A/N: I don't own Pokemon!
A/N: Final chapter's going to be published next week everyone! It'll be up on late on the 7th!
Chapter 69: Inside Altru Tower: Part 10
All three of our Partner Pokémon gained a resurgence of strength and leaped into the air, simultaneously kicking the Golem. The force was enough to stop the Megaton Pokémon in its tracks as it uncurled itself and revealed its limbs and head once more. Luana and I switched positions as I made loops around Golem while she did the same with Muk. Several loops later, Luana noticed that Muk's right arm began to glow a bright purple and it unleashed a large mass of purple and green sludge towards us within seconds. Unlike all the other times we've been attacked, we didn't need to dodge out of the way and the move missed us completely, destroying a large chunk of the wall instantly as Bob clenched his teeth.
'Phew…our feelings managed to reach through to Muk, otherwise we would've been killed on the spot…' I thought to myself.
"Muk…what are you doing? Go after those Rangers and that traitor!" Bob said as Muk slowly inched forward as the Golem joined it, with both Pokémon being completely exhausted at this point.
"Bob…you've always been corrupted by Team Dim Sun, even as you knew about their evil goals and what they've done, isn't that right?" Anderson questioned as Bob remained silent.
"Eevee, hit that Muk with a Shadow Ball!" Luana said as Eevee launched a Shadow Ball at the Muk, hitting it square in the face as it became dazed from the blow.
After that, I made loops around the Golem, which was preparing to use Rock Throw. I hurriedly made loops and surprisingly, managed to capture the Golem as it relaxed and went off to the side. Bob on the other hand, appeared as if he was going to have a mental breakdown as Muk recovered from Eevee's attack. Luana then made loops around the Muk, doing so as best as she could while Bob typed in a command on the Miniremo. I glanced over at our Pokémon and saw that they had regained their energy, just in time to help Luana out.
"Alright, Pachirisu, stun that Muk!" I said as Pachirisu unleashed a surge of electricity, making the Muk cease all movement as Bob became angrier by the second.
"B-b-blasted Ranger…you two may have nearly won…but just you wait…" Bob said as I ignored him and took over for Luana with the capture.
About fifteen loops later, the Muk was caught and the two Pokémon were free from their trance as they walked out of the room while Bob's Miniremo ceased all functionality. Anderson timidly stayed by the door while Luana and I went up to Bob, fully intent to bring him in before he could try calling for help or attempt to hurt Anderson or us in the process. Bob walked towards us and attempted to throw a punch at me, even though I held my arms up to block his attack, I didn't need to do so as his fist was held in place.
"Wow…nice work Espeon." I said as Bob's eyes widened.
"I…I can't believe this…taken down by you two! Anderson, why didn't you do anything?" Bob yelled.
"To us, it seems like Anderson never wanted to do such awful things in the first place." I said as Anderson smiled.
"That's…that's right, I always liked the Rangers work but I couldn't find a job anywhere else…so I decided to work here." Anderson said.
"Tch, I can't believe you…" Bob said as he vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Did…did he just vanish?" Anderson asked.
"He did, the Espeon that Kellyn previously mentioned teleported him away from here. What are you going to do now Anderson?" Luana asked.
"I…I'd like to help out the Ranger Union if given the chance. I overheard how bad things were going on down there and I want to see what can be done, if anything, at this point to make up for any trouble I may have caused." Anderson said.
"That's pretty nice of you, I think the Ranger Union would really appreciate you doing that. Let me give Marcus a call." I said as I called Marcus, who answered quickly.
"Hi Kellyn, hi Luana, how can I help you two?" Marcus asked.
"Hi Marcus, Luana and I need to have Espeon teleport a Team Dim Sun scientist to safety." I said.
"Gotcha, I'll make sure to let Espeon know. By the way, Sven, Wendy and Keith are heading up the tower now, they had to capture some Pokémon that were acting up along the way and attacking citizens." Marcus said.
"Oh no…how badly are they hurt? Anything serious?" Luana asked.
"Thankfully nothing too major aside from some bruises and cuts…however…another wave of Pokémon are heading this way and we've gotten reports that Pueltown and the Ranger School are getting attacked as well." Marcus said.
"Figures that Team Dim Sun would aim for any and all targets, we have to stop them and fast! We're almost to the top so it's only a matter of time before we face off against Blake Hall." I said.
"That's right, the two of you can do it, even more so with the assistance of the other Top Rangers! Now, let me go ahead and have Espeon teleport the scientist out of there! Be careful you two!" Marcus said.
"Thanks Marcus, we'll do everything we can to bring peace to Almia. Bye for now!" I said as I hanged up.
"Thank you for the help guys, I'm sorry if I caused either of you any trouble…oh, can I get a photo of your awesome Partner Pokémon before I go?" Anderson asked as we both grinned.
"You didn't cause any trouble, so don't blame yourself. Also, sure, go ahead and take a photo!" I said as Anderson got his phone out and quickly snapped a photo of all of us.
"Thanks, figured it would be nice to get a good shot of the heroes of Almia before I get teleported away." Anderson said as all of us left the room and headed up the stairs, which were still dimly lit.
"Haha, we're just doing our best to make sure no one else gets hurt. You'll be well received at the Ranger Union." Luana said as Anderson was teleported away.
"I'm glad we were able to save Anderson, with the way Bob was acting, I'm fairly certain he would have killed Anderson if we were a minute late." I said as we continued up the staircase.
"Now that you mention it, you're right…that could have easily happened in the blink of an eye. It's a good thing we came when we did!" Luana said as we reached the blue doorway.
"Definitely, now Anderson's going to be safe and out of harm's way. However, what I'm worried about…is what's beyond this door. I think we both know who's waiting for us here." I said.
"Yup, there's no doubt that Kincaid's waiting for us. Let's take him down and continue doing our best!" Luana said as we opened the door and walked past the threshold.
'The fifty ninth floor…it's about as eerie as I can imagine, given that Kincaid's going to be the one we're facing.' I thought to myself as we walked down the long, dark hallway.
The only thing at the end of the hallway was a door, emblazoned with the Team Dim Sun logo. The entire hallway smelled of cheap hair spray, which I did my best to ignore as we made our way down the hallway. I felt the atmosphere become very tense, as if the air itself would crush us any second. The entire situation was nerve wracking enough that I began to tremble, worried about the fight that would be taking place with Kincaid before it even occurred. Luana noticed how much I was shaking and stepped in front of me as she put both of her hands on my shoulders, allowing me to relax as I took deep breaths.
"There you go, all better now sweetheart?" Luana asked.
"Much better, thanks Luana, let's do this." I said as we made our way to the door after a few seconds.
Upon opening the door, Luana and I were presented with a massive room which we immediately entered. The room itself had a trio of large monitors similar to the ones at the Ranger Union. The one on the left showed the chaos that a group of grunts were doing around Almia, while the one on the right displayed a detailed layout of the offshore research facility. The one in the center however…was what sent a chill up my spine…the monitor showed video feeds of a few locations around Almia, which were the Ranger Union, the Ranger School and Pueltown. Their perspective made me have the assumption of a high powered camera carefully watching those buildings for any movement.. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the Ranger Union wasn't the only target Team Dim Sun was after, but even worse, just like Marcus had stated, Team Dim Sun were going after the Ranger School and Pueltown as well, with both places being under attack by mind controlled Pokemon.
From the video feed, I could see the Pueltown Clinic and was relieved that the building was fine and undamaged. Some of the other buildings had some slight structural damage or were ablaze for a bit, though I saw Rangers extinguishing the inferos. While none of the buildings had collapsed, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before things would get even worse.
'My family and Luana's family…I just hope they'll be okay in this mess…they just have to be okay…' I thought to myself.
In the center of the three monitors was a purple and black chair…almost immediately, Pachirisu's reaction was for his fur to stand up while Buneary and Eevee got into fighting stances. I didn't have to wait for the chair to turn around to see who was sitting in it, I knew it was Kincaid. The chair swiveled around, revealing a very angry Kincaid, with his hair done with his usual swirly hairstyle as he remained seated with his eyes fixated on us.
"Hello again Kellyn and Luana. I see that you two have finally made it up to me, it's about time. I was growing quite bored of watching you and your little friends day in and day out. Monitoring you guys for weeks was frustrating…but here you are, without anyone to help you." Kincaid said as he stood up.
'W-weeks…Kincaid was watching us for weeks…but knowing him, he's probably been stalking us for far longer, which is a terrifying thing to think about.' I thought to myself as Kincaid took out a Miniremo.
"We're not afraid of you, we'll stop you just like all the others!" Luana said as Kincaid smirked.
"Really now? In that case, I may as well do a little ranting before I cut the chit chat. Kellyn, you've caused a lot of trouble for me and my boss, when we started Team Dim Sun as I posed as a Ranger School teacher, he and I came up with a great vision for Almia…of course, it was to make every Pokémon ours and ours alone. It was easy to recruit people, as most of them were so easy to manipulate and gain their weak minded trust." Kincaid said.
"Kincaid…you're nothing but a sad excuse for a man. We're done talking, let's get this over with." I said.
"Heh…so annoying like always, you were just like this in Ranger School too. Well now, it's time to do battle, I'll crush you, Luana and your Pokémon before taking your corpses back to the boss." Kincaid said as he typed in a command on his Miniremo.
Luana and I made sure to get a bit of distance from one another so that whichever Pokémon Kincaid was summoning to attack us wouldn't end up hurting both of us. Pachirisu stayed by my side and Buneary was with Luana. Eevee on the other hand, was on the lookout for the Pokémon to appear and cautiously looked around the room as she wandered off.
"Eevee, come over here quickly, whatever Pokémon Kincaid's already summoned is going to be dangerous!" I said as Eevee sprinted over.
I was glad Eevee did so, as a large Arbok came slithering out from one of the monitors, followed by a Weezing. The Arbok immediately charged for me, though I had Pachirisu stun the Pokémon as I made loops around it, while Luana had Buneary attack the Weezing before she started the capture process. The two Pokémon were still stunned from the paralysis for the time being, though the Arbok was beginning to shake off the paralysis much sooner thanks to its Shed Skin. Kincaid was silently watching Luana and I as we focused on capturing his Pokémon and increasing their Friendship Meters. Soon enough, the Arbok was on the move again, and it quickly sprayed a massive puddle of poison on the ground, slowly melting the floor. Before the Arbok could attack again, I had Pachirisu paralyze both Pokémon, making things easier for us. Luana and I continued our previous method of stunning the Pokémon whenever they managed to break free, though Pachirisu and Buneary got tired and soon went over to the side to rest. A few loops later, both the Weezing and Arbok shook free from paralysis and began to launch a combined attack. The Arbok launched a fast Poison Sting at us, which we managed to avoid by a few inches, prompting Kincaid to start laughing like a maniac.
"Heheheh, let's see how you two manage this!" Kincaid said.
Weezing then unleashed a dark black cloud, which quickly covered the room as it became very difficult to see anything. I covered my nose and mouth with my uniform and soon felt something brush up against me. In a panic, I stumbled backwards and fell on the ground, only to see that it was Eevee, who affectionately nuzzled my face. Despite the visibility making me only able to see a foot in front of me, I still wanted to desperately find Luana in the event that she would be targeted by the mind controlled Pokémon. Eevee went from my lap to the ground as I got up and looked for Luana. After a bit of wandering around, Luana and I bumped into one another, with both of us being happy that it wasn't the Weezing or Arbok.
"K-Kellyn! I'm so glad I found you…I can't find Buneary or Pachirisu anywhere!" Luana said.
"I haven't found them either, we have to keep looking before Kincaid or his controlled Pokémon find us!" I said as we heard coughing near us.
"H-hey you stupid Weezing, enough of this smog!" Kincaid yelled as the smog began to dissipate.
The room soon cleared up and we saw Kincaid no less than ten feet from us, with a malicious grin on his face when he spotted us. The Arbok and Weezing were intently watching our Partner Pokémon, which were over by the monitors…judging by the way our Pokémon were being observed, it was safe to safe that the entire situation didn't look good at all and would escalate if something couldn't be done. Kincaid charged at me as he let out a ferocious yell and I reacted by quickly kicking him square in the chest as he fell backwards. The Weezing and Arbok diverted their attention from our Partner Pokémon to rush over and help Kincaid back to where he was initially standing, which he did so as he continued to cough. Our Partner Pokémon also ran over to us for safety, though Pachirisu and Buneary were still exhausted and went back over to the side where they originally were.
"Don't try that again Kincaid, or you'll know what's coming to you!" I said as Kincaid steadied himself.
"My…how bold and brave you've gotten. You're not as spineless as I once assumed of you back in Ranger School." Kincaid said as Weezing hovered forward.
Weezing fired off a Sludge Bomb in Eevee's direction and she managed to get out of the way as the floor melted right where she was standing moments ago. The both of us made loops around the Pokémon as Kincaid's Arbok carefully watched us. Arbok then hurriedly followed up with a Poison Sting, this time heading straight for Luana. The powerful move headed towards Luana fast and I pushed her out of harm's way, I thought for sure that the spikes would have all hit me, but thankfully, most of the spikes missed, except for one of them, which ended up in my arm, causing pain to coarse through my entire arm as I felt dizzy.
"Gah…m-my arm…" I whimpered as Luana and Eevee rushed over to me.
"Oh no, Kellyn…this is bad! Eevee, do you know any moves that can help Kellyn out?" Luana asked as Eevee nodded.
Eevee quickly released a light orange dust on my entire body, causing the poisonous spike to vanish as my wound healed. The relief was short lived as the Arbok and Weezing unleashed a Sludge Bomb at me, though this time, all of us were able to dodge their moves without any problem. Seeing everything that took place, Pachirisu and Buneary headed over to us, with their energy coming back once more.
"Shame that Poison Sting didn't hit you in your neck or head, that would've leveled the playing field in my favor quite nicely." Kincaid said with a smirk as Luana and I ignored him.
'What a psycho…we have to take him down quickly…' I thought to myself as Pachirisu moved closer to me.
"Pachirisu, stun those two Pokémon!" I said.
Pachirisu let off a surge of electricity, which paralyzed both Pokémon as they almost completely ceased movement. Luana and I made loops around the two Pokémon, slowly filling up their Friendship Meters and having Pachirisu stun them whenever they were close to breaking free. After what felt like several minutes of increasing the Friendship Meters for the Pokémon, I decided to see what percentage they were at. To my surprise, I saw that the Weezing's was at thirty six percent while Arbok's was close to forty three percent. Pachirisu soon got tired and went off to the side, though Kincaid on the other hand continued to become more angry by the second, so Luana and I made sure to make loops a bit faster before the Pokémon broke free from paralysis.
"I can't lose to garbage like you two…that would make me as worthless as you two." Kincaid said.
"Talk all you want Kincaid, we haven't lost to you once!" Luana said.
"That may be so, but you're in for a nasty surprise soon enough, Luana and Kellyn." Kincaid said with hatred in his voice.
After several seconds, both Weezing and Arbok managed to move once more, with the Weezing letting out a thick smog, covering the room as we struggled to see anything. Our Partner Pokémon stayed close to us just like Luana and I were doing. We held each other and cautiously moved around the room, heading towards the back specifically so that we didn't make any noise that could alert either Kincaid or his Pokémon to our location. Compared to the first time, Weezing's smog didn't last long, though I dreaded thinking about if Kincaid was anywhere near us despite Luana and I walking near the doorway. Once the fog dissipated, we saw Kincaid and his Pokémon in the far corner of the room, prompting him to give us a glare as he stepped forward to go to his original position.
"Don't worry Kellyn, we're going to take Kincaid down…just a little bit more!" Luana said as we made loops around the two Pokémon.
"That's right, we just have to be on guard even when we manage to defeat him. He's just as creepy as Blake Hall is." I said.
"Heh, thank you for such flattering words." Kincaid said.
Arbok let out a low hiss before it slithered forward, its head dipping a bit low in an attempt to intimidate us. Luana and I spread apart a few feet so that we could distance ourselves when the Arbok attacked, with my main concern being that I didn't want Luana or our Pokémon to get harmed.
"I don't even want to imagine what it's going to do next." I muttered.
"I know, we just have to wait and see, stay on your toes as always." Luana said.
Arbok let out a hiss and flicked its tongue out as its mouth started to drip an intense yellow, oozing out onto the floor. The Pokémon rushed forward with its fangs bared in an attempt to bite me, though I managed to evade it and thought I was in the clear, the Arbok wrapped its tail around me in a split second, rendering me unable to move as my entire body was being constricted.
"Ahahaha, see how easy that was?! I knew I'd finally get a chance to crush you! I've been wanting to do this since the Cargo Ship incident…" Kincaid said as Luana and our Pokémon immediately rushed over to me.