Chapter 11: A Shadowy Network
It's a new day in Orre, the blazing sun beats down on a particular trainer as he trains intensely. Wes and his Pokémon are currently locked a battle with a horde of Rhyhorn. Ever since the day he lost to Mei in the tournament Wes has doubled his usual training routine and his improvements are showing. Unfortunately his only real opponents are the wild Pokémon around him as well as Cary, Ebony, and Takumi when he's not busy. Still his resolve burns like the blistering heat around him. Wes sweats profusely as he and his Pokémon train. The progress of battling wild Pokémon for experience is a slow and steady one, but he refuses to give up. Cary suggested many times he go to Pyrite and take on trainers in the Battle Square, but Wes is worried about possibly getting caught. Plus, after what happened the last time he took one of Cary's suggestions Wes isn't quite in the trusting mood yet.
As he finishes off the last of the Rhyhorn, Wes hears a soothing voice from behind him. "Wes, dear, you're going to get heat stroke if you continue training like this." Ebony chastises him.
He sighs and wipes the sweat from his brow. "I have to keep up my training or I'll never get any better."
Ebony saunters over with a dry towel and wipes the sweat and dried sand from face. "Your health is still a priority Wes. We need you to remain able bodied otherwise your training will be for not." She did have a point. All the training in the world won't help if he becomes ill because of it.
Wes stubbornly agrees, "You're right."
Ebony smiles softly, "Of course I am. Now come, we have a mission for you." She leads him back into the warehouse and towards the back where Takumi sits.
Takumi sits stoically and waits for Ebony and Wes. He clears his throat. "We have a mission. Ebony and Cary brought this matter to my attention. In The Under there is apparently a network of top hackers known as the Kids Grid. Put it simply, we want them to side with us in the rebellion. From what we've gathered about them, they have successfully hacked Cipher's systems in the past. A little anyways. Their attempts were quickly neutralized." Their track record was shaky. Hacking Cipher was no small feat, but the fact that they've not yet been able to procure any vital data from them is less than encouraging.
Ebony speaks up, "We believe with our aid the Kids Grid could have the security to acquire more of the resources they need. So the plan is simple. Go to them offering our protection and we get some of the finest hackers in Cipher."
Takumi nods, "I'm sending Ebony as our liaison and Wes, you'll be her back up." He looks to Wes and nods, "You've come a long way; I think you can handle this. The Under is still within Cipher's Sphere of Influence, but often goes neglected. With the exception of having Lady Venus as their diva. So getting in and out through obscure passages without being detected shouldn't be a problem."
"Obscure passages?" Wes questions.
Cary answers this one, "Yeah, we discovered an abandoned factory not too far from Pyrite that's got an old service elevator to an abandoned mine connected to The Under. Gettin' in'll be a piece of cake for you two."
Wes nods approvingly. "Alright, when do we set out?" He looks to Ebony for an answer.
She grins, "As soon as you wash up. They may be children, but you still want to look presentable to them."
Wes nods silently and walks into a small room within the warehouse. It was a quaint washroom with a utility sink, toilet, and a single shower to wash with. It's hardly luxurious, but it services them just fine. Seeing as their bedrooms were nothing more than cots and bed rolls the rebels had little room to judge about in terms of living arrangements. Honestly, working plumbing is a luxury as far as they're concerned.
Wes undresses and leaves his clothes in the corner of the room. He turns on the water and is instantly relieved by the cold water pouring over his head. It quickly washes away sweat and caked on dirt all over his face and body. As well as the sand and debris entangled in his tan, spiked hair.
While he showered Wes had one thing on his mind, Mei. What if she showed up? Could he fight her? Cipher's influence is region wide, it's not unlikely a red flag would be tripped and she'd discover them. He pushes these thoughts to the back of his mind however. Wes couldn't continue to live in fear of her. He strides to overcome her and become a stronger trainer to finally beat her. He unfortunately knows she thinks the same. Without a doubt after their last run it she's now made it her life mission to capture and detain him. It's a chilling thought, but that thought in mind keeps him ever vigilant.
He shuts off the water and dries himself off before getting dressed. He didn't have much in the way of clothes so the clothes he was wearing earlier will have to suffice.
As he steps out he's greeted by Ebony who stood in front of the door. "Good, you're ready. Let's go." As Wes was the only one with a means of transportation outside of Pokémon he was often delegated with transporting the rebels around the region.
The two head out on Wes's motorcycle with Ebony in the passenger car. The harsh winds and shifting desert sand definitely do not do them any favors as far as making for a comfortable travel, but it's what everyone has come to expect in Orre.
Meanwhile is another part of Orre, one agents is hard at work. Haruka fights with a particular stubborn and tiny screw on her new visor. "Come on you son of a-" Suddenly her door opens.
"Hey Haruka!" Mei says cheerfully, startling Haruka causing her to strip the screw.
She lets out an exasperated sigh and sets her tool down. "Hey Mei, I wasn't expect to see you today." She does her best to just let it go and not get mad, but her frustration is certainly noticeable.
"Sorry if I'm interrupting something, but I was bored and thought I'd visit." A perfectly valid justification in her mind. "Rebel activity has gone quiet and Ryoko's off on his mission. So I figured we could hang out." Mei knows Haruka is free most days when she's not doing continued research and tinkering with her toys.
Haruka smiles, "I guess I've been a bit lonely without Ryoko around. Though I have had a lot more free time to work on my inventions." She shows off her new visor.
She'd replaced a lot of the external parts with smaller components to cut down on the overall size to make them look more like regular sunglasses. Mei checks them out. "Well they're definitely a lot more stylish than the current models. Think you could make me a pair in pink?" Mei giggles and tries them on. "So how do they work?"
Haruka taps on a little button on the right arm of the glasses. Suddenly a small reticle appears before Mei's eyes. She looks to Haruka which pulls up her Cipher agent data. "Wow cool, its go all your data." She calls out her Makuhita and examines him. It gives a very comprehensive list of details. "This is a lot of info. Shadow Pokémon checker, its moves, a move pool, stats, nature, ability, and egg group."
Haruka nods proudly. "Yet, it is made using the data from Cipher's systems as well and the global Pokedex database. Thank you open source developing."
Mei takes the glasses off and rubs her eyes. "That's all really cool Haruka, but it's a lot to take in, it is very cluttered." It was a bit of sensory overload for Mei.
Haruka quickly writes down Mei's critique. "That's good to know. I was thinking of implementing all that into separate pages you can scroll through with buttons on the side."
Mei nods, "That'd be a lot better, because all that made it a bit tough to see." The two share a laugh and continue to chat casually.
"So I saw your victory at the Realgam Tower the other day. I bet that was exciting." Haruka did enjoy watching Mei and Ryoko battling. Especially Mei because she's always experimenting with different team combinations. As well as coming up with now double battle strategies.
Mei sighs and rolls her eyes. "Don't remind me."
Haruka shoots her a confused glance. "Why? You won, why are you bummed about that?" Of course, Haruka didn't know the whole story behind that battle.
"You know that guy I battled in the last round?" Mei groans.
"Yeah, his name was Wes or something?" The battle didn't leave much of an impression on her, nor did Wes himself.
Mei nods, "He was that rebel that escaped the raid. We both ran into each other at the tournament."
Haruka's shocked, "Wait, so what happened? Did you capture him afterwards?"
Mei thinks of their accidental kiss and grows infuriated once more. "No, the rat bastard avoided me by weaving through the crowded and quickly getting in the elevator before I could reach him. I swear if I ever see him again I'll have his head!"
Haruka puts up her hands defensively and attempts to calm her down. "Whoa, Mei calm down. It's fine, you'll get your man don't worry."
Mei glares at Haruka, "I don't want him!" She shouts taking Haruka's words out of context.
Haruka's taken aback by this, "You just said you want his head. I know you've been obsessing about this guy."
Mei exhales and calms down. "Sorry, you're right. He just infuriates me."
"I noticed, and don't worry we'll stop him and the rest of those rebels." Haruka assures her. This at the very least is a comforting thought for Mei.
Though, what neither knew was at that very moment Wes and Ebony's plans were already in motion.
"So this is the factory?" Wes asks as the bike closes in on the broken down and condemned facility.
Ebony nods, "This is it. An old foundry that would melt down and refine the ores from the mines below. It was decommissioned when the veins underneath the facility ran dry. Since then it's been condemned. Lucky the freight elevator still works." Ebony certainly knew quite a bit about this place.
"Where did you learn about this place?" Wes didn't doubt her intel, but he couldn't help wonder how she knew so much.
"I did a favor for a man one time in exchange for this information. Let us leave it at that." She says with a sultry grin and a wink. Wes has a pretty good idea what that favor was now and he's glad she spared the finer details. Though, he should have known. This was how Ebony acquired a lot of her information.
"Alright, we'll approach quietly though, Cipher agents may be around." Wes was always quick to make assumptions and typically he assumed the worst.
Ebony chuckles lightly into her hand. "Your caution is admirable, but dear, not even squatters would use this place." She's honestly surprised Cipher never bothered to tear this place down for scrap or blow it up in another fake ploy to convince the populous the rebels were extremists.
Wes gets out of the motorcycle and gives Ebony a helping hand out of the sidecar, because she deemed it 'the gentleman's thing to do'. Though it wasn't hard to climb out on her own. It was just her personality so Wes entertains the notion. Much the same way he dealt with Cary's one track mind towards women.
Wes grabs the handle on the large steel door and opens it as it struggles to slide on its decrepit and rusted tracks. He grunts and groans as it creaks and scrapes across the tracks. "No wonder this place is abandoned. You'd need a Machamp to pry this door open." Wes fears he's going to throw out his back in the process. He finally gets it open and lets out an exasperated sigh.
Ebony walks up and nods approvingly. "I'm sure lucky to have a big, strong man like you to help me." She shoots him a sultry grin with an enchanting gleam in her eye as her fingers dance up his chest.
Wes rolls his eyes, immune to her flirtatious games, "Yeah, yeah." Whether she was serious or not, knowing her he banks on the latter, he wasn't interested in pursuing that kind of activity with Ebony. Wes was not the type to play games with a vixen like her.
She giggles and walks past him with a very intentional sway in her hips as she walks. Still Wes pays her little mind. If he's learned anything it's his comrades had their quirks. Thankfully, Takumi was nothing like Ebony and Cary.
Wes walks into the dark warehouse. He coughs as his throat fills with the dry, dust filled air. "This isn't Asbestos is it?" He coughs into his hand as he tries not to breathe the stale air around him.
"I don't believe so." Ebony says speaking into a kerchief as they make their way through the broken down structure. Finally coming upon a large freight elevator that looked pretty well intact. "Here it is," Wes and Ebony step in and hit the large, red down arrow button and cause the device to spring to life.
The door close with an uncomfortable grinding and slamming. The elevator's chain slowly screeches and squeaking. The uncomfortable cacophony of noise persists all the way down the shaft as they very slowly descend. After a couple minutes that dragged on for what felt like an eternity the elevator finally comes a literal screeching halt. The door then proceeds to open with the same annoying grinding sounds.
"Well that was pleasant. Can we take the front door next time?" Wes rubs his temples feeling a headache coming from that less that pleasant ride.
"Sadly not, now come on." Ebony steps out into a large chasm with a long tunnel directly in front of them. "We just need to walk down this tunnel for a bit then we'll be in The Under."
Before long they notice a light at the end of their tunnel. Bright, neon lights flickered showing signs of civilization. The Under was not a good place to live by any means. The lack of natural sunlight made for a very depressing environment as well as led to many health issues. It was also a hive of criminal activity of all kinds to boot.
Ebony is turns up her noses slightly. "Quite the unsavory place, The Under is." Not that she had much room to judge given their current living environment.
"Let's just get in and get out as fast as well can. This place makes my skin crawl." For good reason too, unsavory was a nice way to put it. Wes follows Ebony towards a small building with a rather colossal sized satellite dish on top of its flat roof. "Is this the place?" It was safe to bet hackers would be boasting some pretty state of the art equipment.
A young boy stands at the door with his arms crossed trying to look confident and empowering. Ebony chuckles to herself. "Allow me," she steps forward and makes her presence known to the boy. "Hello, are you with the Kids Grid? We wish to speak with you."
The kid gives her a sour look and turns his head away. "Go away, no adults allowed."
"Smooth," Wes smirks as he watches her work.
She glances at back at Wes. "Hush." She turns her attention back to the boy standing guard. "Please, this is a very important matter. We mean you no harm." She says more sweetly.
He shakes his head, "I said no. Now go away old lady!" He sticks his tongue out at her.
"Old lady?" Ebony smiles with a frustrated twitch in her eye and at the side of her mouth. The boy didn't not realize the powerful enemy he could make out of her just by insulting her vanity.
"Okay, I'll handle this." Wes steps between the boy and Ebony before she pounces on him. "Hey kid," Wes pulls out a Pokeball, "you like Pokémon battles?"
The kid looks to Wes with a gleam in his eye. "Now you're speaking my language mister. I know what you're playing at so fine. If you win I'll let you in."
Wes nods with a smug grin, "You got it." He calls out trusty Espeon. Wes imagines the kid can't be too strong, but he's not about to take him for granted.
"Go Shroomish." This was definitely not a good match up for the kid. "What's your name mister?"
"Name's Wes. That's Ebony. She's a bit touchy about her age." He gets a good laugh out of that before he feels an overwhelming sense of death fill the arena.
"What was that about my age?" She says with a menacing tone. Her sharp gold eyes glare at the two of them. Were they daggers both would be dead several times over.
"Scary," The boy cringes, "My name is Bitt."
Wes nods, "Good to know. Espeon use Psychic." Espeon leaps into the air and fires a bean of psychic energy at Shroomish from her head jewel.
"Shroomish scurry around!" Wes is surprised by the confusing command. Still Shroomish does that. Running back and forth aimlessly just to avoid the attack. A strategy that is pretty effective. "Now Spore!"
"Nice try, Espeon leap out of the way and use Psychic." Espeon tactfully dodges the spores that came right towards her and fires off a far more successful Psychic. Felling Bitt's Pokémon in a single turn.
"No! I can't believe I lost." Even though the fight lasted all of a minute. Wes didn't want to crush the kid's spirits however.
"That Shroomish has a lot potential. When it evolves into Breloom, I bet it'll be a real force to be reckoned with." He pats the kid on the shoulder.
"You think so?" Bitt asks with excitement in his eyes. He then quickly shakes his head and clears his throat. "I mean, of course it will. I know that. I'm the best trainer in The Under."
Wes smiles and rolls his eyes. "Well then I guess I'm lucky I caught you on an off day." He feeds the kid's ego a bit. He figures a little harmless buttering up with help them out a bit.
"Yeah that's it." He turns to the door and knocks three times before opening. "Hey Nett, Megg! We have visitors!" Bitt yells inside as he walks in.
Ebony taps Wes on the shoulder and smiles, "Very good job."
Wes nods, "Thanks, looks like your feminine wiles wouldn't work on these kids. So I can handle the talking."
The three walk into the small build where a young boy and little girl sit. The boy sits before a large computer and a series of screens as he types away furiously. The girl is the first to notice Wes and Ebony. She jumps up and points, "What are adults doing here?" She backs off and pulls out a Pokeball, clearly terrified of having to fight them.
Wes calmly pulls up his hands, "Don't worry, we're friendlies." He smiles softly to convey this point, hoping she'll relax.
The boy turns in his chair. "Friendly or not, why are you here?" The boy comes off a bit more mature for his age.
Wes speaks up for Ebony, "We're with the rebellion. We were hoping to ask your assistance." Wes in a way builds the boy up so he'd be more receptive to his offer. He knows it's key to negotiate from a position of power, but since they wanted them he figured pandering a bit might warm them up to his offer.
"Our assistance?" The boy smiles confidently. "Well you've got my attention. The name's Nett. Who are you?"
Wes nods, "My name's Wes, this is my associate Ebony. We're two of the rebellion's higher ranked members. We heard your hacking skills are top notch and we were hoping you'd join forces with us to help take on Cipher. You have the technical knowhow and we can offer you protection." A win-win offer for them both, Kids Grid can get the intel on Cipher and they can protect them.
Nett raises a brow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't Cipher been spanking your little rebellion lately?" He of course refers to the brutal siege at the hands of Mei and Ryoko.
"They had information on us and acted before we could retaliate. If we had your help we could know what they knew ahead of time. I can handle their grunts."
Wes is suddenly interrupted by another boy walking in behind them. "Hey Nett, I got the new parts to the satellite hooked up."
Nett nods, "Thanks Perr. Hey, you wanna see what we can do first hand?" He flashes a grin to Wes and Ebony. Nett, all too proudly, cracks his knuckles and begins typing away at his computer. "Today we're going to do it, we're going to hit Cipher's database for all their records." Nett types furiously as a few screens pop up in front of him.
Suddenly, an alert springs on screen, "What's going on with your computer Haruka?" Mei's quick to notice a flashing, red exclamation point.
Haruka runs to her desk and begins to type frantically. "Dammit, someone's trying to hack out systems." Haruka quickly puts on an ear piece and answers a call. "Yeah Aiden, I'm already on it. You just make sure they don't get through to our database." Haruka calls up a few different programs, including one that likes like another computer interface and command line.
"What's going on?" Mei starts panicking.
"Hackers trying to get into our database and steal Cipher's encrypted data." Haruka explains at rapid speed.
"Um…?" Mei's speechless.
"It's like breaking and entering." She dumbs it down as much as possible.
"Oh okay," she's happy with this example. Still Mei's worried. "Are they hacking us or like getting in?"
Haruka smiles with an evil grin. "Not now they aren't." She hits a key and reclines back in her seat. "Yeah Aiden, their deep in the virtual database now. I'm running the tracking software now." She takes off her ear piece and turns to Mei.
"Alright we're in!" Nett celebrates, but maybe a bit too early.
"You see Mei, they were trying to break into our house as it were, but I pretty much switch what was on the other side of that door to a fake one. A database full of dummy information, malware, worms, and back door viruses. So they're computer is going to download a lot of corrupt data and viruses." Haruka was all too proud of this little scheme.
Mei nods, "Like that time Ryoko got a virus on his computer and you chewed him out for it?" Mei recalls Haruka being particularly pissed off at that one.
"Well that was because he was visiting unsafe adult websites like a dumbass." She rolls her eyes. It took her hours to restore his computer to usable shape after that one.
Nett throws up his arms triumphantly. "This is it, the big one. We've never had so much information on Cipher."
Wes cocks his head when Nett pulls up a file with one random agent's data. "I'm not an expert hacker or anything, but why did this work when all your previous attempts failed? It seemed too easy." Wes has always been a bit of a skeptic, but this seemed fishy regardless.
Perr pats himself on the back, "It was my upgrades."
Bitt nods, "Nett and Perr are an unstoppable team. I mean Nett's like the best hacker in all of Orre also."
"Or you in turn are being hacked." Ebony points to the screen which starts freezing up and glitching.
"And download." Haruka hits a key on the keyboard and pulls up a map pin pointing the computers location. Haruka cocks her head in confusion. "The attack came from The Under?" Haruka picks up the ear piece once more and calls up Lady Venus. "Yes Lady Venus? There was an attack on Cipher's database and I traced it back to The Under. May I please have access to your cameras so I can figure out who launched this breach?" Haruka starts typing away and nods, "Alright, thank you." With that Haruka had a full view of every camera in the city.
Cipher left The Under in Venus's hands, but she did little to actually encroach on their way of life. She was an idol to them, while still in secret their master. She had security cameras installs for 'protection' and to cut down on crime, but it was all a ruse to spy on their citizens.
Meanwhile Nett is panicking. "Oh no! They're going to track our location, they're going to steal all our data, and they're going to arrest us! How are we going to stop this?"
Wes being the only one of them to be thinking rationally. "Your computer's pretty much shot isn't it?" Nett woefully nods his head. "Then I'll stop them getting their hands on your data." He grabs the tower, rips the cords from the wall and powers it off. "There."
"They'll still confiscate it." Though it looks like Wes already had a plan for that too.
He steps out of the building and over to the deep chasm just beyond the building. "Good luck confiscating this." He hurls it into the rift.
He hears the sound of it bashing against several rocks on its way down before hearing a very distant crash as it hits the bottom of the chasm. "I think it's sufficiently destroyed." Ebony calls back to Wes from outside the door. "Quickly, come back inside."
Wes runs back to the building, not before a certain one spots him on the camera. Mei frantically points at the screen. "Haruka zoom in on that camera!" She hastily does so and reveals Mei's suspicions. "Wes that son of a bitch!" She slams her fist against the desk and quickly pulls out her radio. She changes the frequency and makes a distress call. "Attention all available agents in The Under this is an emergency request. All available agents surround the building with the large satellite immediately. Known hackers and rebels are being harbored inside." Mei hangs up and quickly readies herself. "Haruka can you have Abra teleport me to The Under?"
Haruka frowns, "You didn't have the authorization to make that call." She calls out Abra and willingly let's Mei go.
She sighs, "I'm willing to live with the consequences if it means capturing him." She teleports away and reappears in The Under. She meets up with several other agents who are gathering around.
"Are you the one who put out the call?" One of the agents asks.
Mei nods, "Yes, there are rebels and hackers in that building that just try to penetrate our database. We need to get them before they escape. One is known to be very allusive. Leave him to me." Now was Mei's time to score her personal vendetta.
Wes looks out the window and notices their unwelcomed company. "Dammit, Mei's here. We have to go now. You kids head for the abandoned tunnels north of here with Ebony and I'll hold them off."
Ebony speaks up, "Excuse you, I can help fend them off too. Actually, I'd prefer if I was the one to fight them off."
Wes is taken aback by this. "Are you sure, Mei's very strong."
"Of course, I doubt you'd be able to beat her, I'd at least be able to stall long enough." Ebony definitely seems confident in her abilities.
"What if you get caught?" Wes knew she was way more valuable to the rebels than he was. Ebony was far and away the better trainer, but she still couldn't take them all on at once.
"Don't worry about me. I have my ways." She winks and heads for the door. She walks head first into danger with her Pokeball drawn. She giggles, "All these men here for me? Is it my birthday?" Even in the face of danger she makes jokes.
Mei walks through the line of them. "We know what you did. So you all better come out peacefully." Mei stares her down with a deathly stare.
Ebony giggles, "So you're the little firebrand that's given our Wes so much trouble. I must say Cary wasn't lying about your finer qualities." Ebony scans her body up and down. She giggles and winks flirtatiously. "Are you going to punish me? I've been a bad girl."
Mei seems a bit irked by this. "God, you people are weird. Come peacefully or else." Mei more than happily calls out her own Pokémon. Starting with her Slowking.
Ebony smiles, "I'll take or else." She calls out her majestic Milotic to battle for her.
This was Wes's cue. He gathers the kids and makes a run for it behind Ebony's defense. "Go!" He rushes the kids ahead and calls out his Espeon to keep them covered.
Mei spots Wes immediately and attempts to give chase. To which Ebony's Milotic quickly intercepts. "You're not going anywhere dear. I'm your opponent and I want to play."
Mei growls as she watches Wes escaping yet again. "Psychic Slowking!" She practically spits fire. Ebony was not worried however.
"Milotic, you know what to do." Milotic serpentines and avoids the psychic attack. She quickly Ice Beams Slowking freezing him in place in the process. "Sorry dear, it's nothing personal."
Mei balls her fist and calls back her Pokémon. Instead of choosing a different Pokémon Mei breaks into a sprint and runs after Wes passed Ebony's Pokémon. Wes notices Mei running after him with hate in her eyes. "You're like four foot, ten! How the hell can you run so fast?" He picks up his speed, making sure not to get too far ahead of the boys. Wes notices Megg start to lag behind so he quickly scoops her up in his arms and runs while carrying her.
Still Mei was hot on their trail. They finally reach the tunnels. "Alright," he sets down Megg, "I want you all to run down that tunnel and keep going straight. I'll distract her by going down one of these other tunnel networks."
"But-" Bitt protests.
"Not buts!" Wes runs off with Mei hot on his heels. He shouts back to Mei, "You're pretty persistent. You ever think you need a hobby? Like knitting?"
"I do, it's called hunting down scumbags like you!" She shouts as she ducks and weavers down even narrow passage she chases him through.
"That's an encouraging thought." Wes grumbles to himself as he tries to lose her in the tunnels. He makes a hard left down another tunnel quickly ducks behind a rock. Mei comes charging past, missing him in the process. Wes quickly springs from behind the rock and runs in the other direction.
Mei hears his footsteps and quickly turns around. "Sneaky bastard!" She charges down the tunnel at double speed, not paying attention to where she's running. Suddenly, Mei stumbles over a jagged rock and loses her footing. With a sharp cry followed by a solid thud Mei hits the ground. On her way down she'd bashed her head against a protruding rock.
Wes stops dead in his tracks and notices her fallen body. "Oh no," he runs over to her to see she's unconscious. He quickly turns her on her back and checks her pulse and breathing. He breathes a sigh of relief. "She's still alive." He pauses and thinks long and hard about this situation. Why did he care? He would honestly be better off if that fall did kill her. As morbid as it sounded, it was the honest truth. Still Wes wasn't about to leave anyone for dead.
He carefully examines her wounds. She was bleeding from her head, so he checks her small backpack for medical supplies. Surprisingly she had everything he needed. "Gauze, rubbing alcohol, even aloe. This is an entire emergency medical kit. Not gonna lie, Cipher equips their grunts well." He takes a wash rag, pours some water from her canteen on it and wipes the blood from her head. He couldn't believe it, but she looked so peaceful when she was unconscious. It felt unnatural to him. He next takes the rubbing alcohol and disinfects the wound. He quickly tends to her wound and wraps her forehead in the gauze to stop the bleeding. He carefully props her head up on the bag and leaves her to rest and recover.
Before he does though, Wes has an idea. He takes her Pokeballs and holds down the tab on them. He planned to release all her Pokémon while she slept. Strangely enough, when he tried the balls didn't activate. He didn't know Cipher had finger scans on their Pokeballs to prevent such a thing. "Damn that's clever." He quickly catches on to this however.
Wes mulls over what to do. Restrain her, steal something from her, or just leave her be? A whole world of cruel possibilities open up to him, but nothing he could stomach to do to a defenseless woman. Even if this defenseless woman was his mortal enemy. Wes finally decides what he's going to do. He stands over her with grimace in his eyes and simply walks away. This could have been the end of it. Still, he thinks about what he'd told her. He was someone for her to pursue. Could it be he was wrong? She didn't need him to pursue, but he needed her to pursue him? Was the constant threat of Mei what was keeping him laser focused? Could it be that in some demented twist of fate the two were meant to live in unison on the opposite poles? In an endless battle of right versus wrong?
Wes shakes his head and begins runs off down the tunnel to reconvene with the Kids Grid. He'd wasted enough time already tending to Mei's wounds. As he runs he hears a soft moaning. He freezes, his blood runs cold, and he quietly looks back hoping he was just hearing things.
Mei slowly wakes up and Sits up. She winces at the throbbing pain in her head as she looks up with bleary eyes. "Wes?" She says softly, almost sweet sounding in her tired state.
He turns and refuses to look at her. "Don't follow me." He says toughly.
Mei replies weakly, "What do you mean?" She tried to sound angry, but she was too worn out from her crash and the head pains.
"Please don't get up. I don't want you hurting yourself anymore chasing me!" Wes shouts almost in tears and he couldn't explain it.
Mei's eyes wide and come into focus. She clutches her chest feeling something jolt inside. He was showing genuine compassion for her. His enemy. Her enemy all the same. Still Mei knew she couldn't chase him if she tried. Wes slowly walks away when Mei meekly replies. "Thank you."
Wes shakes his head and runs away from her without a word. She thanked him. His mind almost couldn't comprehend this. All of a sudden his mind was a torrent emotion. He'd shown sympathy to his enemy. He may be a nice guy deep down and a bit of humanitarian, but to activity make sure his enemy was okay just so she could pursue him another day was ludicrous.
He meets up with the rest of the group, Ebony included. "Took you long enough." She jokes and activates the elevator.
Wes remains silent for the rest of the ride to the surface. Lost deep in his own mind. Little did he know, Mei was doing much the same thing. She stares up at the rock ceiling as she musters the strength to get up and make sure she didn't collapse from a dizzy spell. Both knew one thing for certain. This wasn't over.
Thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoyed. Please don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter, the series, and the Pokemon Sagas Universe as a whole. So a lot happened in this chapter. Wes and Mei chapters are some of my favorites to write and this really goes to show that there is a lot happening in Orre at this moment. As well as the very complex relationship Wes and Mei have developed as enemies. I thought this would be a perfect example of the two's bizarre pseudo-codependent lives built on constantly fighting one another.