Lucario: Bout time you got back
Osean: oh shut it, you're not in college.
Nova: sounds boring
Osean: and hard…. Stupid finals….
Lucario: eh, whatever, have fun writing. This chapter should be good.
Act III: Uprising
Chapter 35: Reprisal Part II
The HKP 10 hovered over the park, relaying the position of any visible Alpha troops to the SOG operatives. The helicopter had taken some small arms fire from the terrorists, but did not sustain any major damage. The two crew members had managed to destroy a few of the vans housing machine guns with their 20mm cannons. While the chances of the tanks hitting them with their 105mm cannons was slim, they didn't feel like taking any chances by getting close to them.
"They are regrouping around the tanks," the pilot called over the radio, "We are almost out of ammo for the twenty mils as well."
"That's all fine, just keep us updated," Eric replied, as he made his way down from the roof. The soldier that had stayed with him following close behind.
"Copy that sir. I can see about thirty men forming up around the two tanks. They are wedged in against a building with the tanks facing opposite directions on the road. They got a good amount of Pokémon with them as-" The pilot paused for a second before continuing, "What the heck is that?"
"What do you see?" Eric questioned.
"Some weird Pokémon is standing in the road. Looks like a Gallade expect it's golden… and carrying a sword and shield…" The pilot responded.
"Stay clear of it! We will move to investigate," Eric said, regrouping with the rest of his squad in the lobby of the building.
"Roger that sir, pulling out now- Crud… the controls aren't responding!" The pilot yelled out. "I think that Gallade has the craft under its power. Going to max throttle now!"
Eric watched was the HKP 10 was pulled about in an unnatural way. The sound from its engine whined as it tried to escape the grip of the psychic Pokémon. Eric didn't know what the psychic type had planned, but he knew it wasn't good.
"It's pulling us down to the road. We can't overpower it! Dang that thing is strong!" The pilot yelled, his crackled voice coming through Eric's earpiece. "Oh no… it is pulling us right in front of-"
There was a loud boom before Eric saw a fireball from where the helicopter had been. There was a secondary explosion moments later as the wreckage of the helicopter slammed into the ground. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the Gallade had pulled the helicopter in front of one of the tanks, holding it in an easy position to be decimated by its main gun.
"Proceed with extreme caution!" Eric yelled out, discarding his sniper rifle and picking up one of the old AK 4 rifles from a deceased terrorist along with some of the spare magazines. After making sure a full mag was inserted, Eric pulled back on the charging handle.
Lucario cringed at the explosion of the helicopter, taking notice of its forced movements before its demise. He knew it had to be a powerful Pokémon to overpower the engines of the military helicopter. Closing his eyes, Lucario used his aura vision to scan the park. As his aura sight spread out over the park, he sensed a plethora of auras. Every once in a while, he would fine a group over people huddled together, hiding. However, much to his dismay, there were dying auras all throughout the large field. Hundreds, if not thousands of them, slowing diminishing into nothing. It had hardly been seven minutes since the explosions tore through the park, yet all this death had occurred.
Gritting his teeth, Lucario tried to hold back the rage that was burning in him. He continued to scan the park, though it was getting harder to concentrate. He was about to stop when he found one aura that stood out. It was much like his own, powerful and a blend of two separate auras.
"You two," Lucario said, turning and facing the Grovyle and Buizel, "Go back to your trainer. He's going to need all the help he can get."
"What are you going to do then?" Vee asked.
"I have to go visit someone," Lucario answered before dashing off across the park.
"You know… I am really starting to dislike his vagueness…" Vee said.
"You get used to it," Nova replied with a smile, turning to chase after him. "Good luck!"
"Those two have got to be the strangest Pokémon I have ever encountered…" Buizel said after a Nova had run off.
"They are different… That much is for sure," Vee continued. "Now come on, let's go find Eric."
"What do we do now sir?"
"Hold here till reinforcements arrive. We can't scratch those tanks," Eric replied, peering around a building at the Alpha formation.
The two tanks had been firing nonstop for the past several minutes, blowing the surrounding buildings to pieces with high explosive rounds. Eric pounded his fist against the side of the wall. He hated being helpless.
"Our weapons might not be able to, but our Pokémon might," one of the soldiers suggested.
"We would need something like Hyper Beam or Sol-" Eric stopped mid-sentence as he got an idea.
"Where's that Grovyle of yours, sir?" The soldier next to him asked, picking up on his idea.
"Good question… Sent her out to help civilians…" Eric answered. "Still a Solar Beam won't get through the front armor of those tanks."
"What about the rear armor?"
"Would be hard, those tanks are parked with their rears almost touching. We would have to be quite literally right behind them," Eric replied.
"What if we lured them out and got them to move away from each other?"
"Still risky but hey, risky is what we do," Eric said with a smirk.
"Aye sir!" The other three soldiers said.
"Draw the tanks out then we will worry about finding Vee," Eric ordered, "If those tanks are shooting at us, they aren't shooting civilians."
Lucario came skidding to a halt in the middle of the street. In front of him was a golden and white Gallade with a shield on its left arm and a long sword in its right. Upon closer inspection, the sword and shield were revealed to be an Aegislash, though the sword was a bit smaller. The Gallade currently had its back turned to him and was just staring at smoking wreck of a car. The sword was stained red as liquid dripped from its tip.
"So, you're their new lab rat," Lucario said in a spiteful tone.
"And you're the experiment gone wrong," the Gallade responded, turning and facing him. "I figured you would be here. I sensed your presence when you entered the city, but wanted to see you for myself." He leaned forward and grinned. "And I must say, you didn't disappoint."
"No, nothing went wrong. I just chose not to serve a bunch of terrorists," Lucario answered harshly.
"Terrorists is such a harsh word. They are more of-" Gallade started before Lucario interrupted him.
"Oh spare me your excuses," Lucario deadpanned, "They murder, steal, and terrorize this region. And if you intend to be their lapdog, I will end you."
"End me?" Gallade taunted with a laugh, "Oh how droll! Just who do you think you are anyway, mutt?"
"Mutt? No, far from it. I am the demon the demons of this world will come to fear," Lucario answered before hastily charging an Aura Sphere and hurling it at his opponent.
The Gallade hybrid easily blocked the attack with shield and let out another laugh.
"Come now, is that really the best you can do?" The hybrid asked, "Now it is my turn."
With that he charged straight at Lucario. In the blink of an eye his sword sliced through where Lucario stood. However, his smirk vanished when his blade simply phased through his target.
"Of course not," Lucario replied, his voice coming from behind him.
The Gallade immediately spun around and cut through the air behind him, striking nothing.
"What is this…" Gallade said under his breath.
"So you like my little trick?" Lucario taunted, planting a Dark Pulse against Gallade's side. He staggered and swung widly, but once again his sword met empty air.
"DISHONORABLE! BAD SHOW, SIR! I DEMAND YOU SHOW YOURSELF COWARD!" The Gallade shouted, swinging its sword in the direction he had been hit from.
"I'm the dishonorable one? Tell me, whose blood runs down your sword then? Besides, you're afraid. Good. Fear breeds more fear. Here is what is going to happen. I am going to show myself, beat the ever living crap out of you, then let you run home with your tail between your legs to spread the word of what happens when you cross me," Lucario said in a very serious tone.
"OH! YOU ARE IMPOSSIBLE! COME NOW, MUTT! SHOW YOURSELF ALREADY!" Gallade yelled out. "Then we will see who runs home with their tails between their legs!"
(Tristan, Invincible, Two Steps from Hell)
(Song Start)
"Very well," Lucario said, bringing his foot around and delivering a power kick to the Gallade's back as Nova dropped her illusion. "You want to fight, then let's fight."
"Heh, you're no demon, just a coward," Gallade said. He brandished his blade and grinned. "Ah, but how I have longed to test this blade against an opponent who can actually fight back! I will enjoy fighting and killing you!"
"Allow me to change your mind on that. I'm sure you will come around soon enough," Lucario countered with a smirk.
"Then let's begin!" Gallade shouted, charging at Lucario again.
The psychic type's arms started giving off a blue glow as it ran toward Lucario. He then unleashed a powerful Psycho Cut as blue crescent waves of energy shot toward Lucario. Ducking and rolling out of the way, Lucario avoided the attack and hastily formed a staff of aura in his paws. Twirling it around for a moment, Lucario brought it in front of him right as Gallade brought his sword down. The force of the impact caused Lucario's feet to slide several inches back across the concrete.
Not letting a moment go to waste, Gallade's eyes flashed blue, using Psychic to pull Lucario into the air. Lucario struggled against the psychic hold, but he couldn't overpower the telekinetic grip that prevented him from moving. This time when Gallade unleashed a barrage of Psycho Cuts, they all struck home against Lucario. Satisfied with his attack, Gallade released his psychic control over Lucario. A few seconds later, Lucario's heavy body struck the ground.
"Are you sure you don't want my help?" Nova asked telepathically.
"Yes, I am sure. Don't reveal yourself unless you absolutely have to," Lucario answered, forcing himself up to his feet.
"I was really hoping you would put up more of a fight. I've had too many easy battles already. It is no fun when it is easy," Gallade taunted.
"If you think I have actually been trying this entire time, you are sorely mistaken," Lucario answered with a smirk.
Lucario held both of his paws out toward his opponent as miniature Aura Spheres formed and launched at a rapid rate. A few of the small, explosive orbs struck Gallade before he put up his shield and blocked the relentless attack. When the barrage stopped, Gallade lowered the shield only to see one massive Aura Sphere coming at him. The attack exploded with a resounding bang and launched Gallade back into a wall. The already weakened wall collapsed moments later as Gallade was rising to his feet, rubble falling on top of the Blade Pokémon. Pushing himself out of the pile of bricks, Gallade glared at Lucario before letting out a scream and charging at Lucario. His Aegislash sword glowing in a brilliant light as he jumped in to the air.
Lucario focused a majority of his aura in to his paws as he create an aura shield to counter the Sacred Sword attack. When the attack connected, Lucario was forced down onto one knee from the shear amount of energy behind the attack. Luckily, his aura shield held out and there were only the faintest signs of cracks in the purple energy. After Gallade had backed off some, Lucario instantly absorbed the aura into one of his paws and unleashed a powerful Force Palm attack. Once again, Gallade was sent flying into the air. This time he landed on this back and skidded down the road. Before he could even make it to his feet, Lucario had already followed up with a Shadow Ball. The dark ball of energy struck home and delivered a super effective blow.
"Ah ha…HAHAHAHAHA!" Gallade grinned. "Excellent! Good form, nicely timed reflexes, and those firey eyes…" He staggered slightly. "But I'm not quite done yet. Have at thee, mutt!"
Using what strength he had left, Gallade attacked with Psyshock as a mass of purple-blue energy formed in front of him before it was launched toward Lucario. Not having time to react, Lucario took the brunt of the attack as it made contact and exploded against him. Once the smoke from the attack cleared, Lucario saw Gallade once again charging at him with his sword.
This time when he brought his weapon down, there was the sound of metal clanging against metal. Much to Gallade's dismay, two blades had extended from his target's wrist spikes. They were both glowing white with energy as Gallade tried to force his blade though them. Lucario countered by twirling and swinging his left foot around, delivering a powerful kick to the Gallade's side. Lucario's victory was short lived as his opponent used the momentum from his kick to spin around and slam his shield against his snout.
Lucario recoiled some from the blow and before he could regain his balance, Gallade followed up with his sword. The blade cut against his torso, sinking in a few centimeters as blood started to seep out. Letting out a muffled grunt, Lucario looked up at his opponent to find him looking down at him. In the blink of an eye, Lucario burst forward and tackled the white and gold Pokémon to the ground. Quickly rising to his feet, Lucario put one of his hind paws on the Gallade's shield and brought down a Force Palm on his opponent's shoulder.
"GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Gallade screamed out in pain as Lucario easily dislocated his shoulder.
This only infuriated the hybrid even more as rage burned in his eyes. Swinging around his sword, Gallade just barely managed to catch one of Lucario's legs with the tip of his blade. Lucario stumbled to the ground after jumping away from his opponent and rolled into a kneeling position. Looking up, Lucario saw Gallade struggling to his feet, his left arm hanging limp by his side.
"You're… going to pay… for that," Gallade breathed out harshly. "Oh yes…" He raised his bale. "Blood will be spilt…"
"You're going to pay for every life you took today. You are going to regret every life you ended today. In the end, you are going to wish I did kill you today," Lucario replied, his voice the embodiment of rage. Purple aura had flared up around him, engulfing him entirely.
(Song End)
The gold and white hybrid took a step back, his eyes slightly wider than they were mere moments ago. Now he was truly afraid. Earlier, he had been slightly scared, maybe more than he should have been. But now, he was terrified.
"Demon…" Gallade muttered under his breath, looking directly into Lucario's eyes. Only now did he see the flame that burned in them.
"Now you're getting the picture," Lucario said. "I would recommend you leave."
"Your days are numbered demon," Gallade replied, his voice easily telling how much pain he was in. "But… I can't allow myself to die fighting you. What a pity…" With that said, the gold and white hybrid turned and ran with what strength he had left.
Once he was out of sight, Nova finally dropped the illusion that was surrounding her and rushed out to Lucario who had taken a seat again the side of a building. Well, what little was left of the building.
"Are you alright?" Nova asked, kneeling down next to Lucario before starting to inspect the cut on his chest.
"Had better days," Lucario answered, "Just a headache and a few cuts, nothing too serious."
"Nothing serious! You have a massive cut running across your chest!" Nova nearly screamed. She hastily pooled aura into her paws and placed them along the cut. Nova watched as her aura spread out across Lucario's torso.
"That feels amazing…" Lucario sighed out, "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Nova said with a warm smile, "But why didn't you want me to help? I could have easily had that guy on his knees in seconds."
"And he could have done the same to you," Lucario answered, "Besides, I don't want them knowing you are with me. The longer you stay a secret, the better and safer you will be."
"But what if they already know I am with you?" Nova questioned, looking down with a worried look at her mate.
"Then our fight will be that much harder," Lucario replied with a sigh before looking up at Nova's eyes. "Heh, did I ever tell you how cute you are when you are worried."
"Thanks," Nova said with blush and a small smile. Pulling back her paws, she could see the Lucario's wound had already stopped bleeding and shrunk some.
"That is good enough for now," Lucario said, standing up as a series of explosions resonated a little ways off. "I think I know where we are heading next."
"What about Hamilton?" Nova asked, "Shouldn't we follow that hybrid back to him?"
"No…" Lucario answered, shaking his head, "As much as I would like to find him, I doubt I could. Far too many auras present for me to find his. Besides, there is no guarantee that the hybrid is going back to him."
"Fair enough…" Nova replied. "What do you want me to do this time?"
"I have an idea," Lucario said with a smirk.
(Grabacr, Ace Combat 5 OST, Namco Sounds)
(Song Start)
"Sir, with all due respect, I think this might not have been a good idea!"
"Noted," Eric replied, emptying another mag with short bursts at the Alpha troops that had taken cover behind their tanks. He noticed a STRV 105 had just turned its main gun towards their position. "And I suggest we move."
He grabbed the soldier he was with as they ran out from behind their little bit of cover that used to be a building. Moments later, there was an explosion that threw both of them to the ground. Once again, Eric grabbed his fellow SOG operative and pulled him to his feet as they scrambled to find a new piece of cover. Bullets hit all around them and sent pieces of concrete into the air. After a few seconds of frantic running, the two of them dove behind a small, brick wall on the other side of the street.
"Crap, I'm hit sir," the soldier with Eric said as blood pooled under his leg. The bullet had gone clean through it, leaving two wounds on his left calf.
"Alright, here," Eric replied, pulling out some bandages and handing them over to this wounded comrade. A few seconds later, he had hastily dressed his leg and stumbled back to his feet. Another blast from the 105mm cannon destroyed a section of the wall about a dozen feet to their left, scattering large chunks of bricks into the air before they came raining down.
"Hopefully the others are having better luck than we are," Eric said, brushing some pieces of rubble off on him.
"No kidding."
Eric caught two moving objects out of the corner of his eye and instinctively raised his rifle towards them. However, a second later he lowered his weapons and gave an extremely high pitched whistle. The orange and green Pokémon stopped and turned toward Eric, running up to him as fast as they could. It only took a few moments for the Grovyle and Buizel to reach the two soldiers and crouch down next to them.
"Good to see you again girl," Eric said, rubbing Vee's head.
"Bui!"
"You too Buizel," Eric continued, lightly punching the water Pokémon. "Now that you two are here, we can put our plan into action. Buizel, I need you to use Mist. Throw up as heavy as a fog as you can. Vee, when I give you the signal, I want you to use Dig and burrow underneath the tank closest to us. Get plenty of sunlight now because I need you to Solar Beam the rear armor. Once you finish you attack, get out fast whether it worked or not. Got it?"
Both Pokémon nodded their heads in response. Vee immediately started storing up energy from the sun while Buizel started creating the fog bank, expelling a steady stream of tiny water droplets from his mouth into the air.
"All pieces are in play, light 'em up and wait for the fog," Eric called over his radio.
The sounds of war intensified instantaneously as all the SOG operatives that had been holding back engaged the enemy. Several Shgr 2000 hand grenades went off, their explosions drowning out the screams of the soldiers they killed. Eric popped his head over the wall and took aim at an Alpha soldier. His target struggling to his feet after diving to the ground to avoid the blast of a grenade. The old AK 4 recoiled against his shoulder as he let out a short burst. The terrorist fell to the ground with a thud moments later, blood pooling out of his chest. The other two soldiers from Eric's squad ran out and climbed onto one of the STRVs, intent on lobbing several grenades through the hatch on its turret. They had just made it onto the engine deck of the tank when the other STRV 105 gunned them down with its co-axial machinegun.
Eric cursed under his breath when he saw their limp bodies fall onto the ground. They were supposed to wait until there was enough fog from Buizel's Mist to try and neutralize the tank. Doing a quick head count, Eric did not like the numbers he came up with. Of his squad, he was the only uninjured operative. Bravo didn't have anyone at full potential, though Tyler was still in fighting condition. Charlie squad had lost one soldier when helping Bravo squad and another had taken a hit in the shoulder. All in all, he was looking at four to six combat capable troops. Looking at his watch, he saw there was roughly another five minute before the earliest SDF reinforcements could possibly arrive.
Staying below the wall, Eric moved along it try and divert the remaining Alpha force's attention. Things were not looking good for him and his troops. If he survived this battle, he made a mental note to always have at least one AT12T when departing for any mission. Pulling a grenade from his vest, he quickly removed its safety pin and threw it into the enemy formation. A few seconds later, there was a satisfying explosion. Popping over the wall, Eric scanned for any remaining Alpha soldiers. Not seeing any, he ducked back down as to not be spotted by the tanks.
(Song End)
(The War of Independence, Empire: Total War OST, Richard Beddow)
(Song Start)
Suddenly there was an ear shattering crack the resonated throughout the city center. With his ears still ringing, Eric tried to find the source of the extremely loud anomaly. His eyes widened in shock as he saw a large portal of swirling purple energy. What happened next surprised him even more as a STRV 103D drove out of the portal and skidded to a halt. On top of the short tank stood the easily recognizable white Lucario who promptly jumped off as the portal closed. After a few seconds of inactivity, the S-tank (another name for the STRV 103) sprung back to life rotating in place as its hydropneumatic suspension leveled its 105mm gun toward a STRV 105. After the tank stopped moving, its rifled cannon let loose its first round, followed by a second round four seconds later. Smoking shell casing were ejected from the back of the tank as its autoloader fed 105mm rounds into the gun breach.
The STRV 105 exploded in a fire ball after the second round struck its ammo rack and detonated the ammunition stored inside. The other STRV 105 had finally recovered from the shock and a SDF tank literally appearing out of thin air and had turn to face it. It retaliated with a 105mm rounds of its own, but the shell was prematurely detonated by the reactive armor coating the tank. This time it only took one round from the S-tank to strike the ammo rack of the Alpha tank as it exploded into a fireball with its turret flying in the air.
(Song End)
After the explosion from the tank settled, there was an uneasy quite for the first time in nearly half an hour. Well, quiet was a relative term. There were still car alarms going off and some of the building were creaking and groaning due to the structural damage they had taken. Standing up and looking at the Alpha formation, Eric scanned for any survivors. After several seconds of scanning, Eric hopped over the wall and made his way closer to the burning tanks. Cautiously, he kicked any weapons away from the bodies of the terrorist. He didn't feel like having someone shoot him in the back. It only took him a while longer to confirm that all hostiles were neutralized. Tyler quickly joined him, blood soaked bandages on his arm.
"You look terrible," Eric joked.
"Eh, I have had worse," Tyler answered. "How you got through this unscathed is beyond me."
"Just lucky I guess," Eric replied.
"Guess so."
"These two weren't so lucky though," Eric said, bending down and retrieving the dog tags from the other two soldiers from his squad.
"No… no they weren't…" Tyler agreed before looking out over the park. "There were a lot of people who weren't lucky today…"
With that said, both worked their way over to side of the street. The other surviving soldiers worked their way to them as well, most of them limping and covered in bandages. The STRV 103D slowly made its way up to them before its commander popped his head out of his hatch.
"You guys alright?" He asked.
"More or less," Eric replied, "Mind putting in a call for a medivac?"
"Sure thing," the commander replied, replaying the order down to his radio operator. "Now… does anyone have any idea what just happened? One second we are driving down SX-5 from Fort Aaron, the next thing I know we are parked in the middle of Silverlake."
"I opened a portal and brought you the last ten miles instantaneously," Lucario answered, walking up to the Saldaran soldiers before promptly lying down on his back with an unceremonious thud. "Just for the record, dragging a tank through a ten mile portal is tiring as all get out."
"What the heck is that?" The tank commander asked, surprised by the interesting Pokémon's sudden appearance and its claim.
"That would be the most annoying helpful Pokémon I have ever met. The portals thing is new to me though…" Eric explained. "He is the reason for our recent success in hunting down Alpha bases."
"Okay… still don't understand much of what is going on…."
"What happened to your lady friend?" Tyler asked, looking around for the blue and black Zoroark.
"Right next to you, disguised as one of your soldiers," Lucario replied, causing all present to look at the SOG operative next to Tyler. The soldier in question nodded but remained silent.
"I think I am just going to figure this out later…" The tank commander said, "I still have no clue what you guys are talking about…"
"Eric here is probably the only one who knows everything," Tyler explained.
"As I said, no longer caring," he said, waving his hand as he disappeared back into his tank.
Within the next ten minutes, SDF forces started pouring into the city center. Ground troops deployed from their transports and started fanning out across the large park. Most of them were shocked to see a tank already waiting for them on the opposite side, but they shrugged it off for the moment. Civilians were found, gathered up, and evacuated. Most of them were still shell shocked to some extent and needed medical attention from various wounds ranging from gunshots to shrapnel.
HKP 10 helicopters soon started landing in the areas where they could. Eric and the surviving SOG operatives boarded one of them along with Lucario and Nova. The others were filled with civilians, those with the most serious injuries getting priority. The helicopters carrying civilians flew either to the city's hospital or to a hastily constructed field hospital outside the city.
The helicopter carrying the battered and battle weary troops continued out of the city, heading towards Fort Aaron. Nova had since dropped her illusion and was sitting next to Lucario, her head gently resting on his shoulder. Lucario could feel the tug of sleep pulling at him but refused to give into it. No one felt like talking on the ride back. Too many friends were dead.
The only one doing much of anything was Tyler, who was studying the two Pokémon sitting across from him. He hoped that eventually he would be able to ask the two of them some questions. His eyes were drawn toward the two golden bracers on Nova upper arms. He felt as if he had seen something like them in his studies, but couldn't remember exactly what they were. Deciding that he could try and find out later, Tyler leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The only sound any of them could hear was that of the helicopter blades. And at the moment, that was quiet enough.
For Hamilton, the day had gone fairly well. He did not care for any of the Alpha troops lost in the attack. Truthfully, he cared more about the two tanks that were destroyed, but he knew that there was very little chance of the tanks escaping in the first place. In his eyes, the attack was a massive success. Hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians were killed in the attack. Saldara's moral would plummet and hopefully make his next plan easier, finding subject H-01. Granted, the military would probably double its efforts to find and destroy Alpha. He wasn't too worried about this though, after the last base destruction security had been improved drastically.
He had just given his report to his superiors and was heading back to his office. The only thing that worried him as the Gallade hybrid's performance. It had come back to him with a dislocated shoulder and bruised all over. When asked what had happened, he had only replied with something about a demon and laughed. Hamilton made a mental note to question the hybrid further after it had recovered.
Closing the door, he noticed there was a report waiting on his desk. He quickly picked it up as he sat down and opened the manila folder. Paper clipped to the top was a piece of paper that read "Foreign Operations." The folder contained details about various Alpha facilities in different regions that helped develop technology for use back in Saldara. He smiled as he saw that most of them had reported in at meeting or exceeding their goals. However, when he reached the end his smile turned into a hard scowl. Flipping to the back of the folder, he found the detailed report along with several pictures. A lab in the grassy hill lands of Sinnoh had stopped reporting in several weeks ago. A small commando unit had been sent to investigate and their findings had just some in.
The facility was a burnt out wreck now. The lights barely worked and only a few hallways plus the barracks were relatively clean. All security footage was destroyed in the fire that appeared to have swept the facility. There were also signs of a battle outside the facility along with footprints of one human and several Pokémon leading to and from the location.
The hidden base was developing several pieces of technology along with attempting to improve on the Porygon design. The technology in question was a radio communication device that would allow Alpha troops to communicate telepathically. This loss was a rather major setback as it had nearly been finished. The other main piece of technology at the lab was a portable Pokémon storage device. It was roughly the size of a backpack and could allow its user to capture and use as many Pokémon as he or she wished. Once again, this machine had been completed and was awaiting shipment back to Saldara along with its blueprints.
As for the Porygon experiments. A newer, better Porygon had been created. Porygon-Z it had been dubbed, and it was a brutally effective killing machine as they had hoped. Unfortunately, the only thing that remained from the digital Pokémon was its damaged memory core. Several interesting photos and video had been pulled off of it though. One of which was a boy with golden hair wearing blue jeans and a black hoodie with a lightning bolt on the back without any shoes. The interesting part was that the boy appeared to have been fighting Porygon-Z… with Pokémon moves.
The five man commando squad salvaged the base for anything useful, but found nothing. They reported that they were setting off in the directions of the footprints to try and find the mysterious boy from Porygon's memory core.
Osean: let's see if anyone here put the puzzle pieces together. That last bit was based off of another author's story. So before any thoughts of plagiarism come up, not my ideas! They belong to that of Jack Storm 448
Lucario: plagiarizer
Osean: I just said…. Grr never mind… Anyways, yes. Those last elements came from Jack's story Rising Storm. He briefly used an Alpha facility in his story, so I figured I would at least tie them in somewhat to my story if only to again recommend his story.
Nova: it is a great story!
Osean: when did you read it?
Nova: hello? When was the last time you updated this story? We both had some downtime
Osean: ah… well anyways… Go checkout his story if you haven't! It really is a very enjoyable story!
I must apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter out… I will be more prompt with the next chapter. That I promise! Actually have a deadline to meet for it.
And just a 'for the record' thing, yes I am aware that I have moves with 100% accuracy missing. My story, my rules. Besides, in the anime they have normal types getting hit by ghost moves.
So um… over eight thousand views now…. Wow did that go up fast. Come February, this story will enter its second year. But I will save more details for when that actually happens. Anyways, thanks to all of you for reading and supporting this story!