I have been way too busy writing Culinary Rivals, and school, to even think of updating this story! However, this chapter serves as a credit to Looker's1fan.

This chapter is one of my favourites. Have a nice read!


Chapter eight: Dangerous Heights: Battle Tower

Agent Eclipse, otherwise known casually as Mars, completed her non-exhausting rush to the Battle Pyramid. Civilians would think she was merely a Pokémon Trainer trying to reach a battle facility on time, while others would think she was late. Eclipse suited neither description.

Eclipse stepped aside behind a tree, and generally out of sight from the public, and blinked three times to activate the e-Scope Lens Mark VI. Keeping the suspect in mind, she searched for the one with a white bracelet, and found it.

"He's moving toward the Battle Tower," Looker reminded. "Act now, Eclipse!"

The suspect had a lean build and looked the sort of type one wouldn't want to pick a fight with. Aggressive muscles and an unwelcoming face defined this person, and he had several tattoos on his neck. Eclipse might need more manpower to take this suspect down.

"Yeah… I might need some backup," Eclipse hesitated. "He's… armed with a Pokémon."

"I'll see what I can do," Looker said. "Arrest him, and if that doesn't work, I'll step in. But for the PRU's sake, step in!"

Eclipse shut off the e-Scope Lens but retained communication, in order to hide the gadget. As swiftly as she could, she came out of hiding and walked closer to the suspect, who was standing aside on the sandy grounds of the Battle Pyramid.

Quietly, she snuck up behind the suspect with hands in her pockets.


Meanwhile, at the Battle Frontier Trainers Village, Looker was examining all security cameras alongside monitoring the suspect Eclipse was pursuing, and he realised he had made a mistake.

"Oh my gosh," he muttered. "There's a second suspect who's right behind Eclipse…"

He spoke into the speaker, "Eclipse, be advised. There is a second suspect – wearing the same white bracelet – coming right behind you. He's wearing a backpack. I'm certain he's here to back up the guy you're pursuing. Try to detain the initial suspect and hold tight while I come to back you up. Be careful."

As Looker watched the security monitors, he saw Eclipse undeterred, and she looked slightly confident. Was Looker imagining things?

"Right," Eclipse replied. "I'll be waiting on you."

Looker set extra security systems onto the briefcase, secured its locks and sides, and hid the item under the bed. If housecleaning dared to enter, they would be welcomed by motion sensors, and extra locks would secure the room door.

After all that was done, Looker ran out with his communicator (essentially a phone) in his ear.

Eclipse still had her hands in her pockets as she snuck up behind the suspect. Eclipse highly doubted the IP would know this man's name, but judging by what he was wearing – and his build – she decided to code him as 'Tattoo'.

She accelerated and pushed Tattoo down to the ground with both hands.

"Who do you think you are?!" he roared.

Eclipse didn't reply, but knocked and pressed Tattoo's back to the ground with her knee and began the arresting procedure starting with his arms. Civilians who stopped by to watch did nothing. In some sense, it would have been logical to attack Eclipse, but no one stepped in, nor did they need to.

"International Police," Eclipse answered after finally securing Tattoo's arms so they were immobile. "Enough said."

It was then Eclipse looked behind her to see another man wearing a backpack run up to her. It wasn't Looker, nor was it anyone she recognised. This, Eclipse thought, must be the second suspect. Dang it. What could she do?

Sensing Eclipse' hesitation, Tattoo attempted to force all his weight upward which could have put Eclipse in a state of surprise, had Eclipse not been grinding him with a knee. Nevertheless, the second suspect continued his charge. Not knowing what to do, Eclipse faced a lethal kick to the back of her head.

The force of the kick sent Eclipse to the ground. She was half-winded as she felt her head explode. It was a painful feeling. At this point, she couldn't stand up, and the two suspects could do what they could to attack her now…

"No," Tattoo said, "there's no time."

The second suspect, who wore a set of combat clothes, spit on the ground beside Eclipse. For Eclipse, who was still winded, she denoted him as Combat Shirt. What else could she name him?

Combat Shirt then prepared to follow Tattoo out of the area, but was surprisingly tackled by –

A Croagunk.

"OW!" Combat Shirt screamed.

Looker appeared taking down Tattoo as well, which resulted in Combat Shirt's surprise. Eclipse felt like slapping herself – why didn't she bring out Pokémon to support her in the first place? Looker crushed Tattoo to the ground whereas Croagunk had a struggle with Combat Shirt, but Combat Shirt pushed Croagunk aside and ran for it.

"Get him!" Looker shouted.

Eclipse, able to catch her breath at last, stood up and dashed to engage a foot pursuit. Combat Shirt was already running in the direction of the Battle Tower, so Eclipse had to run in that direction. Combat Shirt was halfway up the stairs when Eclipse began climbing. Eclipse expected Combat Shirt to run across the entrance and past the Battle Tower, but Combat Shirt ran into the Battle Tower. As Eclipse chased him, it struck Eclipse that Combat Shirt would be cornering himself. Why would he?

BROOOOMMMMMM….!

She stopped dead to raise her arms to protect her face.

As if by coincidence – or not – an explosion could be heard from inside the Battle Tower lobby. She felt the force of an explosion brush past her body.

What the WHAT, Eclipse thought.

The tower's entrance, made of sliding glass, shattered into bits, and the ground in front of the door slightly cracked open. Screams could be heard, as people poured out of the Battle Tower including two others who were carrying a wounded third.

Eclipse could have been feeling angry at this, but she forced herself to remain calm. Instead, she quietly grabbed the arm of someone who was running past her.

"Police," she calmly explained. "Could you tell me what happened in there?"

"Some man in a combat shirt just ran right into the Battle Tower," the witness said, his voice shaken and breathless. "He pulled out some sort of a square device out of his backpack and threw it at the front entrance. And then we heard – you know what happened."

"Thank you," Eclipse released the witness's arm and ran over to the tower doors. The smell of burning rubble and dust filled her nose: a scene of destruction including fires and shattered glass was before her eyes. Come to that, she had to make a quick call to Looker via e-Scope Lens. "Looker, I need you to contact local security to evacuate and clean up the Battle Tower. There's some serious damage going on around here."

Looker said, "I'll do that after I'm finished with this suspect. Arrest yours!"

When she cautiously walked through the burning remains of the tower entrance, Eclipse could see Combat Shirt blow up an elevator door with no thought of the public. Frontier employees helped civilians move away, whereas Combat Shirt walked into one of three elevators and began to go upward. Eclipse didn't know what to do.

BROOM!

BROOOM!

Two simultaneous explosions erupted beside the elevator Combat Shirt was using (the middle elevator). Unlike the middle elevator, the bombs Combat Shirt had supposedly installed were inside the elevators to begin with. As a result, the two elevators were destroyed.

That left only one option to use.

"He's going up on an elevator and has destroyed the two others" Eclipse said to Looker, via e-Scope Lens. "I'm going to pursue by climbing up the elevator."

Before Looker could reply, Eclipse took her Poké Ball and threw it at the opening as she ran. The elevator wasn't there anymore, but it was starting to go up, and there were no doors to support the elevator either, so it was basically an open, hollow, space.

"Purugly! Use Fury Swipes and bring down the elevator. Don't let him get away!" Eclipse ordered. "Use Iron Tail if you have to!"

The tiger cat Pokémon burst out of its Poké Ball and landed inside the gap. Already, Purugly was clawing away at the elevator's bottom and trying to bring it down. It looked like Purugly was making some progress, but slowly it began to rise…

So Purugly resorted to smashing the elevator with Iron Tail. It wasn't a pleasant sound, but more and more of the elevator's bottom was being smashed to the point where it seemed possible to slow it down…

BOOOMMMMMM

A rumbling explosion saw Purugly fall down.

"Purugly!" Eclipse cried. True, Eclipse was in a state of shock, because the explosion came from below. How did Combat Shirt do that? It was impossible. It was like he set the explosive underneath the elevator before he got in…

Of course, Eclipse thought and deduced. When he was going up, he had a bit of space between the blown-up doors and himself. With one arm he would have time to plant a bomb before his arm would get acrushed between the gaps…

Thinking no more of Purugly, Eclipse picked up her pace and – absurdly some would say – ran into the elevator space. Silently, in two seconds, she recalled Purugly into her Poké Ball and put the ball back into her shoulder bag ("Come back!" she said). After that, Eclipse rushed to climb up the sides of the elevator and hoping Combat Shirt wouldn't notice.

All or nothing now… she thought.

After climbing up a fair bit of wall, grabbing and releasing bars and rails, Eclipse jumped to grab the bottom of the elevator. As she did this, she could no longer feel the ground supporting her weight now. Gravity was pulled her weight, and Eclipse only had her not-very-strong arms holding onto the bottom of the elevator for dear life.

It was painful. She wanted to scream. She wanted to let go. But Eclipse couldn't afford to do either. Not when her life was on the line, and the worst part was that the recent bomb that had knocked out Purugly had blown a hole in the elevator floor. If Eclipse made as little as a cough, Combat Shirt would notice and he would kill her.

ARGH, this hurts! Eclipse struggled in her mind. The struggle on her arms was bad enough.

Eclipse felt her heart sink as she felt the elevator increase in its speed, and she shuddered to think what it would feel to drop eight-plus stories below. So this is how International Police worked! And to think superspies would do the same thing.

The elevator soared up higher and higher, and Eclipse knew that Combat Shirt didn't notice her. It still was extremely painful to keep grabbing onto the elevator bottom. For Eclipse, she could feel straining in her tendons. By now, her arms were stretched up high, and she didn't' know if she could last much longer.

Now the elevator disappeared from the darkness of the lobby to the bright daylight of Hoenn. Since the Battle Tower's elevators did travel up through glass surroundings, and Eclipse could see the bright daylight welcoming her.

The fear of death from below made her even more uncomfortable, as she could see the ground and buildings and people getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller…

But then, that same fear of death gave Eclipse a different insight into the situation. She still had her bag with her (since surveillance at the Battle Factory) because she needed a place to store her Poké Balls – and it was a shoulder bag! But aside from that, this was the same bag where she kept her gadgets! This was the best possible time to use those magnetic gloves Atelier gave her.

"If you ever needed to make a climb on a metallic surface, the time would come to use these," Atelier's voice echoed in her head.

Calmly, as she heard the uncomfortable screeching of the elevator rebounding off the glass walls, Eclipse carefully released her right hand so she could find one of the magnetic gloves. Her shoulder bag was strapped on her left shoulder but it fell to her waist's right side, so Eclipse didn't need to fear dropping the bag. It made it easier for her right hand too.

This was the trouble Eclipse faced – she had to act extremely quickly because she only had one arm to support her. Yet on the other hand, she only had one arm to find the glove and put the glove on that same hand. If Eclipse acted too quickly, she might accidentally drop the glove; but if she didn't act quickly enough, her supporting arm would release its grip due to strain and Eclipse would likely die in a frightening crash below. Plus, surely Combat Shirt could notice if Eclipse didn't act fast altogether.

She had to make a few seconds at most count.

Shuffling through her bag, she felt her right hand nudge through Poké Balls, the laptop, and… one of the two magnetic gloves. Whichever glove she found first, Eclipse hoped, it better be the glove that fit her right hand.

Eclipse didn't know how much longer her left arm could last. The strain was painful.

Worst of all, the glove Eclipse found was the left hand glove first.

Dang, she thought.

She felt her fingers starting to weaken as the elevator continued to travel upward. If finding the right hand glove brought her hope, then she was to be quickly discouraged for not finding the right one. Still, Eclipse had to find it, because her life depended on it.

The same fingers supporting her life started to shake, and Eclipse felt her entire left arm vibrate from a mix of fear and strain. Her breathing rate started to increase, and she felt even more worried that Combat Shirt would notice.

As she shifted her hand uncomfortably in her shoulder bag, she kept her touch on the left hand magnetic glove and quickly rummaged for the second glove – which should be near the first one. Then, Eclipse found it.

Good, she thought, now for the tricky part.

If death came closer to Eclipse, it felt like it was screaming at her face. Her left hand seemed to grow even weaker and Eclipse knew that if she didn't put on the glove now, with only one hand, she would fall for sure.

It was a rubber glove, and it wasn't easy to put on with one hand, but Eclipse was facing death right now. The fear of death… did it seem to make her hand move faster than possible? And, did it make her hands stronger too? It sure felt like it, because the tiredness in her left hand slightly faded, and her right hand had miraculously put on the rubber magnetic glove single-handedly.

Done it, Eclipse thought. Now…

Her fingers were hanging by a thread, and Mars – otherwise codenamed Eclipse – pushed a lot of strength and energy to her right arm in an effort to force it upward.

Eclipse's left hand slipped and released its grip on the bar.

The other hand, with the magnetic glove on, latched on to the bar, and the feeling of a secure grip felt like something of a comfort for Eclipse. The magnet was somewhat immovable, which prevented her from falling. Her weight might be dragging her down, but the glove made up for it. Plus, the strain had disappeared from her arms.

Eclipse breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Now that she was 'safe', Eclipse turned her focus to Combat Shirt. Given the height they were travelling at, Eclipse could tell that Combat Shirt intended to go to the Battle Tower roof. When Eclipse looked outside the glass walls, she could see the endless ocean not far below. This made Eclipse feel… a little scared.

The sound of a shuddering grind told Eclipse that the elevator had stopped at last, and by then Eclipse could see the elevator had stopped at the highest level of the Battle Tower. She didn't need to remind herself how high she was off the ground. Eclipse only wanted to stand again.

The doors opened, and Combat Shirt stepped out of the elevator.

Now… Eclipse thought. She considered putting on the other magnetic glove in an effort to reduce even more strain in her arms. With her right hand securely gripping on the bar, she used her left hand to find the other glove whilst trying not to let the bag slip off her shoulder. Eclipse slipped her hand in, looked for the remaining glove, and carefully put it on.

After that, Eclipse felt the magnetised grip of both gloves on the bar, and she began to climb towards the hole in the elevator floor to catch up with Combat Shirt. It was fortunate the bar was in line with the hole, so Eclipse could easily climb her way through.

The only trouble was how Eclipse was going to climb up, as she worked her way closer to the hole. Of course, there were alternatives.

"Purugly, help me out here," she whispered, throwing her Poké Ball upward through the hole. Her trusted tiger cat Pokémon appeared on the elevator floor and stared back at her, calculating the proper actions she had to take.

Purugly was still in bad condition after taking the explosion blast from earlier, but she could still move.

After putting the Poké Ball back in her bag, Eclipse continued to draw closer to the hole. Purugly decided that the best way to help was to make the hole bigger, and in a careful way that wouldn't endanger Eclipse. In short, the only way to help was to expand the hole so that Eclipse could actually reach the edge of it; because Eclipse was underneath the elevator, and if she tried to jump for the hole in its current state, she was sure to die in a frightening crash. If Purugly were to expand the hole, Eclipse just might make it.

"Purr….!" Purugly unleashed Iron Tails onto the ground, and little by little the hole got bigger. Hard and powerful contact crushed the floor, and many more parts of the floor fractured. It was a long process, and Purugly personally questioned if it was worth making a bigger hole. The floor was not thin, so it made the situation slow.

And Combat Shirt was getting away!

"Purugly, it's not worth it," Eclipse quietly said, as she drew close to the point where she was directly under and beside the exploded area. "Catch my arm with your mouth, and pull me up! Don't grab onto my glove, whatever you do!"

Eclipse released one hand while using her other hand to push up. It seemed miraculous to her how she could just push down on her gripping hand – as if she were pushing down on a table – and her entire body would flawlessly propel upward. For Eclipse, it was the perfect method to slip through the broken gap in the elevator floor, where Purugly would be waiting.

And Mars – International Police agent codenamed Eclipse – had to act fast or else Combat Shirt would make a run for it. That was unaffordable. At least she was wearing a black investigator's coat! Purugly would only need to pull her sleeve!

As close as she could, Eclipse reached her right arm through the hole…

…and felt the solid grip of Purugly biting onto her sleeve.

"Pull!" Eclipse urged.

Purugly was of course a Pokémon, and at least half of all Pokémon's strength overpowered a human's by a two-to-one ratio. After releasing her last magnetic grip on the bar, Eclipse had only Purugly to count on her survival. If Purugly failed, that would be the end of her life – in a frightening crash down tens of stories below – and no one, except probably Looker, would ever know what would happen.

The fear of death crept through every part of her body again, and Eclipse urged Purugly to keep pulling. From Purugly's perspective, she had to pull Eclipse up from the optimal position. Picture this: Eclipse was technically hanging directly underneath Purugly, and with her arm she reached through the hole for Purugly to hold onto. Purugly had two options: to drag Eclipse's arm so that she could hold onto the elevator floor, or to suspend Eclipse in open space as she dragged Eclipse's entire body to have both her hands grabbing onto the elevator floor.

Either option was illogical, but doable. The first option was easier, but Eclipse would have to exercise strain on her right arm as she tried to get the left one on the elevator floor. On the other hand, if Purugly tried the second option, it would increase strain for Purugly and could get Eclipse killed, but the consequences would be smoother.

"Hurry! He'll get away!" she commanded.

Purugly opted for the second option, and stared at Eclipse's other hand as if telling her to let go, which was exactly what she wanted.

Eclipse nodded, and desperately. "Be quick."

She let go of the other arm, and Purugly felt the sudden drop and increase in weight she was holding on to. This was the crucial moment, and Purugly only had seconds.

The tiger cat Pokémon lifted up her head, and walked around the hole so that Eclipse would be directly underneath it, and hauled Eclipse's arm so the black coat sleeve was touching the floor, with Eclipse getting a firm grip on the floor.

"Thanks, Purugly," she said, and Eclipse placed her free hand alongside the hand on the floor, and she hauled herself up with feet firmly planted on solid ground.

This feels weird… she thought, as if she were getting used to full gravity again. Never mind that! I have to find Combat Shirt!

She tore off her magnetic gloves, putting them back in her shoulder bag, straightened her black investigator's coat, and sprinted out of the elevator, with Purugly right behind. At this level, there was only one place Combat Shirt would run to: up.

Eclipse made a snap decision to contact the International Police.

"This is agent Eclipse," she said via e-Scope Lens. "I've tracked down a fanatical suspect and he's making a break off the Battle Tower. I'm requesting backup, because agent Looker is busy. I may need a few security officers to surround the Battle Tower, and arrest him if he makes a run for it. Please be advised that the front entrance has been attacked and the tower requires evacuation."

The message was relayed instantly to the secret International Police office in Sinnoh's Hearthome City. It didn't take long for the IP commanders to understand the situation, and within two minutes a separate message was relayed to security forces within the Hoenn region's Battle Frontier. Six officers, and a fire team, were already running toward the site.

Meanwhile, Eclipse felt like she had lost Combat Shirt. But at this point she was sure that the only place to go was to the roof. All she had to do was find a flight of stairs.

Eclipse and Purugly ran through many hallways, corridors, and battling rooms in an effort to find the stairs. The Battle Tower floors were never meant to be small, but each had a limited capacity of battle rooms. At least those were big! Eclipse only needed to briefly peek in each one before finding the stairs. Purugly took the lead.

On the side of the corridor was an opening where Purugly stopped in front of it, looked to Eclipse, and then entered. Eclipse took that cue in silence and followed her Pokémon upward.

Purugly dashed up the stairs, and Eclipse actually skipped steps to make up for lost time.

Skip stairs, then turn one-eighty degrees for the next flight. Skip stairs, then turn one-eighty degrees again to go up the next flight…

Do International Police have to do this all the time? It was like climbing the Battle Factory again, except this time it was the Battle Tower. The roof couldn't be too far off now.

Up in front of her, Eclipse saw the familiar light of day and knew she had reached the top. Cautiously, she and Purugly walked outside to see where Combat Shirt had gone. However, she didn't need to go far to find him.

"Stay where you are!" she shouted.

Combat Shirt was standing at the edge of the roof. It looked like he was ready to jump off.

"In the name of the law!" Eclipse added. "Don't even try to jump off!"

Combat Shirt tilted his head to look behind.

"I never thought the International Police would take to recruiting children to do their dirty work," his voice was rough. "Have you ever wondered that the police are only using you? They don't know what they're doing, and instead, they appear as vigilantes… doing what they think is right. This Pokémon Region Union they're defending… will only enslave all people and Pokémon alike under their ideals. The common good is most important. This is what we – of the Pure Freedom Alliance – are destined to do. Team Plasma was doing the right thing for a time. It is a shame they were short-lived. My child, it is too much of a story to tell you."

"I'm 17-years old," Eclipse retorted. "Never mind that. I, agent Eclipse, am arresting you for charges of terrorism. Kindly cooperate and maybe the International Police will be lenient."

Eclipse took a step forward to detain Combat Shirt.

"What are you doing?!" Eclipse's eyes widened.

Combat Shirt took a step back and – before Eclipse could react – fell down. Eclipse's eyes widened more – thinking that Combat Shirt had just plummeted to suicide. Whether Combat Shirt would be dead or not, Eclipse was very disappointed that she failed the arrest.

By the time she got to the edge, Eclipse witnessed Combat Shirt deploying a glider from his pack and was flying away into the distance. Judging by the direction of the sun, Eclipse deduced he was heading south for the target refinery.

That bag he carried is a glider, Eclipse angrily thought.

Nevertheless, Eclipse was disappointed indeed.

"The arrest has failed," Eclipse said to Looker via e-Scope Lens. "Combat Shirt has gotten away by air and I couldn't stop him."

"WHAT," Looker's voice showed surprise at first, but it quickly turned sour. "Disappointing… did you see where he 'flew' off to, assuming he flies?"

Eclipse double-checked the direction plus the sun before saying, "He's gone southward. With that glider, and I'm assuming it's jet-powered, he probably will be heading to that suspected refinery we at the IP have been investigating. Therefore, this is confirmation that these fanatics have a hideout south of here, so it's worth investigating."

Silence.

"WELL DONE, ECLIPSE!" Looker's voice roared in Eclipse's ear. "That's exactly what I was thinking! Why, your intuition might be equally good as mine! Don't you know that's exactly the kind of logic the International Police needs?! I was right in recruiting you to be an agent after all!"

"Looker," Eclipse muttered. "You don't need to be screaming in my ear."

"Very well," Looker lowered his voice. "I've got the tattooed suspect in custody with Battle Frontier security forces. We'll meet in the Trainers Village for debrief."

Before Eclipse could say anything, Looker's line went dead. There was the obvious problem, though, one that was so obvious to Eclipse that Looker couldn't see it was this obvious.

"If it was this obvious, you'd help me get off the Battle Tower, since the elevators are bust," Eclipse shook her head.

I need to get back down, Eclipse thought. How do I get back down?!

As fortune would have it, two security officers dressed in blue appeared from the exit stairs. They saw Eclipse, as if instantly recognising her, and approached her. Eclipse wasn't surprised as the two officers flashed out ID to her: they were local security.

"You're agent Eclipse?" one of them said.

"Yes," Eclipse answered.

"Follow us," the same security officer said. "Agent Looker has ordered us to escort you back. Don't ask me how we know your name, because Looker told us to retrieve you. We just do what we're told."

Eclipse nodded.

At least Looker wasn't careless! He sent the security officers, after all.