"We're going to Team Flare's base today, Calem, my dear."
"Really? The one in Geosenge Town?"
"Correct!" Serena said, scooping up cereal with her spoon. "We're leaving as soon as were done here, so eat up."
"I'm not hungry," Calem muttered, staring into his coffee.
"Well don't eat then. I'm done, so let's go." She pushed her chair back with a bone-chattering scrape, ignoring Calem's wince.
The two flew low over Kalos towards Geosenge Town, Calem tying his fingers in knots to distract himself from what he knew deep down Serena would do inside the building. No matter what he said to her, he knew he wouldn't be able to change his mind, and therefore he tried to block out her very existence- her sweet talking and flirtatious flicking of her hair and batting of her eyelids. If he pretended she wasn't there, he could pretend he wasn't caught up in this mess. He just wanted to find out if she was okay, and possibly tell her that he loved her, but he didn't sign up for exterminating an entire crime organization.
They landed softly, Serena scurrying to hide behind one of the rocks surrounding the centre of the town. Calem followed her, his hand resting over Greninja's Pokéball on his belt. Serena held up a hand to ensure he didn't talk, and the pair watched the middle of the town for almost an hour before two figures clad in red appeared. Serena silently moved from behind the rock, and paused, waiting for them to move. As soon as they headed northwest, into where Calem remembered their base being, she motioned for him to follow, and they tailed the Team Flare Grunts underground. Serena waited until the grunts were at the bottom of the staircase before clattering down the staircase, attracting as much attention as possible. Multiple heads turned in her direction, and Calem shrunk back into the wall, hoping that would somehow let him go unnoticed.
"Intruder!" A grunt yelled, attracting everyone else's attention.
"That's Serena, you idiot!" Another replied, and the same panicked look washed over their faces. Calem assumed they'd heard about what happened at the Power Plant, and other locations he assumed she'd been attacking people in.
"Right you are, mon amie! And unless you do what I say, I will happily dispose of all of you! Calem, call out Greninja." The boy followed her command, sending the Pokémon out and hoping that the frog Pokémon wouldn't have to get blood on it's hands. Serena sent out Delphox, causing the Team Flare members to recoil in horror. "Take me to your leader!" She called.
One by one, Team Flare members scurried out of the hall, aware of another presence approaching the room. There was a clattering of high heels against metal, and one of the Scientists appeared, leaning on the railing of the stairs opposite where Serena and Calem had entered.
"I don't suppose you've come to take me to Lysandre?" Serena asked, walking down the final few stairs and what Calem could only describe as a lobby.
"No, she hasn't," another voice said, coming from behind Calem. "Nice of you to drop in, Serena. And this must be the delightful Calem that I've heard so much about!"
"Celosia. Are you two here to battle us? I can't think of any other reason why the two of you would be here."
"Correct," Celosia said, giving Calem a sharp shove in the back that made him almost fall down the metal stairs. "Myself and Bryony were sent to wipe you out. And if for some reason you are able to defeat us, Aliana and Mable are ready for after this. And I'm sure Xerosic and Lysandre will put an appearance in if it comes to it."
"Brilliant," Calem mumbled, lining up with Serena. "Don't kill them."
"I won't"
Part of him didn't believe her.
Bryony and Celosia sent out Mightyena and Manectric, and Greninja and Delphox got into their positions in front of Calem and Serena. Without a single command from their trainers, Greninja and Delphox sent out devastating Water Shuriken and Mystical Fire attacks, effectively removing their opposition from the battle.
"What just happened?" Bryony called across the room. "Neither of you told your Pokémon to do that!"
"I guess they're just that in tune with our hearts," Serena sang, fixing her hat. "Florges, go! Vine Whip, tie them up!" Florges' vines shot across the room, wrapping themselves around the two scientists before they could even realise what was happening. "Happy?" She muttered to Calem, who nodded curtly. "Nice to see you again. Hopefully we won't ever have to meet again.
Serena grabbed Calem by the wrist, pulling him through to the next room. It was only small, and held another flight of stairs, this time down, further into the earth. They cautiously walked down, Greninja stuck to the ceiling in front and Delphox holding up the rear. They got onto the next floor without too much trouble, where they encountered another horde of grunts.
"Are you going to send more of your leaders after me, knowing I'll just defeat them? Or will you take me to Lysandre?" They left the room as soon as she appeared, and Calem glanced around at their faces. Their expressions were a mixture of fear and confusion, and clearly they were being fed commands by their leader on how to deal with this situation.
"Serena, look," Calem whispered, grabbing her arms and making her shut up. He pointed into the distance, where the room split off into two. Standing at the doors were two more Team Flare members, one with orange hair and the other with blue, neither of whom were leaving. "We probably have to fight them individually."
"Fine with me. As far as I'm aware they both have dark type Pokémon, so you should be okay with just your Greninja. I'll be using Hawlucha. I'm pretty sure there's another room on the other side of those that we'll be able to meet in again. Good luck."
She ran down the rest of the stairs, following the orange haired one into the room on the right. That left the blue haired admin for him, and he reluctantly dragged himself down the stairs towards the door. She swept into the room before he reached her, leaving the door open and taking her place at the end of the battlefield.
"I've heard about you," she said, tossing a Pokéball to release a Weavile. "You're Calem Arai from the Kanto region. You recently entered a relationship with Serena Voclain and you're helping her take down our organization. "I can't allow you to do that!"
Calem sent out his Aegislash, hoping that the Steel type would be able to overcome the Ice type's defenses. Calling out a command for Iron Head, the Royal Sword Pokémon flew towards the Weavile, who jumped out of the road with a sneer. The Ice type swiped at Aegislash, who moved to its Shield Forme to protect itself from the attack. It then switched to Blade Forme, using Iron Head once more at Calem's request. This time the attack landed, causing the Weavile to fall backwards to its trainer's feet.
"Your Weavile isn't that strong, is it?"
"Sh-shut it! My Pokémon are plenty strong enough! On your feet, Weavile, and use Ice Beam!"
"That won't do anything to my Aegislash. Iron Head, once more!" Calem knew that this was a risk, as Weavile's speed would probably allow it to dodge the move once again. However, in its exhausted state, Weavile merely raised its arms in an attempt to deflect the attack, meaning that Aegislash could knock the opposing Pokémon out. Weavile lay flat out on it's back, Aegislash hovering slightly above its lifeless form.
"Thanks for a good battle," Calem said, returning to Aegislash to its ball. "I'll be going." He stepped over Weavile and brushed past Mable to the door that she was guarding.
Serena was already waiting for him on the other side. Presumably she had also won her battle, but that was to be expected from the strongest trainer in Kalos. They wordlessly took to the stairs again, not worrying this time about having their Pokémon out to protect them. They both knew by this point that Team Flare were proving to be a pushover, and Calem could deduce from Serena's loose shoulders and occasional hair flicks that she was feeling confident. Calem was not. His palms were sweaty. His fingers kept tapping against his legs. None of these things were voluntary, yet he couldn't seem to calm himself. They hadn't come up against any opposition in twenty minutes, and although things seemed to be calm, Calem knew trouble was just around the corner.
And oh boy, was he right.
A huge Malamar stood blocking the way down the next corridor, and Calem could faintly hear the beating of what he assumed to be a Crobat's wings in the background. Serena backed up a little, thinking through what her options were. After a moment of thought, Calem threw a Pokéball to reveal his Pangoro, stepping in front of Serena, who had seemingly frozen.
"This wasn't in the plan," she muttered, dropping her head and digging her fingernails into her palm.
"It'll be fine. I'll manage this one."
"Calem, you'll not manage. Give me a moment to think, and don't do anything."
"I'm gonna have to not listen to you on this one."
"A wise decision, my boy," a voice called, causing Calem's attention to go back to the Malamar. "She's nothing but trouble. You could join us and see her fall, or you could stay with her for a life of misery."
'I'll decide that for myself. Pangoro, Sky Uppercut!"
Malamar's dual typing made it hard for Calem to quickly come up with an effective strategy. He didn't have a bug type Pokémon on him, nor did any of his party know Fairy Type moves. He was sure Serena's Sylveon would've been perfect in this situation, but since she was having either a mental breakdown or the world's most ill timed complain, he had to handle this himself. Thankfully, Pangoro's move hit, throwing the Overturned Pokémon down the corridor. Silently celebrating, Calem looked down the corridor. He intuition was right- the flapping sound was a Crobat. He looked over at his partner, who had shrunk onto the floor, look a step closer to her.
"Serena. Get up, I have a plan."
"You're not the one that comes up with plans!" She spat, glaring up at him.
"I am now. Let's go." He clamped a hand around her upper arm, pulling her to her feet. "You take care of Malamar with Sylveon. I'm sure one Moonblast would do the trick." He left her then, running down the corridor before Malamar had time to regain his balance. As Calem and Pangoro reached the Crobat, a man, who Calem presumed the earlier disembodied voice belonged to, stepped out from the shadows.
"Nice of you to get her to her feet. She's a valuable asset to us, which will become clear soon."
"Whatever. Who are you?" Calem demanded.
"Xerosic. Top scientist and researcher. And keen battler!"
"At least I know who we're about to beat in battle then. Pangoro, Rock Tomb!"
The Pokémon span about disorientated, before locking it's view onto Calem.
"Crobat, Cross Poison!"
"Counter with Stone Edge!"
The two attacks collided and, combined with what Calem assumed was Sylveon's Moonblast making contact with Malamar, filled the corridor with a thick smoke. Coughing, Calem made his way back to Serena, who was standing in an unusually smokeless zone.
"Malamar's down. If we run now, we'll get past Xerosic without too much of a fuss!"
She grabbed his hand, and ran down the corridor, tearing past a choking Xerosic. Serena snorted at the sound, causing Calem to wince. In her mind, he thought, she was probably glad of an excuse for him to die without her having specifically caused his death. Serena yanked him to the left and out into another landing, where they ran down yet another flight of stairs.
They ended up in a dark corridor, with dark metal floors and equally dark walls. Each step they took made the floors creak in complaint. There was a light at the end of the corridor.
"That's it."
"That's what?"
"Lysandre."
AN: Sorry for the six year wait for this omg anyway here it is‼‼ there will be maybe two chapters after this one, depending on how long what I think will be that last one turns out to be! Thank you for being so patient ^^' -pachi