Author's Note: Happy New Year to all those who are reading this tale. I hope everyone had a better New Years Eve than I did. Mine was not that pleasant. I had car trouble, back trouble and more internet trouble. And that's just to name a few of the problems I had. So for those reasons I was unable to get this chapter up until today.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Chapter 11: The Maze of Silph
"Why the heck are you guys doing all this?" Lorain demanded to know.
"That's none of your business, little girl." Cassidy told her. "These are grownup matters, and the best thing you can do right now is keep your trap shut like a good little hostage." With that, she turned on her heel and walked towards the teleporter pad in the lab. "C'mon Bosco. We have a president to meet with."
"For the zillionth time, my name is Butch!" Cassidy's green-haired partner complained as he stepped onto the pad with her. In seconds the duo vanished in a flash of light.
"Alright you tourists! Just keep quiet and do as we say, and you won't get hurt!" one of the Team Rocket thugs in the room ordered.
"Crap! This is stupid!" Ross quietly told Lorain and Skins. "Let's just get these guys and get the hell out of here."
"I'm not so sure that's such a good idea." Lorain told him. "If we attack, all these people with us might get caught in the crossfire. And they're already pretty scared as it is."
"So what, we're just supposed to sit on our hands?" Ross asked.
"For now." Lorain answered. "At least until one of us can come up with some kind of plan. I just hope that Bolt's okay, wherever he is."
When Team Rocket had locked all the doors in the building, they had also locked the subbasement room that Bolt and Quinton were in as well. After a few unsuccessful attempts at opening the door, Quinton had gotten out his laptop to jack into the building's computer system and see what was happening.
"Well, the bad news is that somebody's taken over the building's security system." Quinton informed Bolt. "And how, I have no clue, since our system is supposed to be one of the most secure systems in the world. But the short version of it is that I can't override the lock on the door. Plus even if I could, all the elevators in the building have been shut down."
"Is there any good news?" Bolt asked.
"A little. All the teleport pads in the building are still functional, which means we can get out using the same pad you stepped on to get in here." Quinton answered. "I can also tap into the building's surveillance system, so we might be able to see just who the heck is behind this."
"Then let's take a look." Bolt decided.
With a few keystrokes, the screen on Quinton's laptop showed four smaller windows playing video from various floors. As the windows switched through the feeds, Bolt and Quinton saw Team Rocket members on each floor.
"Damn! It's those Team Rocket losers again." Bolt observed. "But why would they even want to take over this place?"
"Are you kidding? Silph Co. makes tons of products that a criminal organization like Team Rocket would love to get its thieving hands on." Quinton told him. "Stuff that we don't normally release to the public. And probably the biggest of those little forbidden gems is the Master Ball."
"As in the rare pokeball that can catch anything?" Bolt asked. "Even Pokemon that haven't been weakened in a fight? That Master Ball?"
"The very same." Quinton confirmed. "The way my dad tells it, when the development of the Master Ball was finished, my grandpa and all the scientists who worked on the project realized how dangerous it was to make the Master Ball easily available to the general public. For one thing, it could've encouraged reckless Pokemon hunting. Silph still produces the ball of course, but it's strictly regulated. These days a Master Ball can either only be won as a contest prize or given as gifts to very important people like Pokemon Researchers. Otherwise the only way for the average person to get a Master Ball an absurd amount of money, the kind of money usually used to by a villa in the South of Kalos."
"So Team Rocket's after all the Master Balls in the building?" Bolt assumed.
"Oh it's way worse than that, my friend." Quinton told him. "Like I said, the production of the Master Ball is strictly regulated by Silph. In order to produce even one ball, the blueprints need to be loaded into the computer of the machine used to manufacture pokeballs. Those blueprints are on a disc locked in a safe in my dad's office. If Team Rocket was to get those blueprints, they could make all the Master Balls they wanted from the comfort of their own evil hideout."
"Okay, so we need to get to your dad's office to keep Team Rocket from getting those blueprints." Bolt realized.
"And to keep these goons from hurting my dad." Quinton added. "He's not just going to hand the blueprints over willingly, and I'm sure these guys aren't squeamish about using force to get what they want."
"Plus to top it all off, we also gotta save my friends and every other person in this building." Bolt concluded. "Talk about problems. So what do you think we should do, good buddy?"
"We can use the teleport pads all over the building to get to my dad's office." Quinton informed him. "I know where just about each one goes. Of course it'll probably be a long trip, especially since some of the pads will be cut off from us because of the doors. But we might run into your friends along the way."
"Well that's something, I guess." Bolt replied.
"There is one more little wrinkle though." Quinton told him. "We're probably going to run into a lot of these Team Rocket goons along the way, so we may have to fight all the way there. In fact the moment we step off the first pad, we've got three goons that'll probably attack us right away."
"Hey, I can handle myself." Bolt assured him. "How 'bout you?"
"I'm not too bad when it comes to Pokemon battles." Quinton answered. "Four nights out of the week I go to a place to train secretly with Porygon and Chrome."
"Well then, I guess there's nothing to do now but go in there with guns blazing." Bolt decided.
"Then let's hit the road." Quinton replied.
With that, Quinton called his two Pokemon back to their balls and he and Bolt stepped on the teleport pad. Seconds later when the materialized in the lobby, they were immediately spotted by three Team Rocket agents.
"What the hell? I thought all the hostages were locked up!" one of the agents exclaimed.
"We can ask questions after we take care of these two punks!" another agent told them before throwing a pokeball. "Go Koffing!"
Floating out of the thrown ball was a purple spherical creature with bumps all over its body. On the front of the creature was a face over a kind of skull and crossbones. The other two Rocket agents each threw a pokeball as well, sending out their own Koffing.
"You guys are making this way too easy." Bolt smirked. "Let's rock, Magnezone!" The magnetic Pokemon burst out of its ball to face the Koffing trio.
"Go Porygon!" Quinton called with his own throw. The artificial Pokemon burst out of the ball and floated up next to Magnezone. "Use Psybeam!"
Porygon glared at the center Koffing and fired beams of multicolored light from its eyes. The lead Koffing was hit in the face and dropped to the ground.
"Thunderbolt!" Bolt commanded.
Magnezone let loose bolts of yellow electricity that shocked the remaining two Koffing and the Rocket agents. When the attack ended, both the remaining Koffing and the agents were out cold on the ground.
"That was easier than I thought it'd be." Quinton observed.
"Yeah, most of these Team Rocket losers are pushovers." Bolt replied.
"You've faced these guys before?" a somewhat surprised Quinton asked.
"A couple of times." Bolt answered. "So far, the only members of this stupid gang who've been a big threat are the boss man, Giovanni and this one masked gal I met while I was in Johto a little while back. Man, you want to avoid that lady if you can help it."
"Then let's hope neither of those two are here and get going." Quinton replied.
After the two called back their respective Pokemon, Quinton quickly led Bolt to the next teleport pad they needed to get to on that floor. The pad took them to a small room that was five floors up from where they were. When they exited into the hall, they were someone relieved to find that there were no Team Rocket agents waiting for them.
"So the next pad is gonna take us up another five floors, right?" Bolt whispered.
"No, it'll take us two floors down to a corridor outside one of the meeting rooms." Quinton whispered back. "The pads we have access to aren't going to give us a direct route to my dad's office. We're gonna end up bouncing around the whole building before this thing's over."
"Groovy." Bolt sarcastically replied.
As Bolt and Quinton turned a corner, they bumped into a man wearing a while lab coat. He was scrawny and had olive-green hair, and brown eyes behind a thick pair of round glasses. Bolt instantly tensed up and the man let out a startled cry.
"Whoa! Easy Bolt." Quinton told him. "This guy's just one of the scientists who works here."
"Uh, oh! Young Mr. Mercury." The scientist responded as he adjusted his glasses. "I wasn't expecting to see you out here."
"Same here, Dr. uh…" Quinton replied.
"Oh, I'm Dr. Kirkland. I work in the pharmacology department." The scientist informed him. "I don't blame you for not knowing who I am. I'm just a lowly employee."
"How come you aren't locked up?" Bolt asked.
"Well I was, but those brutes from Team Rocket chose to leave me alone." Kirkland explained. "It didn't occur to them that I had a card key that allowed me to override the lock on the door."
"Hey, how come you don't have one of those card keys?" Bolt asked Quinton.
"Yeah, well I do but I forgot to bring it with me today." Quinton admitted. "Half the time I don't even use the thing. Plus its access is somewhat limited. I may be the president's son, but there are places where even I'm not really authorized to be."
"I certainly hope that the president is okay." Kirkland spoke.
"Bolt and I are trying to get to his office right now." Quinton told him. "But it's gonna take us awhile since some of the teleport pads are locked off."
"They won't be if we use my card key." Kirkland offered. "My access is pretty high. My key should let the three of us get to the pads that will give us a direct route to President Mercury's office."
"The sooner we can get to my dad's office, the better." Quinton decided. "Lead the way, doc."
Kirkland led Bolt and Quinton down another corridor and took them to a fairly small room at the end of the hallway. The room was practically empty, with nothing but shelves holding binders and computer parts lining the walls.
"Hey! There's no teleport pad in here." Quinton suddenly realized.
"No, put this room is the perfect place to dispose of two little rodents like you!" Kirkland told them as he shut the door.
"Damn! I had a feeling something was off." Bolt told Quinton. "This was going too easy."
"Doc! Are you working for Team Rocket?" Quinton asked.
Kirkland chuckled. "Of course I do, you privileged simpleton. Didn't you even wonder for a second about how Team Rocket was able to gain control of this building? Almost half the employees here helped them do it! For years Team Rocket had been recruiting dissatisfied staff members like me as part of an ultimate plan they call Operation Master Grab."
"But why are you working for them?" Quinton asked.
"Because my work here at Silph has always been marginalized!" Kirkland told him. "Every year my project proposals are shot down. Recently your father, the great Quinton Mercury Jr. has even considered me transferring me to a branch out in the coldest part of Unova. But to Team Rocket, my work is actually of value! That's why I and many other of my fellow employees have changed sides."
"So what're you gonna do with us, dude?" Bolt asked.
"Well at first I was just going to lock you in this room." Kirkland told them. "But after our little talk, I can't leave without first teach the little crown prince of Silph, Quinton Mercury the Third a little lesson!" He pulled a pokeball from his lab coat pocket. "Go Muk!"
Emerging from Kirkland's thrown ball was a large blob of purple sludge. The sludge moved and formed a pair of eyes and a large dripping mouth, along with a large pair of dripping hands.
"Take it easy, Quinton. I'll handle this loser." Bolt told him as he pulled out a pokeball.
"No Bolt. This is my battle." Quinton decided as he stepped up. "Kirkland betrayed my family's company, so it's only right that I be the one to take him down. Besides… no one calls me Quinton Mercury the Third! Do you know how stuffy that sounds?"
"Then feel free to teach me a lesson, if you can." Kirkland dared.
"Go Porygon!" Quinton called with the throw of his own ball. The artificial Pokemon flew out to face Muk. "Use Psybeam!"
Porygon glared at Muk and fired beams of light from its eyes. Muk was struck in the face, which rippled upon being hit and took a moment to reform.
"Ah, Porygon. One of the greatest products the company ever made next to the Master Ball." Kirkland mused. "Too bad for you that my Muk is far stronger! Muk, use Sludge Bomb!"
Muk opened its mouth and spewed out a large ball of purple gunk. Porygon was hit in the face by the projectile and wobbled around in the air a bit. Suddenly the digital Pokemon's face turned slightly purple.
"Oh dear. It looks like Muk's Sludge Bomb attack managed to poison Porygon." Kirkland smirked. "It's as good as finished."
"Not yet! Use Psybeam one more time!" Quinton commanded. Porygon got it together and fired two more beams that hit Muk in the face. "Now use Thunderbolt!"
Porygon's body gave of a bolt of yellow electricity that shocked Muk. When the attack ended, Muk collapsed into a pile of sludge and was out cold.
"Well, you managed to do better than I expected." Kirkland observed as he called back Muk. "But my final Pokemon is sure to finish you off. Go Toxicroak!"
Bursting out of Kirkland's second pokeball was a dark-blue frog-like creature with a somewhat humanoid build, standing at over four feet tall. It had bight yellow eyes and a noticeable red upper lip. A large spike jutted out from the creature's forehead, and under its chin was a large red sack. The middle finger on both the creature's three-fingered hands was a long red stinger. It had muscular legs, and the middle toe on both its three toed feet were red.
"Venoshock!" Kirkland commanded.
After making a croaking sound, Toxicroak opened its mouth and spewed out a large green blob of gunk. Porygon was struck in the face and its body crackled with purple electricity. After a moment, Porygon dropped to the ground like a stone and was out cold.
"Looks like you're all but finished." Kirkland boasted as Quinton called back Porygon. "I know you have at least one more Pokemon left, but there's no way that your little Beldum can defeat my Toxicroak!"
"We'll see about that! Go Chrome!" Quinton called with his next throw. The metallic Pokemon flew out of its ball. "Use Take Down!"
Chrome flew at Toxicroak like a missile and rammed into the poison frog's chest. The attack caused Taxicroak to stumble back a step.
"Your Beldum may have type advantage in this battle, but with Take Down being the only move it knows it can't get very far." Kirkland smugly declared. "Toxicroak, use Low Kick!"
After recovering from Chrome's attack Toxicroak charged in and kicked the metal Pokemon from below. The attack sent Chrome flipping towards the ceiling like a football. Chrome managed to stop itself from crashing and floated back down to the battlefield.
"As a simple researcher, I know I'm not the most skilled when it comes to Pokemon Battles." Kirkland admitted. "But I know that I'm strong enough to defeat someone like you, Mr. Mercury. You may have some unique Pokemon, but since your father didn't allow you to go on a training journey, you're as inexperienced as a six-year-old! This battle is as good as mine!"
Suddenly Chrome's body began to glow with a brilliant white light. Bolt and the others watched as the glowing Pokemon divided like a single celled organism. The two Pokemon flipped around in the air and their heads extended to reveal long necks. Their heads then merged together into a single object and the light from their now shared body faded. Chrome had become a silver creature with a saucer-shaped body with two red eyes and a golden spike on the front like a nose. Its two original bodies had become a pair of arms that hung underneath, and the claws on each arm had become slightly larger.
"Awesome! Chrome just evolved into a Metang!" Bolt praised.
"So that's how Beldum and Metang evolve when not in the wild." A fascinated Quinton observed. "They go through a kind of mitosis. I've always wondered about that."
"What? No! How is this possible?" a shocked Kirkland asked.
"I may not have gone on a training journey, but my Pokemon and I have trained." Quinton told him. "Chrome, use Confusion!"
Chrome's eyes glowed and suddenly Toxicroak began to glow with a feint blue aura. An invisible force then flung Toxicroak hard into the wall behind Kirkland.
"Finish it with Metal Claw!" Quinton commanded.
Chrome flew at Toxicroak at its claws began to glow with a white light. The metal Pokemon slashed Toxicroak twice in the chest, causing the fighting frog to fall to the ground on its face.
"Damn you!" Kirkland cursed.
"Okay Quinton, I got it from here." Bolt told him as he pulled out a pokeball. "Let's rock, Raikou!"
The tiger of thunder burst from its ball and roared at Kirkland. All the color drained from the traitorous scientist's face upon seeing the beast.
"Sorry to do this dude, but I'm gonna have to ask for that card key you got." Bolt told Kirkland. "Otherwise I may have to get rough on ya."
Author's Note: Originally, the Silph Co. incident was only going to be two chapters long. But after I had wrapped up the previous chapter, I realized that just two chapters weren't going to be enough. So Silph is going to be under siege for just one chapter longer.
Please review and let me know what you think.