A/N: While this chapter only focuses on one room, it does show the dangers of mind controlled Pokemon in a very serious light. I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas!

Chapter 64: Inside Altru Tower: Part 5

The room itself was only decorated with several conveyor belts, tables and chairs, as well as what looked like various parts of what would go inside of a Miniremo. Figuring that there had to be some puzzle to this room, Luana and I began looking around, only to find nothing at all.

"Hmm, there has to be some trick to this room. Maybe we have to hit a switch or something just like how most of the floors were." Luana said.

"That could be possible, let's do some more searching." I said as we all continued to look around.

Even after we looked around the room more diligently, we still weren't able to find anything of importance in the room. Luana and I were checking around the back of the room when we heard the door we entered from opening and closing. The two of us turned around and were mere feet away from a pair of male grunts.

"You know…we were going to come in here on our break where it's nice and quiet…" A grunt said.

"True, but we found two Rangers instead! C'mon, let's get them!" The other grunt said as they took out Miniremos and began typing.

A minute or so ended up passing by as we waited around for the Pokémon to start attacking us, Luana and I looked around the room and even above us, hoping to spot a mind-controlled Pokémon somewhere…though we eventually didn't see anything at all. I initially thought that their Miniremos malfunctioned and I was preparing to get out of the room with Luana, only for a web to ensnare my arm, shocking me. Looking up once more, I saw an Ariados's mandibles poking out from a hole in the ceiling before it crashed through and landed in front of us.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" The first grunt asked as Luana, our Partner Pokémon and Eevee tried to remove the string from my arm.

"Heh, it's no use, Ariados are known for their strong and resilient silk. Good luck getting out of that! We'll have a little bit of fun with you two before we go on our break. Ariados, tie these two Rangers up! Len, take that girl down!" The second grunt said.

"That's not happening, Buneary, slam into that grunt!" Luana said as Buneary hopped up and hit Len square in his chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Good work Buneary! Now Eevee, try gnawing this string off!" I said as Eevee used Bite to gnaw the silk clean off of my arm.

"Unbelievable! Ariados, use Poison Jab on those two!" The grunt said as Len tried getting up, only for Buneary to knock him back down on the ground.

"Pachirisu, paralyze that Ariados!" Luana said as Pachirisu used Thunder Wave on the Ariados.

Now that I was free from my restraint, I made loops around the Ariados, which very quickly shrugged off the paralysis as it started to secrete poison from its mouth. The grunt then quickly typed in his Miniremo and Ariados fired a Poison Jab at Buneary, who was around twenty feet away watching over the other grunt.

"Buneary! Look out!" I said.

Buneary hopped out of the way just in time and was less than an inch away from being hurt with the Poison Jab. The strong move landed only a few inches near Len, who freaked out and staggered back to the other grunts side as the floor by him melted. Buneary then came back over to our side as I continued to make loops around the Pokémon, with Luana having Pachirisu paralyze the Ariados every so often as its Friendship Meter increased gradually. After a troubling start, I was able to capture the Ariados thanks to Luana and our Pokémon. The Miniremos both went up in smoke and flames, with the fire sprinklers extinguishing them as the grunts both seethed with rage.

"Well…we lost...looks like we'll have to let our admin buddy know!" Len said as the two of them tried to make a break for it.

"Pachirisu, paralyze those two!" I said as Pachirisu released electricity, making both grunts freeze in place.

Luana and I then took the two grunts over to a cluster of nearby chairs as Luana quickly got some wires that were used in the Miniremos. The two of us then tied the grunts together and proceeded to cover their mouths up with rope made in a makeshift muzzle. Even though we successfully beat the grunts, we knew that we couldn't find the mechanism to deactivate one of the lights where the admin was, which really bothered us considering that there definitely isn't any other way forward.

"Hmm, Kellyn, how about we persuade these two to tell us what they know?" Luana asked.

"I like how that sounds, hopefully they'll give us useful information. Don't even think of yelling." I said as I removed Len's muzzle.

At first, it appeared as if Len was going to scream for help, but one look from both of us made him rethink about doing so.

"Fine, I'll tell you two the secret to opening that door the admin is guarding…you guys need to simply find a secret switch located somewhere in each of the rooms." Len said.

"I don't believe that at all, let's ask this other one." Luana said as I retied Len's muzzle back up.

Luana went ahead and took the other grunt's muzzle off, though he made no attempt to fake us out with a scream.

"Well now, your friend wasn't able to provide us with much information. Hopefully you'll be able to help us out, right?" I asked as the grunt nodded.

"I'll…I'll help. From what I know, beating the grunts in the rooms is the key to activating the switches. So if you manage to beat all the grunts here, then you'll be able to continue onwards. That's all I know." The grunt said.

"Now that sounds believable to me, thanks." Luana said as she put the muzzle back on as the two grunts.

"Great, now that we know what to do, let's continue into the next room and proceed from there." I said as we headed for the door.

"Do you think those two would try escaping and telling the admin we're here?" Luana asked as I glanced back at the two grunts, who were looking down at their shoes.

"I think that they would. However, there's no closets or anything to really put them out of sight. Besides, you already know what would happen if we had to face a whole bunch of grunts anyway, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, we'd win against them, even if we have troubles at first." Luana said.

"That's because we can do anything!" We said as we headed out of the room.

Luana and I walked quietly and carefully through the large room before heading into the door on our left, which we quickly entered. This room was another step in producing the Miniremo units, as there were several conveyor belts running through the room and out through a hole on the right hand side, bringing the unfinished machines into a different area, presumably into another room where workers would assemble them or possibly modify them in some way. The conveyor belts themselves were built into the floor, which was a good thing as it provided us just enough room to cover ourselves, while still being able to see what's going on. Around twenty feet away at the back of the room was a steel counter which had three grunts dressed in cargo shorts instead of the typical long gray and black pants they usually wear. While we understood that defeating the grunts was the key to advancing, Luana and I were still cautious, especially since the grunt could have easily been lying. The two of us and our Pokémon all hid behind the conveyor belts, doing our best not to make a sound given how quiet the entire operation was running.

"Alright, Richard, Nathan, did you two conduct those tests on that Eevee like Leilani asked?" The grunt asked as the other two looked at each other.

"Huh? That's not our job, we had Franklin and Jon do it!" One of the grunts said.

"Really Richard? You know that Leilani gave you two orders to examine that shiny Eevee and see how we could help our boss make serious money! Besides, considering that Eevee's a female, we could just breed it with a whole bunch of Ditto and help our boss out quicker!" The grunt said as Eevee shivered, though I helped calm her down by petting her.

"Alfred, that's the worst idea ever…if the boss makes money off of our work and we get none of it, why would we do it?" Nathan asked.

"Because the man would kill us if we don't…he's creepy." Alfred said.
"You're telling me…he's always mumbling to himself. You know, that reminds me, did you hear back from Chris yet? He was told by Leilani that he had to guard that weird metal gate, right?" Richard asked.

"Yeah that's right, unfortunately I didn't get a chance to talk to him yet, I should check up on him." Alfred said as we heard some mild static coming from the radio attached to his belt.

"Hey guys, how's it going in that Miniremo processing section?" A man asked as Alfred picked up the radio.

"Well look who it is, hey Chris, nothing much is happening, it's so quiet here. What's going on with you?" Alfred asked as Nathan took the radio.
"Dude, bring us some snacks, I'm hungry!" Nathan said as Alfred took the radio back.

"We'll eat later, don't worry. Besides, if Leilani sees us eating without her permission, she'll claw us worse than a Purugly!" Alfred said.

"Ugh, you're right you know, Leilani really is terrible, we could have worked for Ice instead, he's much nicer." Richard said.

'If only you knew how awful Ice really is, you'd think Leilani is the best boss ever.' I thought to myself as the three men began examining some of the Miniremos as if they were toys

"Hah, the other day she yelled at me for falling asleep on my break. With how they've been working us lately, can you blame me?" Chris asked.

"No way, with the boss wanting us to make these Miniremos and do so much more other things on top of that, it doesn't make things easy." Nathan said.

"Yeah, I hear you…so, back to what I was saying earlier, the reason I got on the radio to talk to you guys is because something weird is going on with the gate and Leilani has new duties for you guys." Chris said.

"Really? What's up with the gate?" Richard asked.

"Well it's…wait, don't you want to hear about Leilani's new job she wants you guys to do?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, we do but we're more curious about that gate then dealing with her attitude." Alfred said.

"Good point, the issue with the gate is that one of the red switches on it turned blue…I'm not even sure why but it worries me." Chris said.

"Maybe it's just a system glitch? You know the Sinis Trio has been directing all of their attention to helping the boss now." Nathan said.

"Could just be me acting all paranoid…anyway, Leilani wants you three in charge of the Miniremo production, obviously it'll come with extra pay and stuff." Chris said as the men groaned.

"More pay is nice and all, but there are so many of these things to look at and check." Richard said as he and Nathan examined some more Miniremos.

'We have to pick the right time to attack. Once they get off the radio, we'll ambush the three of them. If Chris is alerted about our presence, then we'll be swarmed by grunts or worse, the other two Sinis Trio members…maybe even Kincaid.' I thought to myself.

"Yeah, I know, I know. Well, just make sure to do a good job like you guys always do and maybe Leilani would be nicer." Chris said.

"Heh, yeah right…anyhow, thanks Chris, we'll be seeing you in about an hour." Alfred said.

"Alright, you know where to find me." Chris said as Alfred turned his radio off.

"Ugh, time to start checking these things, may as well get going guys." Richard said.

"Time to put on my headphones then." Nathan said as he put on some black headphones.

"Alright, we'll just poke you if we need anything. Let's check the ones over here Richard, there aren't too many Miniremos." Alfred said as he and Richard headed off to the side about thirty feet from Nathan, while Richard also put his headphones on after a few moments.

Now that the three grunts had their backs turned to us or were otherwise preoccupied with their work, Luana and I knew it was our chance to attack.

"Eevee, Buneary and Pachirisu, go for Alfred and Richard. Pachirisu, you'll go first and swipe Alfred's radio from him and run with it. Eevee and Buneary, once Pachirisu runs away, you two will go after him in case either of them try harming Pachirisu. Luana and I will go for Nathan since he'll be alone and you three will come back after we're done. Sound good?" I quietly asked as everyone nodded.

"Good thinking Kellyn. Let's put that plan into action." Luana said.

Pachirisu went first and scurried towards Alfred and Richard, with Alfred turning upon noticing the Pokémon. Alfred excitedly nudged Richard, who took his headphones off.

"Woah, look, a Pachirisu! I've always wanted one…aren't they adorable?" Alfred asked.

"Pachirisu are pretty cute, I haven't seen any of them in the tower, but then again, the boss probably has most Pokémon stored away or something…who knows what he does with them." Richard said as Pachirisu bounded up and took Alfred's radio.

"H-hey! What're you doing little guy?!" Alfred asked as Pachirisu ran through the room.

"Well there goes your radio…" Richard said.

"Argh! My favorite Pokémon just stole from me, c'mon let's get my radio back! After that, I'll try capturing that Pachirisu!" Alfred said as he and Richard ran after my Partner Pokémon, with Eevee and Buneary right behind them.

Nathan on the other hand, was completely unaware of what just occurred, in fact, he was so busy with his work that he had no idea Luana and I were approaching him closer. Luana and I pounced on the grunt and I quickly covered his mouth while Luana held him in place. Once that was done, I looked around for something to tie him up with and took some of the loose cables that haven't been used for the Miniremos yet. Thankfully, there were enough cables to cover his mouth and tie his arms as well. Now that Nathan was all tied up and muzzled, we put him on a chair and hid back in our original spots while he struggled with his bonds.

"Alright, now we just wait for our Pokémon to come back, then we'll get the other two." I whispered.

"That's right, we just have to wait." Luana said as we kept our eyes on Nathan, who looked around the room for Alfred and Richard.

A few seconds later, Nathan then tried to escape by trying to slide out of his restraints, which were unsuccessful. A couple of minutes had passed and I heard the quick pitter patter of Pachirisu's running followed by the two grunts.
"Woah Nathan, what happened? Did one of the Miniremos attack you?" Richard asked as Nathan incoherently spoke.

"Never mind Nathan, let's get that Pachirisu, we're not giving such a cool Pokémon to the boss!" Alfred said as he chased after Pachirisu, who had started running along the conveyor belts.

Alfred ran after Pachirisu, while Richard was deciding if he should untie Nathan or simply follow after Alfred. It didn't take Richard long to think of what to do, so he ran behind Alfred while Nathan remained stuck there. However, Eevee and Buneary were right behind them and quickly jumped on Alfred and Richard while Nathan watched in horror.

"Argh, w-what's going on?!" Richard asked as we used the remainder of the cables to tie Richard up.

Luana and I were about to focus on Alfred, who had Eevee on the back of his head, however, Alfred managed to shake Eevee off. Once Alfred regained his bearings and tried to continuously get Eevee away from him, he then hurriedly went to look for help and saw Nathan, who was still in his restraints as we saw him rush over to Nathan.

"Alright Luana, we have to be cautious…even more so than before now that Eevee is off of Alfred!" I said to Luana as we got ready.

"Don't you worry, let's take them down right now!" Luana said as we rushed Alfred.

Richard on the other hand was still struggling with Buneary and eventually tossed her off of him, though Buneary knocked Richard off his feet and sent him crashing to the ground. With me restraining Alfred, Luana immediately went over to Richard and did the same. At this point, all three men were restrained and fidgeting in their bonds, though a short while later, Alfred broke free from his makeshift muzzle.

"H-hey, Rangers, how'd you sneak up on us like that? That was a sneaky trap you two and your Pokémon pulled!" Alfred said as Richard and Nathan nodded.

"We had to be as discreet as possible, but since the three of you are all tied up, we'll be heading on our way." Luana said.

"W-wait…you two need to proceed onwards, right?" Alfred asked.

"Well…yes, we do." I said.

"Perfect! You'll just need to beat one of us…problem is, we're all tied up so…I'm not sure how you're going to manage that." Alfred said as a device fell out of his pocket and flipped open.

The device in question looked identical to a Miniremo in design, aside from being the size of a Diglett. To make matters worse, the machine malfunctioned and fizzled before going to a pitch black screen.

"That was a pocket version of a Miniremo…wasn't it?" I asked.

"It was…they're not durable as you guys just saw. I don't know if it'll even summon a Pokémon or not." Alfred said.

The wall behind the trio of men soon had a massive hole in it, which exposed the afternoon sky, thanks to a Flygon. The Pokémon then flew into the room and sent a powerful Sonicboom at the nearby conveyor belts, destroying them and the floor beneath the machinery as the three grunts tried hopping away.

"Buneary, use Charm on that Flygon!" Luana said as Buneary did a little dance, which managed to captivate the Flygon.

"Alright, that's what we need, let's go!" I said as I made a halfway loop around the Flygon, who was preoccupied with Buneary.

Luana charged the Capture Line to the second stage and I completed loops around Flygon. I made quick loops as best as I could, not knowing how long the Flygon would remain distracted with Buneary. Before I knew it, the Friendship Meter was filled around sixty percent before the Flygon's infatuation with Buneary wore off. Flygon retaliated with a fierce Dragonbreath, which melted some parts of the room, as well as the machinery and Miniremos, causing small fires in a few areas. Just like in some of the other rooms, the fire sprinklers came on and extinguished the fires occurring, the three grunts were now huddled in the corner by a bunch of wrecked Miniremos, with the Flygon getting dangerously closer to the men as they huddled closer.

"Hey Flygon, over here!" I shouted as the Flygon turned around, its eyes glaring at me in a furious rage.

"H-h-huh?" Alfred said as I ran away from Luana and the Pokémon to distance myself from anyone else getting hurt.

Flygon turned its attention to me and flew right at me, hovering in the air for a few seconds while staring at me before its claws glowed a dark purple. Flygon then dove at me as I got out of the way, with the Pokémon's move making a powerful impact against the floor as it gained a massive dent. Luana sprinted in my direction, followed by Eevee, Pachirisu and Buneary and the three Pokémon headbutted the Flygon in retaliation into the floor, making an even larger hole near the area where it almost hit me.

Flygon was stunned from the combined attack and struggled to move its wings, giving me an opportunity to continue making loops around the Flygon as it attempted to move. I was glad that I made such good progress on the Flygon's Friendship Meter by bringing it up to eighty percent, thanks to the assistance of Luana and our Pokémon, though I was annoyed that my plan was the cause of the Flygon's rampage.

'If I didn't tie up those grunts with Luana, then Alfred's Miniremo wouldn't have fallen out…well, that's not a problem, I'll do what I can to prevent this Flygon from going further out of control.' I thought to myself as Flygon stretched its wings and began to fly once more.

"Kellyn, I'll take over from here!" Luana said as we swapped places.

"Alright! Pachirisu, we'll need your help, try hitting that Flygon with a Thunder Wave!" I said as Pachirisu unleashed an electric jolt on the Flygon, temporarily stunning it.

Luana then made loops around the Flygon, who was only prevented from moving for a brief moment thanks to its part Ground typing. However, Pachirisu and I were quick and continuously stunned the Flygon in order to stop it from launching any attacks. After doing this for a few minutes, Pachirisu got tired and went over with the other Pokémon, who were standing guard over the grunts. I watched my Styler as the Friendship Meter on the Flygon continued to go up, to the point where it reached ninety percent, though the Pokémon soon broke free of paralysis and began to flap its wings, causing winds to kick up in an attempt to knock us back. The Flygon realized that it was far too weak to do so, and resorted to using its moves, where its claw once again glowed a dark purple as it aimed for Luana. Even though I began running to get Luana out of the way, I saw a small white figure swiftly hit the Flygon, sending it flying towards a conveyor belt, which was destroyed upon impact. I knew right away the little figure was Eevee as she landed right by us.

"Wow…thank you Eevee, you're a fast one!" Luana said as I grinned and gave Eevee a thumbs up.

"Good work Eevee, we appreciate the help!" I said as Eevee smiled and went over to our Partner Pokémon.

The Flygon wasn't badly injured from the attacks it received and managed to stand up, but it was just damaged enough that Luana could do loops around it, filling up its Friendship Meter completely as she successfully captured the Pokémon. I heard the small Miniremo malfunction and saw the Flygon shaking its head clear, soon looking around in confusion. The Pokémon had no idea where it was and Luana and I approached it to heal its wounds.

"Hi there Flygon, you got really hurt just now. Do you remember what happened?" Luana asked as it shook its head.

'In a way, it's a good thing Flygon can't remember the battle, it would have fault awful if it knew what it had done.' I thought to myself as I looked around at the Flygon's wounds, which were minor scratches compared to what I thought it would have initially received.

"Let's see…we have to heal this Flygon, but I'm sure there aren't any Pokémon with Heal Pulse around. Let me ask those grunts over there." I said as I headed over to the three men, with Alfred turning his head to look at me.

"Er…thanks for saving us from that Flygon back there…I thought it was going to kill us." Alfred said.

"You're welcome, but…we need something from one of you guys." I said as Alfred arched an eyebrow.

"From one of us? What is it?" Alfred asked as I motioned over to the Flygon.

"That Flygon got damaged quite a bit as a result of the battle our Pokémon had with it. Do you guys have any Oran or Sitrus berries you could give us?" I asked.

"Yeah, Nathan and Richard have a couple of Sitrus berries in their pockets." Alfred said as Nathan shook his head and mumbled something, which prompted me to pull down his muzzle.

"No way Alfred, those berries are my snack for later!" Nathan said as Richard nodded vigorously.

"Guys, that Pokémon is injured, we don't have time for this. Can you two please let me get some berries?" I asked as both men sighed, while Alfred grinned.

"You heard the Ranger! Besides, I told you two we'd get snacks later…here, let me get those berries." Alfred said as our Pokémon watched him closely.

I loosened up his restraints just enough for one of Alfred's arms to be released so he can get the berries. Alfred got some Sitrus berries from Nathan's hat, while he hopped over a little bit and leaned over to retrieve a Sitrus berry from Richard's pocket located at his knee before handing me five berries.

"Is that enough?" Alfred asked.

"Yup, that's plenty, thanks!" I said as I headed over to the Flygon, Luana and our Pokémon, with Richard and Nathan groaning.