Redworm 1.8

"You've studied well. I'm sure you know the Fire type pokemon are vulnerable to Water types, and even that Psychic types are vulnerable to Ghost and Bug types. You should also know that ignorance makes one vulnerable to all types of attack." Mr. Fuji

This was not something that I had expected to see.

I had gotten back to the room with the teleporter which was powered now if the ominous thrum was anything to go by. In it a tall, solemn faced man was talking to Gary in low tones and squeezing his shoulder. And Gary. Gary was crying.

It wasn't the fake crying. I had seen him put on that act for adults to get something he wanted. No, this was different. His face was pulled into a tight frown and tears were streaming down his face. There was no pretending here. He was devastated.

Bill was different though. He was making all the consoling motions and sounds but there was a wildness in his eyes. Something that wanted to control. I realized with a start that I was getting this feeling from my power, meaning that Bill was a rare. Was he using a power on Gary?

No that didn't quite feel right. His power felt like it mostly affected his own mind. That would make sense with the amount of technology around and the experiments into teleportation. But he did have some sort of impulse to control and was currently aiming it at Gary.

I stepped forward to intervene. Gary may be one of my least favorite people, but I didn't want anything too awful to happen to him. Something about Bill told me he was more than capable of something awful.

I stopped. I thought of the laser turret outside the compound, of all the metal shuttered doors that stood between us and the exit. Perhaps it would be best to talk to Gary after we got out of here.

"Perhaps we should give them a little privacy." I jumped as the voice from the wall returned.

"Sure," I responded, and followed a path of blue lights along the hallways. My thoughts returned to the lady in the wall. I initially had a bad feeling about her since she was using something to hide her voice. Seeing Bill gave me other ideas. I had a really bad feeling about him.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Hestia, and you go by 'Red,' right?"

I nodded. As I wondered how best to go about having this conversation I was led to a simple room with a comfortable chair in front of a computer monitor. Behind the monitor was a shelf full of miniature trees. There were several different species, but all of them looked like perfect miniature examples of their kind. I leaned forward to make sure they were real. Yep, they smelled right too. Bill must trim these almost every day.

I was distracting myself. Maybe it'd be best to just ask.

"Hestia, is Bill holding you here against your will?"

I heard only silence for about half a minute.

"Yes."

"Will he… do you think he'll let me leave?"

"I'd like to say yes, but I didn't think he'd do it to me until it was too late. Sometimes it's best not to leave these decisions in the hands of others," she said.

Breathe in. Breathe out. OK.

"Hestia, where are you being held? Do you think I can get you out with me?"

"Hmm. I don't see how you can do that without drawing Bill's attention too soon. We'd both be trapped then. There's not a lot that I can do without the express permission of William Richter."

"Where is he keeping Gary?" I asked.

"Unfortunately Gary is still with him. If it's any comfort I don't think he's going to detain Gary against his will. Bill is attempting to persuade Gary to be his agent out in Kanto while Bill remains here."

That was still less than ideal. Certainly better than Gary being a prisoner or the target of actual powers. I'd try to catch up with him on my journey. Then I could talk to him and try to undo whatever manipulation Bill had done.

"Hold on a moment, we may have a bit of a lucky break on our hands," Hestia announced.

I waited. Within a minute red lights began to flash in the hallway.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"It looks like Moltres is heading towards Cerulean City. Bill has initiated emergency protocols. This expands my control of the system so that I can help him more. Amongst my temporary powers is that I no longer have to use biometrics to confirm his orders. Speaking of, 'Red' sounds an awful lot like a nickname, and since Zapdos began interfering with inter-city communication I haven't had access to birth records of anywhere but Cerulean City. I'd have to take your word for anyone born in Pallet Town."

She was obviously wanting a specific answer. Oh!

"I'm not sure what my mother was thinking, but she named me William Richter. Weird right?"

"Weird indeed. I've popped up a list of permissions of the monitor there. Click yes and I'll be able to guide you safely out of here. You'll even stay safely out of Moltres' way."

For a moment I considered asking to stay and help with the fight. Unfortunately, I really wasn't equipped to deal with any of the legendary birds yet. None of my pokemon could attack at significant range, or were fast enough to catch them. I didn't even have a water pokemon to help with damage control.

I scrolled to the bottom of the surprisingly long list of permissions, checked the 'Yes' box and entered Bill's name.

"Great, now follow the yellow lights. There's an emergency escape vehicle that will take you well out of Moltres' target area. I won't be able to escape with you, but I'll get you a communicator that uses Bill's teleportation technology. It's what he's used to keep in touch with other scientists in the region."

As I listened I followed the lights deeper and deeper into Bill's lair. I found myself wondering if I had made a good decision as steel doors hissed shut behind me. Finally I came to a ladder attached to what looked like a large metal pill floating in water. Gulping I climbed the ladder and lowered myself through the hatch.

I felt a lurch as the vessel moved. There wasn't room for much more than me, my pokemon, and the single chair that sat in front of the control instruments. I sat down and strapped myself in before I noticed a gleaming red rectangle with a screen on it displaying a picture of a wrapped present. As I picked it up Hestia's voice sounded from it.

"Hello! I'll be using this to communicate with you from the base. If you'd like you can put it in your front vest pocket so that the camera lens is exposed that way I'll be able to see what you see. Also if you open the large compartment to your right you'll find an earpiece so I can talk to you without anyone noticing. Bill and Professor Oak designed the Pokedex to collect data on potentially useful rares and other pokemon. I've repurposed this one to help us stay in touch.

"Anyway, it shouldn't take more than a few hours to get where we're going."

"Oh." I continued fiddling with the Pokedex. "Where are we going?"

"Well, this sub is only designed as an emergency escape vehicle. It can get you withing striking distance of Rock Tunnel before we have to abandon it. Although…"

"Although?" I asked.

"Well, just south of that is an old project from a leading scientist. He was trying to build something to provide power to all of Kanto wirelessly. Unfortunately it attracted lots of rare and powerful pokemon that forced Surge and everyone with him to flee. It could be a great opportunity to catch a powerful pokemon, but it would also be quite dangerous."

I considered it. While I could use a break from dangerous circumstances, making my team stronger was a quick way to make every situation less dangerous. Plus, I could always turn away if it looked like it'd be too much trouble.

"Ok, take us there. Let's at least have a look at it."