be here before long.
"Colress!" yelled Nico, "Who is that?"
Colress came over and lifted a large pair of binoculars, "It's Giovanni, led by one of the Shadow Triad. Oh, there's another pair now. It looks like Maxie and another of the Triad."
"Fuck it," said Benga, "Colress, I hope you're telling the truth. We're with you."
"Then follow my lead. The ship is lined with explosives. The detonator is in the command room, there is a two minute countdown. I'll tell one of you when to set it off. We run off while they are, erm, removed from the equation."
Giovanni and his escort had arrived at the base of the Frigate. "Please, come aboard my good fellow." beckoned Colress.
"Where is he?" Giovanni asked as he made his way up the ramp.
"Perhaps we can talk over a glass of scotch?"
"I came for Ghetsis."
"My boss prefers to meet you all at the same time."
"What does that mean?"
"You and the leaders of other crime syndicates will all be in attendance. Ghetsis wishes to meet you all in the conference room at one time. Ah, that must be Archie up near the cave. Maxie is already on his way behind you. Please, it won't be long."
"I do not appreciate being uninformed." The way Giovanni said it seemed like a warning.
Maxie was there before long as was Archie. The two, fortunately, did not seem antagonistic to each other. "Ah, Cyrus, it is good to meet you. Zinzolin, please lead our guest to the conference room."
"I want a word with you, Colress." said Zinzolin.
"Yes, of course." Zinzolin guided Cyrus to the room and came back to Colress.
"Where is Ghetsis?" Zinzolin growled, "You told me he wanted me to go get Cyrus, I did. I have not seen or heard directly from him since the incident. Where is he? And who are these two kids?"
"He wished to honor you by treating you like those crime lords for when he appoints you as leader of Plasma. These two men are my special guests." Zinzolin didn't hear the last part. He blanked when he heard Ghetsis was making him leader of Team Plasma. He turned and left for the conference room.
The Shadow Triad came up to Colress, "We are leaving to go to our master. We will know what happens here." they faded away without waiting for a reply.
"Go now," ordered Colress, "you know what to do.
Nico and Benga went to the top part of the ship as Colress followed Zinzolin. The command room was beautiful. Technology at its finest, Colress' heaven. Up near the prow was a large red button.
"You ready?" Benga asked his new friend.
"Wait. The Shadow Triad. Ghetsis is still out there. How do we know Colress isn't playing us? Do we…do we even save him?"
"Nico! We don't even know, how could you condemn him to death? Even if he is lying, we will have him in custody. Now, let's do this." Nico slammed the button.
The two young men turned and ran as the clock started counting down.
"Colress, Ghetsis would like to see you." Said Nico as he calmly entered the conference room twenty seconds after initiating the self-destruct.
"I will be right back gentlemen," announced Colress, "And Ghetsis will be with me." They exited the chamber.
The three of them took a few steps towards the ramp. "Alright, hurry. We need to get as far as possible before the ship blows." A Shadow Ball struck Colress in the chest. Gengar appeared. The Syndicate bosses came out of the conference room.
"I knew I couldn't trust you," spat Cyrus. Gengar floated towards its master.
Everyone released pokemon. Two dozen pokemon must have been on deck ready to fight to the death against each other.
"Explain this!" yelled Maxie.
"Ghetsis is gone, I am Colress. I am here to bring an end to you for the good of all."
"Let me guess," said Giovanni, "Ghetsis brought us here to combine our strength, but you had a change of heart and are undoing all his plans. Cyrus, how is Team Galactic?"
"You shit!" yelled Zinzolin at Colress.
"The same as Rocket, about to become more powerful than ever before." Cyrus responded to Giovanni.
Giovanni had a devilish smile surpassed only by Cyrus.
"Zinzolin, care to continue Ghetsis' dream?" asked Cyrus. Zinzolin nodded. Nico, Benga, and Colress were looking more and more nervous with the bomb counting down and enemies allying.
"Maxie, how-"
"Attack!" screamed Archie cutting off Cyrus. It was a mess of attacks. Cyrus, Giovanni, and Zinzolin worked together. Archie and Maxie were not joining them nor each other, Colress attempted to fight but Nico and Benga turned tail and ran. Colress followed as soon as he saw his allies abandoning him. Nico and Benga reached the ground and kept on running. The dragon tamer looked back to see Archie walking backwards down the ramp fending off attacks and Maxie get blasted over the railing. An automated system came on. "Ten." The fighting stopped. Cyrus, Giovanni, and Zinzolin all flew off of the Frigate on their flying pokemon and Maxie turned and ran. They were all within the blast radius. The Frigate exploded with tremendous force.
Archie took it full force and was launched like a bullet into the air. Maxie on the ground was engulfed in flames and the shockwaves. He was likely dead. Nico and Benga were far enough away for safety and Colress dove behind a rocky ledge. Giovanni and Cyrus's rides were nipped by the explosion but managed quite well; Zinzolin, however, was knocked from his ride and fell to his probable death. Nicolas and Benga approached the wreckage flaming wreckage. They found Archie far away from the sight with his body bent in odd ways. Maxie was where he had fallen over the side, miraculously still alive. Zinzolin had not survived the fall.
"You shits are still here?" Nico, Benga, and Colress spun around to see Cyrus and Giovanni.
"I promise you, you will die." threatened Nico.
"But not at your hands." replied Giovanni, "You can not hope to stop us. With our reappearance and alliance our old servants will flock to our sides again. The combined forces of Rocket and Galactic will scare the weak to our ranks. Pawns are necessary in a game of chess. We will tell Hoenn how we tried to save Archie and Maxie, gaining their teams' support. We will conquer all and no one shall oppose us!"
"Until Red shows up."
"DIE!" Nidoking was sent charging at Nico. Nico's Altaria flew up for an Aerial Ace. That was when the roar came. Kyurem shot an Ice Beam at Altaria.
"NO!" screamed Nicolas. This was no ordinary attack. It was a massively effective, boosted power, critical hit from an uber powerful pokemon. Nico would never find out if Altaria died before or after hitting the ground. Colress looked at Kyurem who glared back at the Plasma scientist. Kyurem recognized that face. Colress tried to run but Kyurem's Glaciate froze Colress solid. Meter long icicles stretched from the back of the encased Colress.
Giovanni withdrew his Nidoking. "Thank you for being the bait. enjoy your last for moments. He and Cyrus turned and disappeared into the trees as Kyurem rampaged towards Benga and Nico.
"Benga get out of here, I will distract Kyurem."
"I am not leaving you."
"You will die."
"Then I will die with a purpose: to save my friend."
Nico stared at Benga for a moment and nodded. "Skarmory doesn't know Fly so keep Braviary in the pokeball; he is the only escape if one of us dies."
Nico and Benga stood side by side behind Skarmory, Lairon, and Volcarona. The ground shook as the monstrosity neared. Trees fell and ground froze as the immensity drew upon them. Kyurem entered the clearing at the other side of the wreckage. It prepared to attack, but before it did purple-glowing meteors rained down on the dragon. Kyurem seemed to take serious damage. Amazingly the Legendary pokemon turned and ran off.
"That was Draco Meteor!" exclaimed Nico. He turned to see Drayden on a Flygon descending towards them. The Dragon Master landed and walked to them.
In his most heartless voice he growled, "Explain."