Pokémon Darkness
Part 2: Kanto
Chapter 23: Cross Country
Claire could hardly believe how lucky she had been as she walked away from her house with her group of friends. Not only had she convinced her parents to allow her to continue fighting Cipher, at least for the time being (Reinigen had been a deciding factor, though Claire had been surprised to learn that there were other, albeit significantly slower means of purification), but their only stipulation had been that they go with her, which she greatly preferred to leaving them again. Furthermore, Triton had appeared, and openly volunteered to help fight Cipher, which both lessened some of her fears about him and allowed her to be with the jerk for a while. And, to top it all off, no Cipher agents had shown up at her house, which left vague worries as to why they hadn't, but was a blessing she tried to avoid questioning.
No one spoke particularly much on the way out of Pallet Town. At least, not to Claire, they didn't. White and Bianca spoke to each other quietly, and her dad and mom would say something every now and then. Claire stayed close to her parents, relishing the comfort their presence brought. She hadn't realized how thoroughly she had missed them until she was with them again.
"Claire?" Triton said as they entered Route 1. "I've been wondering something, since we battled in Accumula Town. Why and how did you underlevel your Deino? I know it's not strong enough to have evolved naturally. Deino take a really long time to evolve. But yours did."
He paused here, apparently thinking. Claire had the sudden sensation of swallowing a lot of ice, followed by a resurgence of the complex mix of emotions that had accompanied Deino's evolution. She glanced up at her parents, and was relieved to see that, in their own conversation, they hadn't overheard Triton's question. She gradually began to fall back as she tried to work out how to explain what had happened to Triton.
"…I sat on the park bench in Accumula for a long time," Triton said after a few seconds. "I just sat there, thinking 'Why would she do that? That seems so unusual for her. She hates hurting Pokémon under any circumstances. So why would she do that?' I couldn't figure out why, so I stopped thinking about it. For a while. But I kept wondering again. And now I need to know."
"…I didn't," Claire finally whispered, once she thought she was a safe distance from her parents. "You promise you won't tell anyone this? Especially my mom and dad?"
"Why would I?" Triton said, half-chuckling. Claire looked urgently at him, hoping to convey the seriousness of this, and Triton held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, sure. I won't say anything. Just tell me."
"…Okay," Claire said, after taking a deep breath. "Well… W-we d-didn't go straight to Unova after we hid back in our old cave after you fought me. We a-actually went to C-Cipher's base in the northern mountains, s-since th-that was the only one we h-hadn't been to. We knew th-that was where they were m-making Sh-Shadow Pokémon, a-and we wanted to at least t-try to st-stop them, so… We went there first."
"I see," Triton said. "And why does this need to be so secret?"
"B-because…" Claire murmured. "B-because I c-came r-really close to d-d-dying there… A-and I don't w-want my p-parents to worry more."
"Dying? How?" Triton said quickly. If Claire hadn't known better, she might have thought he was worried.
"It's… k-kind of a long story," she whispered. "Just, basically, w-we wound up in a r-room with lots of ma-machines for t-tests and stuff when we g-got c-c-caught. Ardos's Alakazam had m-me and N h-held, and Ein the Sh-Shadow Lord was g-getting stuff r-ready to do tests o-on me and st-stuff. Deino was on this table, c-cause I'd tried to fight with her. Ardos j-just held her down, b-but she bit him and got away. Sh-she knew she was outmatched b-by A-Alakazam, s-so… sh-she un-underleveled herself. She j-jumped into a machine th-they had that Ein s-said f-f-forced P-Pokémon to evolve, a-and came out as a… as a Z-Zweilous."
Claire had to stop for a while here. She still felt terrible that her oldest friend had subjected herself to something so painful for her sake. At the same time, though, she was very touched by the act of selflessness. She wasn't entirely sure what she should feel.
Without really thinking about it, she clicked Zweilous's Pokéball and let the dark dragon walk along beside her. Her hand fell down to Zweilous's heads, and she scratched each in turn. Zweilous growled softly, and Claire knew that she understood.
"…She used B-Bite on A-Alakazam twice," Claire continued after a little, "and s-surprised him into dr-dropping me and N. N t-told us to run… I d-didn't wanna l-leave him, but I knew I should… S-so we did. We f-fought a little bit, but mostly we j-just ran. W-we got out and just kept running, until we got to our old cave. Th-then we just w-waited for N. We g-got worried that he hadn't g-gotten out… b-but he sh-showed back up after like half a day. That's when we went to Unova."
"I see…" Triton said slowly. "Interesting."
They walked on in silence for a while longer, and Claire gradually made her way back toward her parents. She wasn't sure how she felt about keeping that part of her story from them, but she decided that it was better that way. So she kept quiet.
"Speaking of evolutions," Triton said after a while. "You know Karrablasts and Shelmets evolve, right?"
"Um…" Claire mumbled, again flustered at appearing less-than-brilliant. "Is there anything special to it?"
"You could say that," Triton said, smirking and raising his eyebrows. "They require a member of the other species. The evolutions can be induced through various means, like virtual trading or simple electrical shock, but wild ones just find another and evolve automatically. No one knows what makes them decide that they're ready."
"Okay…" Claire said, a bit confused, but able to generally follow what Triton was saying.
"Of course, you've probably already put two and two together," Triton said, making her blush slightly, as she didn't think she had. "I have a Karrablast. You have a Shelmet. Now would be a good time to evolve them."
"Oh! Right!" Claire exclaimed, feeling exceptionally slow. "I-I'll just…"
With that, she hastily released Shelmet into her hands, trying to ignore Triton's snickering. Shelmet looked around a bit nervously, but relaxed when she saw that a fight was not imminent.
"Hey, Shelly!" Claire said happily. "You know how Triton has a Karrablast? Well, he's here now. How would you feel about evolving?"
Shelmet jumped slightly, with a clear mixture of excitement and nervousness. Claire patted her gently for reassurance.
"If you don't wanna, that's really okay," she assured her small snail. "It's up to you."
Shelmet cried softly, with the same uneasy eagerness. She definitely wanted to evolve, but the idea of it also scared her. Claire thought about it for a moment, and decided that providing encouragement would ultimately be the best for Shelmet.
"You won't get hurt," she told her. "Shelmets evolve all the time. It'll be different, and new, but cool! If you wanna, you should definitely do it."
Shelmet was still notably nervous, but made a definitely affirmative noise. Claire smiled at her before nodding to Triton, who clicked a Pokéball to release his Karrablast into his hands. Just then, however, the group abruptly stopped moving, and White spoke up.
"Right, well, here's the gym," she announced, making Claire suddenly aware that they had already entered the city. "Me and B are gonna go tell the Leader what's going on. Claire, Triton, you guys can finish evolving your Pokémon first. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, I dunno, you guys do whatever."
As she was finishing, she and Bianca were already starting towards the gym doors. Claire recalled what the Viridian Gym Leader was like, and hoped that one of her parents had warned White and Bianca, or at least would go with them. Both, however, seemed unkeen to leave Claire outside, and Claire supposed that she couldn't blame them. In truth, however, she wanted just this moment with Triton.
"All right," Triton said, sitting down beneath a nearby tree and placing his Karrablast in front of him. "Let's get this done."
Claire quickly sat down facing Triton, setting Shelmet down on the grass. Karrablast jumped eagerly forward immediately, making Shelmet flinch back. Apparently noting this, Karrablast proceeded forward more slowly, with slightly quieter cries. Shelmet responded tentatively, and the two Bug-types went briefly back and forth. Claire could tell how Shelmet gradually warmed up to Karrablast, every now and then inching closer to him. Triton made occasional irritated noises, suggesting they move faster, but Claire would glare at him each time, and he would shrug and continue watching them.
Finally, Shelmet made a resolved noise, and Karrablast jumped happily before latching onto the upper part of Shelmet's armor with the pinchers on his head. Immediately, both bugs glowed with bright white light, but to Claire this was overcome after a fraction of a second by their auras, which grew significantly more radiant. Claire could just barely make out the forms of the two evolving Pokémon. Shelmet's shell seemed to fold off of her and wrap itself around Karrablast, both growing larger as this happened. Their bodies began to change shape, but their blazing auras became too much for Claire, and she had to turn away. After a few more seconds and an intense flash, their auras died back down to a normal level, and Claire turned back to see her Accelgor floating a few inches off the ground before Triton's Escavalier.
"Wow…" Claire murmured as Accelgor turned to her. "How do you feel, um, Celly?"
Accelgor glanced around nervously, keeping her new arms tightly crossed and shivering slightly as she slowly touched the ground. Several strands of a fleshy bluish material fluttered around her, which, once she noticed them, she hastily wrapped around her body. She looked back at Claire and made a soft, energetic-yet-awkward noise.
"You're cold?" Claire almost-laughed. "I guess that makes sense, without your shell. You like feeling so light, though?"
Accelgor nodded with a cheery cry, before experimentally hopping forward. She easily flew over Claire's head, apparently landing quite far away, but returned to Claire's side before she could even turn around. Claire smiled down at her newly-evolved Pokémon, rubbing her head gently, before recalling her back to her Pokéball. She saw Triton admiring his Escavalier for a moment longer before doing the same.
"You kids ready?" Claire's dad spoke up, suddenly reminding Claire that he was there. "Let's head into the gym, then. See how they're dealing with him…"
Claire then followed her dad into the gym alongside Triton, with her mom right behind them. She saw that the gym's weird arrow tiles were already active, and that White and Bianca were just getting to the end of the room. White, unsurprisingly, was shouting at the Leader, her voice very audible even across the room.
"Okay, now that we've wasted enough time getting through you extremely unnecessary warp tile maze thing-" White began, but was quickly cut off.
"Yeah, yeah, we can battle. You better have the other seven Kanto badges though. If not, you just spent a whole lot of time doing nothin' for no reason."
"We aren't here to battle! I shouted that to you plenty of times!"
"Can't hear ya across the room," he shrugged. "And if ya ain't gonna battle, you're just wasting my time."
"Okay, first, that's Bouffalant shit!" White spat. "And second-"
"She's gonna need help," Claire's dad laughed, shaking his head. "Let's head over there."
With that, he headed for one of the arrow tiles. Claire followed behind him, but just before he set foot on it Triton spoke up.
"That tile's not going to get you anywhere," he said, his expression mildly bemused. "That'll take you almost directly back. Obviously, we should start with this one."
"Oh really?" Claire's dad said, glaring down at Triton. "And you're so sure of this how?"
"It's obvious. I mean, if you even look at it."
"You'll wanna watch your tongue, kid," he said bitterly. "I could wipe out your team with one Pokémon."
"Oh, you could beat up a ten-year old after a life of training. That's both unique and menacing."
"You wanna-" he started, but Claire's mom laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Wes, let it go. If he knows how to get through, let him show us."
"Mmph, fine. Lead the way, kid, if you're so brilliant."
Claire wasn't quite sure what to make of this exchange. As she was thrown across the room by the strange tiles after Triton, it occurred to her that she hadn't really seen Triton talk to anyone but her very much. She realized that he obviously would've been as insulting to everyone as he was to her, but… something about it put her off a bit. She couldn't place it.
He had certainly been right about the path, however. After no more than five minutes, including Claire's dad wiping the floor with one trainer they couldn't avoid, they had reached the area where gym battles were held, and where Bianca stood watching White argue with the Gym Leader.
"Didn't sound like she was getting anywhere," Claire's dad chuckled, startling Bianca.
"Um, no, not really," Bianca admitted. "He's… not very helpful."
"That's putting it one way," he mumbled. "All right, I'll see if I can do something."
Claire inwardly giggled as her dad approached the Gym Leader. Her dad was one of the few people the Viridian Leader had some small degree of respect for, even if it was very begrudging. He'd surely listen to him.
"Hey, Blue," he called out. "Listen up."
"Eh?" the Gym Leader said, distracted from his ongoing argument. "Oh, Wes. What do you want? And what's the whole family here for?"
"You know this jackass?" White asked, also turning.
"I know this jackass," Claire's dad snickered. "And don't repeat that, Claire. Right, Blue-"
"Hey, that's Leader Blue to you," Leader Blue interrupted.
"Fine. Leader Blue," he added. "Listen to what she's got to say. It actually matters, a lot."
"Mmmm… Nah. Don't really feel like it," he dismissed. "Now get outta here. I got a gym to run, and you're blocking challengers. So-"
"If you won't listen to her," Claire's dad cut in threateningly, "you'll listen to me. Okay?"
"Okay, okay, jeeze," Blue gave in. "But make it quick, or I'll kick you out."
Claire's dad then began explaining about Cipher, trying to get through all the important points before Blue's interest waned. Every now and then he would turn to White and ask her to fill in a detail or two. By the time he had finished, Blue looked barely fazed.
"Meh," he said. "Doesn't really sound like my kind of thing."
"Doesn't sound like your kind of-" White began furiously. "The hell is that supposed to mean? You're an Arceus-damned Gym Leader! This is exactly your kind of thing!"
"Taking down evil teams ain't part of a Gym Leader's job description," he said. "I'm not into that sort of hero stuff. That's more Red's deal. Go find him. Smell ya later."
"Your whole region is gonna be taken over by these psychos!" White shouted. "And you don't want to do anything about it?"
"Don't have to. They're an evil team," he snickered. "When has an evil team anywhere ever actually won? And when have I ever done anything to stop them?"
"How am I supposed to-"
"Never!" Blue interrupted. "It only ever takes one stupidly stubborn trainer. Kanto'll be fine even without my help."
"You don't know Cipher," Claire's dad insisted. "I've fought them before, back in Orre. They're very dangerous, and they've only gotten worse this time. It took me and Rui to stop them, and it was ridiculously exhausting, and we almost failed several times. That was when they were only in one region. This isn't something one trainer can do."
"Mmmm… Still not impressed. So smell ya later. That means get out, or I'll throw you out."
Both White and Claire's dad threw their arms into the air in frustration, and Claire couldn't help but agree. She knew how decidedly unhelpful Blue Oak was, but had hoped that he would understand the gravity of the threat and actually be willing to do something. She was actually somewhat angry at him, which was a rather alien feeling in her when not directed at Cipher. She wanted to say something to make him help, but couldn't think of what.
"Um, hey, Leader Blue?" Bianca suddenly spoke up, without her usual tentativeness. "Listen, I mean, even if you don't wanna do any fighting and stuff, could you like at least tell the people of Viridian City about Cipher? Cause, I mean, that's like the most important thing, is letting people know about them, cause they're mostly so dangerous cause no one knows about them, and, yeah."
"Meh," Blue said. "Will it make you all shut up and leave me alone?"
"Oh, yes!" Bianca assured him. Claire was stunned for a moment at how simple this all could've been, and how no one but Bianca had realized it.
"Fine then. Whatever. I'll tell everyone about your dumb evil team. Smell ya later."
"Oh, thank you!" Bianca said graciously. Blue merely shrugged.
"I'm putting this on you, Wes!" he shouted as Claire and everyone turned to leave. "If you're lying or you're wrong, it'll be your neck, not mine!"
"I'll keep that in mind," Claire's dad called back, as they all stepped onto the tiles to carry them back to the exit. Claire hurried after her dad and White, who were leading the way, with Bianca on her right side and her mother on her left, while Triton followed behind.
"You know…" Bianca said as they neared the entrance to Route 2. "I don't wanna question y'all's willingness to help, but how come y'all believed us all straight-away about Cipher? I mean, Leader Blue seemed like he trusted you, Mr. Thomas, but why'd you guys trust us?"
"You'd be quick to trust the people who safely returned your daughter to you, too," Claire's mom answered, making Claire blush slightly. "Claire also supported your story, and we trust her. And your fear of Cipher was very real."
"Yeah, and on top of that, you already knew stuff that we already knew about Cipher, like their Shadow Pokémon," her dad added. "You wouldn't know that if you hadn't fought them. But you're wrong about one thing. You shouldn't be too quick to accept help from people whose motives aren't clear. Questioning is good."
"Oh, I see, okay," Bianca said uncertainly. "I guess that all makes sense. Thanks."
By then, they had reached the edge of Viridian Forest. Claire's hand instinctively brushed Reinigen's Pokéball as they entered the maze of trees. There was something comforting about passing through here, where her whole adventure had begun, as the endgame for Kanto drew near.
"Ugh, thick forest," White mumbled as they proceeded farther. "It's gonna take way too long to get through."
"Oh, I can lead here!" Claire exclaimed. "I know this place really good!"
With that, she hurried forward, dashing along the most direct path through the forest she knew. She kept looking back to make sure her parents and friends were close as she skipped through the tall grass, dense shrubs, and thick trees. She paused when she reached the clearing that she knew roughly marked the halfway point, reflecting on accidentally kicking the box that contained Februa's egg in that exact spot.
"Hey, White, Mom, Dad, here's where-" she began, turning around to face her companions, but abruptly trailed off when she caught sight of the badly scarred face surrounded by deep blue hair that was lurking just behind her group. Her breathing immediately grew shallow and she began trembling slightly, which her mother was quick to take note of as they all entered the clearing.
"Claire? What's wrong?" she asked, but another voice called out before Claire could answer, dowsing her with even more terror.
"Attack!" Ardos shrieked. "Take the girl and her mother alive! Kill the rest!"
The moment he spoke, Cipher peons began pouring into the little clearing from all sides. Claire's dad leapt in front of her, and Claire soon found herself in the middle of a ring formed by White, Bianca, her parents, and Triton, still frozen in fear.
"You picked a terrible time to be a coward, Claire," Triton hissed at her, as his Machoke joined the battle. His words shattered her stupor like a stone hurled at a mirror, and she stood thinking for a moment.
He was right. She shouldn't- couldn't be a coward now. She couldn't keep being afraid of Cipher. Her friends were in danger now, and she certainly wasn't about to let them all right while she hid in their shadows. No. She was going to fight. She was going to beat the bad guys. She was going to save everyone.
Her fearful trembles became ones of righteous anger, and her hands curled into fists, which she unclenched just long enough to seize Accelgor's Pokéball. She pushed her way between Triton and her dad, and refused to be afraid as she flung the Pokéball into battle.
Under Zoroark's illusion, Janine was not given a second glance as she and Surge hurried to the eastern edge of Vermilion City. A few people followed Surge with their eyes, doubtlessly wondering where their Gym Leader was going when the gym was due to be open in just over an hour, but no one, of course, questioned him. No one, that was, until they reached the gate to Route 11.
"Oh, good morning, Lt. Surge!" the guard greeted, in a tone Janine thought was just a little too friendly. "May I ask where you're headed so early?"
"Yeah, you can ask," Surge growled. "And I can tell you to mind your own damn business."
The guard looked quite taken aback, and Janine would have worried that Surge had been too suspicious if he wasn't so prone to bitter moods. She then had to remind herself that it was only marginally likely that the gate guards were working for Cipher, and just silently followed him onto Route 11 with Zoroark at her side.
"Maybe not so angry next time," she quietly suggested.
"Hey, it wasn't any of his business!" Surge insisted. Janine just shrugged and supposed that that would have to suffice.
As they strode down the grassy route (and whenever no one was within earshot), Janine filled Surge in on more details about Cipher: their use of Shadow Pokémon, that they had taken over Silph Co, that Hoenn and Orre had already fallen to them, and such things. Every new piece of information seemed to make Surge even more outraged, and even more fiercely determined to put a stop to their plans. By the time they had reached the docks and bridges of Route 12 and she'd told him everything she knew, his vehemence almost even frightened Janine.
She started to think about her father as they nearer Lavender Town. She wished that she'd had enough time to see him first, but she knew this plan was better. Telling him, and by extension the Elite Four, about Cipher would certainly be helpful, but everyone needed to know, and the Radio Tower was the only way to tell all of Kanto quickly enough. Even so, she would have liked to have had him with her as well as Surge. He was probably the best trainer she knew, and she was confident that nothing could go wrong with him there. But he was on the other side of Kanto. She and Surge would have to strong enough to take on any threat Cipher threw at them.
As soon as they set foot in Lavender Town, Janine couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Admittedly, she'd had that feeling since she had broken out of Celadon Penitentiary, but her unease amplified as they walked through the town. She tried to assure herself that this was just paranoia associated with being so close to their goal, but… she didn't really believe it.
Janine hadn't been to Lavender Town in quite some time, but had heard that the Radio Tower had been fully open to the public for a while. It was thus to her surprise that she saw a burly guard standing in front of the door with a Marowak at his side, who show little inclination to allow anyone through. Her immediate fear was that he was an agent of Cipher, waiting for them, but she quickly calmed herself and instead analyzed the guard. By his tense and ready-to-fight stance, Janine could tell easily that, Cipher agent or not, he would be easily intimidated by Surge.
"Step aside, punk," Surge said upon reaching the tower, apparently opting to start with politeness. "Got an important message for the people of Kanto."
"I can't do that," the guard said, notably reluctantly. "Strict orders. No one's allowed in unless they've got a broadcast license, or have been formally invited by someone with one. The Radio Tower doesn't accept visitors at this time."
"…You know who I am?" Surge fumed. "I'm the Gym Leader of Vermilion City! Now, you will stand down and let us pass. That's an order!"
"I-I don't take orders from you," the guard stuttered. "I can't let you p-pass."
Surge stared the guard down, and Janine had to hold her hand over her mouth to hide her chuckling as the guard flinched back. The guard swallowed twice and inhaled deeply once before speaking.
"I-I'm sorry, sir. It would be more than my job to let you or your mother through. Er, security is taken very seriously."
That he was clearly hiding something significantly furthered Janine's suspicions that Cipher was in control of the Radio Tower. Surge didn't seem to care either way, and continued to glare at the guard.
"Soldier, we are on the brink of a national crisis. You will stand down and allow us access, or I will take you out and go through anyway. Do you understand me?"
"…I'm sorry, sir," the guard said with clear fear. "Marowak, get ready, and-"
"Ice Punch, Electivire!" Surge shouted, and his gigantic Thunderbolt Pokémon launched the guard's Marowak against the tower with a frigid fist. The guard stood terrified for a moment before recalling his Marowak and sending out, surprisingly enough, two more Marowak. Janine shook her head at his fatal lack of type diversity before whispering to the "Houndoom" at her side.
"Erm, what moves do you know? Like, can you Night Slash one of them or something?"
Zoroark responded by blasting the Marowak that hadn't been taken out by another Ice Punch yet with a jet of darkness. The Night Daze attack spared Surge's Electivire the moderate damage it would've sustained had the Marowak's Bone Rush hit, allowing it to finish the brief battle with another Ice Punch. The guard apparently lacked any more Pokémon, as he just stood nervously until Surge recalled his Electivire and pushed him out of the way. He made a rather pitiful noise that actually made Janine feel sorry for the poor guy, but Surge glared back at him, and he protested no further.
"Wh-what's going on?" the receptionist said in shock as soon as they entered. "I heard a commotion. Are you authorized to be in here? There aren't any shows on right now…"
"Authorized?" Surge boomed. "Doesn't matter! We've got an important message for the people of Kanto!"
"Errr, right," she said doubtfully. Janine noticed that she was pressing a button underneath her desk. "Well, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"Stop pressing that button," Janine cut in. "Don't make us beat up your security."
She stopped pressing the button, but by then it didn't matter. Two security guards with another Marowak and a Nuzleaf at their sides emerged from the elevator, making Janine and Surge step forward to fight. Just then, three police officers (meaning Cipher agents, Janine thought bitterly) came bursting into the lobby, leaving the two Gym Leaders surrounded.
"Damn it, Janine, you better be right about these Cipher guys controlling the police," Surge murmured to her. "Raichu, Grass Knot on Marowak! Jolteon, Signal Beam on Nuzleaf!"
Not for a second did Janine doubt that she was right as she stood back-to-back with Surge, taking on the police as Surge fought the security. She immediately grabbed another Pokéball and threw it next to Zoroark. She certainly hoped that she was lucky when Altaria appeared to help Zoroark fight a two Glalie and a Seviper. She wracked her brains for a moment trying to recall anything about N's Pokémon's movesets, which gave the Cipher agents time to attack first.
"You're just asking for trouble, granny," the lead one said. "Poison Tail 'em, Seviper!"
The other two both ordered Ice Shard attacks, which rapidly sprayed Janine and both Pokémon. Altaria was hurt rather badly, and Janine realized that she needed to give an order soon.
"Uh, you know Focus Blast, right, um, Hound- aw crap," she spluttered, realizing that the illusion had been disrupted. "Use that on a Glalie!"
Zoroark neatly avoided the Seviper's lashing tail and defended Altaria from another attack with a blast of energy. The other Glalie moved in, and Zoroark was again distracted by the Seviper, but Altaria flew out of the way.
"We have confirmation that the suspect is in fact the escapee Janine Doku," the leader said into a Pokégear watch. "Requesting backup at the Radio Tower."
"Aw, crap," Janine shouted to herself. "Uh, Altaria, anything good against Ice, use it! Like, I dunno, Steel Wing? Iron Tail? Flamethrower?"
Right then, just before the Glalie could attack, Altaria opened her mouth to let out a soft note and a stream of flame. The Glalie barely managed to remain conscious, for a moment, but fainted from its intense burns.
"All right, Flamethrower," Janine said to herself. "I'll remember that."
She turned just quickly enough to see Zoroark get slashed across the face with Seviper's sharp tail. She could tell that he had been poisoned before he even realized it, but also knew that she couldn't worry about that just yet.
"Quick, Night Daze!" she shouted, and the snake was instantly thrown back by a blast of dark energy. Altaria and Zoroark drew closer as the Cipher-police prepared to send out their next Pokémon, but Surge abruptly grabbed Janine's shoulder and dragged her forward.
"I'll hold these bastards off!" he bellowed. "Get to the top and tell Kanto what's attacking her!"
"Awesome," Janine said quickly. "Let's go, guys."
She took off past the defeated guards with Zoroark and Altaria at her side. She knew better than to take the elevator, which could be easily switched off, and instead began sprinting up the stairs. As she reached the second floor, she heard Zoroark moan slightly, and suddenly remembered the poison.
"Ah, frickin, hang on a sec," she mumbled, reaching into her pockets. She quickly withdrew her bottle of general-purpose antidote and hastily splashed some of it across Zoroark's bleeding wound. The unpleasant purple swelling quickly died down, and Zoroark's energy notably returned. This accomplished, she hurriedly led them up to the second floor.
Janine had only been in the tower later in the evenings, for some guest appearances on shows and a few interviews, and wasn't sure how usual it was for the second floor to be largely deserted. She quickly disregarded this, however, and hurried on. The emergency broadcast station, she knew at least, was on the fifth floor.
On the third floor, she could hear several different types of music playing muffled from various rooms. This floor had a few more people, who looked at her curiously as she dashed to the stairs and ran up to the fourth floor. The second she set foot on the landing, however, the elevator doors opened, and three security guards blocked her path to the next flight of stairs with yet another Marowak, another Nuzleaf, and, uniquely enough, an Arcanine.
"Hold it right there, missy," the first one said, sparking her anger. She thoroughly detested any belittling terms like that. They all issued some commands, but she couldn't make out any of them.
"Flamethrower the Nuzleaf!" Janine immediately shouted, not wanting to lose the first turn. "And, uh, Night Daze whoever!"
The jet of fire singed the Nuzleaf's legs as it leapt into the air, flinched forward, and delivered a Faint Attack. Zoroark, meanwhile, loafed for a few moments (giving Janine the somewhat paranoid impression that he was mocking her) before beginning to attack, which gave the Arcanine enough time to smash him with a violet Flare Blitz. He was notably injured, but, after grappling with the fire dog briefly, he managed to fend it off with Night Daze. Janine then saw the Marowak hurl its bone club, and called it out to Zoroark. Fortunately, he listened, and leapt out of the way, but it smacked him across the face as it came circling back. At this point, she realized that Altaria had been idle for several seconds, and hastily shouted again.
"Just, use the same attacks, both of you!"
The Nuzleaf, which had been peppering Altaria with Faint Attacks, was then summarily torched with another Flamethrower. The Marowak struck Zoroark first, smashing him repeatedly with Bone Rush. Janine hurriedly told him to attack the Marowak instead, and was very grateful when he did so with minimal hesitation. As soon as the Bone Keeper Pokémon was thrown off, however, the Arcanine, quite injured from the Night Daze and his own Flare Blitz, lunged at Zoroark with a vicious Reversal attack. The illusion fox was sent flying several feet, and did not rise when he crashed to the ground.
"…Crap," Janine said softly, filled with innumerable worries as she recalled N's Zoroark. "Uh, Altaria, use, uh, I dunno, Dragon Claw? Breath? Pulse?"
The Marowak leapt up high, ready to use Smack Down, but it was blasted out of the air by Dragon Pulse. The force of the attack critically snapped its head back, and when it fell to the floor it too fainted. By then, the Nuzleaf had been replaced by yet another Marowak (furthering Janine's contempt of standard-issue Pokémon), and the fainted Marowak was recalled for a unique Croagunk. Janine took this time to send out another of N's Pokémon, which turned out to be Breloom.
"Altaria, keep that Arcanine the hell away from Breloom!" Janine shouted. "Breloom, uh, hit the Marowak with, um, Seed Bomb? Giga-?"
Janine gratefully noted her lucky first guess as Breloom knocked out the Marowak with one devastating Seed Bomb. The Arcanine launched a Flare Blitz at Breloom, but Altaria took the attack and sent it back with a Dragon Pulse. Janine was surprised when it returned to its feet, and wondered whether it might be a Shadow Pokémon. As Breloom turned around, however, a swift Poison Jab from the Croagunk knocked her back and dazed her.
"Altaria! Quick, Aerial Ace or Pluck or Sky Attack or Fly or something!"
Altaria swiftly soared up to the ceiling before diving down at the Croagunk. This gave the poison frog enough time to give Breloom another Poison Jab, which left the Mushroom Pokémon barely standing and poisoned. Janine bit her lip, praying that Breloom had the right ability. The Croagunk moved in again, but Altaria slashed it across the chest, taking it out in a single hit as well. Breloom stood dazed for a moment, but shook her head and gained focus as her two severe injuries began to close up. Janine let at a whoop, thankful for a Poison Heal ability for the first time in her life.
"Awesome!" she cheered. "Now, Dragon Pulse, Altaria! And Breloom, uh, Brick Break? Force Palm? Dynamic Punch?"
As Altaria hit the Arcanine with a blast of draconic energy that it somehow withstood, Breloom merely lucked perplexedly at Janine. This kept her from seeing the Arcanine as it charged towards her with a suicidal Flare Blitz, and Janine let out an incomprehensible shout that managed to convey to Altaria to take the hit (or perhaps, Janine thought, Altaria just did it on her own). Regardless, the attack hurt the Arcanine far more than anyone else, and it finally collapsed.
While the two who had used Marowaks appeared to be out of Pokémon and just quietly shuffled to the side, the guard with the probably-Shadow Arcanine switched his fainted Pokémon out for a Froslass. Janine recalled the Glalie that the "police officers" had used, and suspected that the Snorunt line was common amongst Cipher.
"Uh, crap," she mumbled. "Uh, Breloom, um, Seed Bomb, right? And Altaria, Flame-"
Before she could even finish her command, however, a barrage of Ice Shards rained down on both of N's Pokémon. Breloom managed to get a Seed Bomb attack in before she fell to the ice, but Altaria was taken down immediately. She grimaced as she recalled both Pokémon, dodged a volley of Ice Shards aimed at her, and sent out one more Pokémon.
Thankfully, it wasn't Zekrom, as Janine didn't think that he would fit in the room. Instead, N's Camerupt appeared to take on the ice ghost.
"Okay, Camerupt, we can do this," Janine said with forced confidence. "Uh, Overheat!"
Camerupt merely grunted, sounding either angry or confused, while the Froslass blew a current of Icy Wind at him. Janine bit her lip and hurried to give a new order.
"Erm, Flamethrower! Or Fire Blast!"
Again, Camerupt just grunted at Janine, his damaging from the cold gales become notable. Janine frantically thought around for more Fire-type moves Camerupt could learn.
"Flame Burst! Lava Plume! Uhh… Heat Wave?"
At this point, Camerupt actually turned to Janine to glare at her. As she desperately wracked her brains, she began to worry that he simply wouldn't listen when she finally figured out what his Fire attack was.
"Uhhh…" she muttered. "Oh! Eruption?"
Camerupt finally gave her a nod that Janine chose to interpret as "Oh, why didn't you say so?" and turned around to blast a violent stream of molten rock and fire into the air. The attack wasn't nearly as powerful as it could've been, given the damage Camerupt had sustained, but the super-effectiveness badly scorched the Froslass. Before it could recover, he used Eruption again, and finally managed to finish it off.
"Hmm. Well," the lead guard said as he recalled his Pokémon. "This is bad."
"Hell yeah!" Janine cheered. "We did it, guys! Let's go!"
With that, she recalled Camerupt and charged at the stairs. The guards hastened to move out of her way, and she tore her way up to the fifth floor. She knew exactly where the emergency broadcast room was from when she'd been called to give advice on poison safety during the major Ariados outbreak a couple years back, and immediately barged into the luckily-empty room. Without the slightest hesitation, she hit the "go live" button, switched the microphone on, and began to rattle off the speech she'd had half-prepared in the back of her mind for a while.
"Attention, people of Kanto!" she said, in as serious and authoritative a voice as she could muster. "This is Janine Doku, Gym Leader of Fuchsia City, speaking to warn you all about a major crisis we have on our hands.
"As you might've heard already, the Fuchsia Gym was almost completely destroyed last night in a huge explosion. You might've also heard that the Kanto police arrested me shortly afterwards. What you probably didn't hear was that the one's wearing police uniforms were the ones who blew up my gym. The police, in fact, have been corrupt for a long time now. Didn't anyone notice how there've been a lot of police retirements, and a lot new ones signing up? How there've been a lot of arrests, but not too many trials? Maybe you never really thought about it?
"Truth is, an evil organization reminiscent of Team Rocket has taken over a lot of Kanto. Except they're called Cipher, and unlike Team Rocket they don't go running around the streets with uniforms. They're a secret evil organization. So far, they've taken over the police and the prisons. I've been in the Celadon Penitentiary, arrested for a crime these people committed, and I can tell you that they're being completely run by Cipher.
"They've also taken over Silph Co. Anyone wonder why they suddenly stopped letting any visitors in? It's because Cipher's using it to work on their evil experiments! The worst of those is their Shadow Pokémon, which look just like regular Pokémon, but have been through painful tests that turn them into emotionless killing machines. Even the Radio Tower, where I speak now, is under their influence. I had to fight my way up here to tell you all this.
"You can't trust the police! You can't trust the guards at every gate! You can't trust the prison guards! Cipher's watching everywhere, and they're planning to violently conquer Kanto, just like they did with Hoenn and Orre! Wonder why you haven't been able to call your cousin in Ever Grande City? It's because it's under Cipher's total control! We've got to-"
"Janine?" a voice suddenly called from behind. Janine abruptly whirled around, ready to fight to the death, when, to her enormous relief, she saw her dad standing in the doorway with his Muk. Exhaling deeply, she smiled as she called "Just a sec" into the microphone and rushed to hug her father.
"Oh dad, you wouldn't believe what's happened since I saw you!" she chuckled. "I've missed you tons. So much stuff would've been easier if you were there. You heard all that stuff, though, right?"
"I certainly did, and I've missed you as well," he said, rubbing her head before letting her go. "Lt. Surge has already told me what's going on. That was ambitious of you. May I announce something?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah, just a sec," Janine said, hopping back to the microphone. "And now, my father, Koga of the Elite Four, has more to say regarding Cipher!"
Her dad nodded at her before approaching the mic. Janine's grin practically melted off her face, however, when, just before her dad spoke, his Muk seized her from behind, holding her back forcefully. She began spluttering in confusion, but a slimy arm slapped across her mouth, and she could do no more than let out muffled shouts.
"I apologize for my daughter. None of what she has told you is true. She made a mistake in fighting the police to save a terrorist, and she always comes up with elaborate ways to get out of trouble. Disregard her reckless lies."
Each word was a sharp punch in Janine's stomach. It couldn't be true, it couldn't be, that just wasn't her dad. Her dad was a good trainer, he was brave and kind, he would never… but what he had said… It couldn't be…
"I'm sorry, Janine," he said after turning the microphone off, breaking the last of Janine's resolve. "This is just something too big for you to understand. I didn't want to have to do this to you."
"But you did," Janine thought, tears beginning to form. "But you did. You really are… one of them…"
After Carracosta's violent death, N found Petrel to be a surprisingly empathetic and caring friend. Having seen his friend Archer's death, he really understood the pain and regret, and at times found words to adequately describe something that eluded N. And he was almost as good as White at making him feel less agonizingly guilty.
New guilt would stir up at the thought of White. Ever since they left Unova, he really had just made things more difficult for her and added to her stress. On at least one occasion, his argument had been legitimate, but in most of their fights he had been, as White had put it, a complete child. There were a lot of things about the world and people and "the way things worked" that he didn't really understand, and in that sense he would likely always be a child. But as he looked back on the past few days, he realized that he hadn't really learned anything from his first defeat by White, and was still always completely certain that he was right. It was only in retrospect that he could see faults in his arguments. In that sense, he really needed to grow up. White was right about that, as she very often was. She did, after all, embody truth, and oftentimes painful truth. If he and White could learn to balance and compliment each other, rather than fight over every decision, they would become unstoppable. As he lay on his bed, staring at the cell's ceiling, he promised that he would find a way to do that.
"…Somethin's goin' on out there," Petrel spoke up slowly. "Oh! Someone's got out! Two someones! No, three someones! They're makin' their way down to this end! And shit, they got Pokémon!"
"Who is it?" N asked, quickly sitting up. "Is it Cheren or Silver?"
"Dunno. There's a red-haired boy and a black-haired boy, an' someone farther back. They got a Typhlosion an' a Serperior."
N rushed to the cell door, and saw to his delight that it was in fact Cheren and Silver fighting their way through the guards rather easily. First Janine had escaped, and now the other two who had been captured with him. Now he just had to get himself and Petrel out with the Sleep Powder Janine had slipped him.
"Wait, it looks like they're headin' upstairs," Petrel said confusedly. "Ain't they tryin' to get out?"
They were out of sight by the time N tried to locate them again. He looked around at the defeated guards, trying to see any chance of escaping. He didn't see anything, and was about to lay down again, when-
"Holy shit! They… They're givin' people their Pokémon back! They're breaking people out! They're startin' a fuckin' prison break!"
N's heart leapt as he gazed down at the end of the prison, where a woman in a kimono was freeing prisoners as Cheren and Silver tossed bags of Pokéballs down to them. The freed prisoners quickly engaged and defeated the few remaining guards, and then proceeded to help with retrieving the Pokémon. N and Petrel's cell was opened very soon, though N saw with a sinking feeling that only Petrel's Pokémon had been returned. Could Ariana have…?
But N pushed that thought away and focused on positives. The more prisoners who were freed, the faster that even more became freed, and in almost no time at all and with surprisingly little resistance, the every cell was empty. The freed, chanting and cheering, quickly made their way outside.
N stayed close to Petrel, who was happily hugging his Weezing, as the crowd flowed to the exit. As far as he could tell, he was the only one who didn't get his Pokémon back, and couldn't stop worrying about where they might be.
A huge stone wall blocked their way, but with no guards and several hundred Pokémon smashing it, it wasn't long before a sufficiently large hole was torn in it to allow them all freedom. Petrel was practically singing as he set foot outside, and N couldn't help but be happy that all these people Cipher had detained for so long were finally liberated.
N had just enough time to be surprised that they were in Celadon City, not on Cinnabar Island, before Janine's voice tore through the air and tumult, sounding above everything from its many sources. N knew at the first word that Janine had succeeded where he had failed, and reached the Lavender Radio Tower.
"Attention, people of Kanto!" she began, with the authority of a Gym Leader, and proceeded to unmask the evil that was Cipher to the entire Kanto region. N couldn't even begin to describe his elation, knowing that, in one fell swoop, Cipher's secrecy was shattered. The escapees rapidly spread throughout the city, vehemently affirming Janine's words. However, police quickly confronted them, fighting them with both words and Pokémon. Many citizens seemed outraged at this, while others were just confused. When Janine's voice suddenly stopped, Cheren's rang out across the crowd in its place.
"To Saffron City!" he cried. "We need to support her claims! Head to Saffron City!"
N hurried toward the source of Cheren's voice, making sure not to lose Petrel, and found him arguing with Silver when they neared the edge of Celadon.
"No!" Silver was shouting. "You do whatever the hell you want with your little revolution. I'm done here. I'm going to go find my boyfriend, which'll probably help you more anyway. But I'm done dealing with you."
"But-" Cheren began, but was instantly interrupted.
"Done!" Silver yelled, sending out his Crobat. He gave Cheren one last contemptuous glare before grabbing his Crobat's feet and swiftly soaring away. Cheren watched him for a moment, shrugged, and then began running forward with the crowd.
"Cheren!" N called out, making him stop abruptly. The second N caught up with him, he started running again.
"Oh, N," he said, almost annoyed. "What is it?"
"I was wondering," N said quickly, "if you saw my Pokémon, or know what happened to them."
"Oh, right. That," Cheren said. "I don't know, but I can guess. They're probably with Janine."
"How do you-" N began, but Cheren was already explaining.
"For one, I have Janine's Pokémon right here," he said, shaking a bag. "She broke out without them. She also mentioned that she fought, which could've been with poisons, but more likely was with Pokémon, and yours were the only ones missing. Also, Ariana still had yours with her when she went to talk to Janine, and Janine definitely left with one of these bags."
"Oh. That's good," N said, genuinely relieved. "Could I take Janine's Pokémon for now, then?"
"Sure," Cheren said, tossing N the bag. Just then, as they led the crowd onto Route 7, another voice rang out from every radio, TV, and Pokégear in Kanto. It was the Elite Four Koga, and to N's horror, he asserted that Janine had been lying. The mob of escapees began to shout in outrage, and they collectively doubled their pace towards Saffron City.
The streets were already fairly crowded when they arrived, filled with people confused about the emergency announcements. Several were talking or arguing with the police, apparently not completely convinced by their assertions. Once Cheren led the escapees in, however, shouting their agreement with Janine, things became much less orderly. It made N rather nervous, but he hurried on with Petrel behind Cheren.
They soon reached the most obvious destination, the Silph Co building. They passed several moderately large Pokémon battles, but around Silph the crowd was merely arguing with someone who stood in front of the door. N lost track of Cheren as he and Petrel made their way towards the front of the cluster of people around Silph. N's rage flared when he saw that the man at the door was the despicable Shadow Lord Ein, the primary evil genius behind the creation of Shadow Pokémon.
"Silph does not allow visitors at this time. Many of our projects must be kept secret. It's a simple as that. While I am the President of Silph, the company is not in league with any criminal organizations."
"They used to allow visitors!" someone shouted.
"Yeah, until you took over!"
"What's got to be so secret, huh?"
"There were never secrets from the people before!"
"Silph's policies have changed," Ein said tersely. "Now leave Silph's property, or you will be removed from it."
"I don't think so!"
"We wanna see what's going on!"
"Yeah, let us-"
The crowd's objections were silenced as the fearsome cry of Kyogre rent through the air. Immediately, storm clouds began looming over the city. While N was horrified to know that Cipher had captured Legendaries in Hoenn, he thought this was a rather foolish move. Where would he have captured that Pokémon but Hoenn, the very place he had been accused of helping conquer?
"Leave Silph's property," Ein repeated, as rain began to fall. "Or be removed from it."
"Fuck no!" Petrel alone shouted. "You Cipher bastards are outta here!"
With that, his Weezing summoned a bolt of Thunder that struck Kyogre and threw Ein off balance. He immediately followed it with a Sludge Bomb that blasted Ein into the building. The whole crowd began sending out their Pokémon, and charged into Silph Co by force. Ein burst back out after a few seconds, blocking the entrance menacingly with Kyogre, but his Pokégear suddenly rang. N's heart nearly stopped when Ghetsis's voice echoed from it.
"Silph is lost. Have critical projects transferred immediately. Then return to Mountain Base."
"…I'm going to trust your judgment," Ein said bitterly. "But we're going to have problems if this doesn't go well."
With that, he pressed a button on his Pokégear, muttered "Code Yellow", and leapt into the air. He landed on his Altaria and recalled Kyogre simultaneously, before soaring off to the north. N was barely aware of any of this, as that cold, commanding voice had utterly frozen him. People continued to pour into Silph Co, while N stood motionless outside.
"Uh, we goin' in there, man?" Petrel asked, jolting N out of his daze. He was still terrified to have confirmation that… he really was one of Cipher's leaders, but knew that there were more important things going on. Sighing deeply, he considered Petrel's question for a moment.
"No," he said. "I think Cheren's leading some people north, to Cerulean. Let's go there."
"Uh, mkay," Petrel said uncertainly. "Any special reason?"
"It feels right," was all N could reply.
"All right, man. That's good enough for me," Petrel conceded. "You're probably the nicest and smartest guy I've met, man. I'll follow you anywhere."
This made N feel rather touched, and helped to dispel the fear that had settled over his heart. He noticed again, with some regret, that the fight against Cipher here was, if possible, far more destructive than the one in Unova. Unova's liberation had been the result of battles; Kanto's was more akin to riots. People wouldn't get the chance N had given the Second Battalion in Nimbasa City. Everyone would end up dragged into the war. This saddened N, but he knew that was how it had to be. Kanto would come out of this travesty free.
"Thank you," N said, and meant it. "Let's head that way."