Hello guys!

And here we go for a new chapter, one week late- I'm really sorry, the chapter wasn't ready for last Saturday so I waited until then to post, sorry.

Also, starting from now and until normally the end of August, the chapters' updates would be on Sunday instead of Saturday. I got a job the Saturday night and once the day come, I'm too tired to edit and post everything correctly so updates day change-

Anyway, hope you'll like this chapter, and thank you again to Hilda for beta reading it!

oOo

The dark entrance of the mine was covered by fog. It was a dark one with the odour of burning and the taste of ashes, that slowly but surely started to invade Icirrus City. There was no way this fog was natural, everything in it screamed that it was caused by someone. The echoes of an odd whistling that should have ended by now resonated between the rock walls.

Next to White, Silver could not help but cough. A fire, an explosion, maybe? The origin of the fog itself did not really matter, it was a dangerous fog that could be toxic. The worst that could happen right now for them was to be poisoned by the smoke because the smoke was definitely more dangerous and threatening than the fire or the explosion itself. But its appearance did tell them something important. This was not natural, not in a mine that has been unoccupied for the last week because of security protocol. Even if it was still possible, all the odds for a simple incident happening were small.

This meant only one thing, it had to be caused by someone, and the people from Testsuch would have never let something like that happen. The more likely reason for the smoke was a move from the terrorists. Was it a diversion? Were they trying to evacuate the laboratory so that they can infiltrate it more easily? Or did they set fire to the building to sneak inside it? Or to escape from the building? Several hypotheses were possible at this time.

The group exchanged a quick glance. What should they do? Should they wait at the entrance to see if someone came out? But as Lack-Two mentioned before, without including the three main entrances of the mountain from Route 7, the Clay Tunnel, and Icirrus City, there were plenty of ways to get out of the Twist Mountain. This place was an anthill. If they stayed here, there was a high risk they would miss everything that was going on, and miss the opportunity to learn more about the terrorists, their methods, how they battled, their real aim. Should they enter the mine? They had studied the plan of the mountain together before, of course, but would they be able to recall everything they had seen when they would need it? The inside was a labyrinth. The face was clear once you looked at the papers. With the fog and the pressure of the attack, how could they be sure that they will not get lost?

But no matter what they would decide, they had to make a choice, quickly, before it was too late.

Blue was the first one who dared to speak and she said her opinion aloud.

"We should get inside. We might get lost, or put ourselves in danger, but it's the best way for us to get at least information on them for now. And maybe, with a bit of luck, we'll be able to capture them."

No one argued. Was it because she was older? Was the reason because of how she said what they should do as an order rather than a question? Or was it because she had more experience? Whatever the reason is, Silver, White, and Y all nodded in agreement and swiftly entered the dark entry.

As soon as they entered Twist Mountain, they had to cover their mouth and nose with their hands. The smoke was dense as it was prisoner between the dark and moist walls, making the air barely breathable. It was also hard to see, everything around them looking more like black and grey stains instead of actual things. Their eyes burned, breathing hurt them, even their skins were starting to irritate.

Blue could do nothing but search for some gadgets that may be useful in her bag, and find nothing useful other than a few pairs of Go-Goggles she got from Sapphire a while ago. It won't help them a lot with progressing through the fog, but at least their eyes would be protected from the smoke. Unfortunately, she could not do more, as they lacked both time and helpful gadgets. She quickly handed them out to her partners, silently hoping that the other groups had found a way to fight the smoke, although she was not positive that they succeeded.

The four of them advanced slowly, carefully putting their hand on the near walls so that they would not get completely lost in the middle of the smoke. It felt like hours, and maybe it was indeed hours, or it might only have been a few minutes, but they eventually arrived at what seemed to be a crossroad. After checking with the others, White advanced alone, trying to see if there was something in front of them so they would not have to turn and risk losing their direction.

Unfortunately for her, she did not even walk ten-foot until she bumped against a wall. This was a dead end.

As she turned to go back, she sighed, "It's a dead-end, we can't continue straight ahead. What direction should we head now?"

"There are two ways, one to the right and one on the left, right?" Silver answered, his voice echoing between the walls. "It looks like there's more light coming from the one on my left, the other one is really dark."

"Can we go to the one with the light?" Y begged. "It's only been a few minutes but I already feel claustrophobic."

"We don't know where they are but it'll definitely be easier to find them if we have a bit of light to help us see," Blue agreed. "Let's go to the one on Silver's left."

And so they took the way on Silver's left, directing toward the grey stains, the little bit of light their eyes could get. But the more they went toward it, the denser the smoke was, and the more irritating it was.

By the time they reached the source of the light, a door that went straight to the bottom of the mine, the group could do nothing but cough, scratch their painful skins, cough again, and scratch again. As the senior Dexholder from Kanto felt bitter bile coming from her stomach to her mouth, she knew it was simply too dangerous to continue that way. This smoke was toxic, and if one of them had a bad reaction to it and faint, it would be a disaster for all of them.

Between two intense coughs, Blue ordered, "It's too dangerous to continue here, let's head back and try the other way."

Finding the entrance again was harder than they expected. They could barely see their hands or their feet, let alone the walls. The fog was way too dense, and even if they tried to disperse it with a Pokémon, Honchkrow, Barbara or Fletchy would clearly not making a difference.

They eventually managed to come back on their track, speeding up as much as they could to get to a place where the air would be more breathable. They saw the light of the exit to Icirrus City, but they would gain nothing if they came back now. They went on to the darker part of the mountain, where there was no light to guide their path and where the fog was no less suffocating. The feeling of being swallowed by the darkness and the Earth itself did not helped at all. However, they continued to advance, because they had to, they could not stop, and eventually, as her hand was carefully feeling the rock wall, Y found the entrance to a new place.

They emerged from this opening, feeling as though they came back from the Earth's core. The new place that they entered was not a small corridor like the first one, but more like a huge room. The room was divided by mounds and rock stairs to create a complex labyrinth. As they climbed the stairs that were in front of them, the fog became less dense, and Blue, Silver, White and Y could now see each other properly. One glance at each other was enough for them to decide it was not worth it to try to go towards the labyrinth and that for now, the best option was to head directly to the luminous entrance in front of them. But they stopped their progression as soon as they heard some voices speaking. Those voices were surely not far from them and they were coming closer to the group.

"Where's the exit?" The girl's voice was serious, but it hardly showed any hint of concern.

"If you guys really want to take that exit, the best thing to do would be to head to the right for now and to take the entrance that is at the bottom, after the big stairs. There would be a lot of fog though, but it's without a doubt the quicker way to go." This voice, a man without a doubt, was energetic, and it strangely sounds as excited as a kid that got the toy they wanted for Christmas.

"The fog is nothing we can't manage. C'mon, we'll be out of here soon!" This voice was younger, energetic too, but it also sounded as if the boy was putting all his energy to focus on something, something that needed a lot of effort.

Blue, Silver, and White looked at Y. The nod she made was certain. She recognized those voices, and they were clearly not their allies. It sounded as though they had finally found the thing they were looking for. They were heading towards the entrance and they just left the gallery, which meant that they were also going straight to them. After a slight glance between them, they stayed silent and motionless, waiting for their enemies to arrive.

Enemies who were still speaking.

"Hey, Ama," the excited man said, his voice emphasizing the name with amusement, "have you seen the exit already?"

"How could I? X-ray vision is to see through walls, not fog, you know?" The boy's voice, Ama, answered with a kind of friendly exasperation. "Seriously, you couldn't find a better diversion? We're losing a lot of time with this method, with trying to find our way out."

"You told us to create a huge distraction, and it's not like we had a lot of ways to do it. Plus, you can't really say that with what you did in the Badlands!"

"We weren't the ones that caused that explosion, you know?"

"Stop that already, you two!" the girl exclaimed. "It's true that we needed a distraction, but putting fire to the lab itself was clearly not the cleverest idea you ever had, Pepper."

"Sorry, ma'am!" Ama apologized. "Anyway... Wait, stop!"

"What again?"

"People! In front of us! And I don't think they're here to help us!"

"People like Testsuch or people like..." the girl started.

"They're not from Testsuch. We already had the pleasure to meet them... Y, if I'm right?"

The four Dexholders could not see their opponents clearly in the dark and the fog, but now that they were detected, it was useless to stay motionless.

As she grabbed one of her Poké Balls, Y exclaimed, "Ama... I still don't get why you're doing all of this, but what I'm sure of is that we can't let you continue just like that! We'll defeat you now!"

"Talking any more is useless then... Guess we'll have to battle. Let's go!'"

Nothing more was said before the first moves cut off the fog.

oOo

Crystal gave a dark look at Gold, as the young man sneezed. The sound echoed between the walls of the Clay Tunnel, catching the attention of all the other people present. But the Breeder could not help it. The cave was cold, terribly cold compared to the summer weather outside, and the Ice Rock which slightly glowed not far from them certainly did not help to warm him.

The 'let's wait for the terrorists at the different entrances of the mountain' was already a boring mission, but why does he have to be freezing here when Blue, Silver, Green and some of their juniors could wait outside, under the warm sun with the refreshing breeze, with the possibility to buy something to drink or to eat if needed? But no, he was stuck here with some of the least talkative people he ever met. Seriously, compared to the Gym Leader with blue hair or the inspector who was way too young for his job, the Silver he met when he was ten years old was a chatty boy!

Next to him, Red sent an apologetic smile his way, while Black was speaking about the Sinnoh League with the strange guy that joined them a few days ago. According to Crystal, he was a famous Gym Leader who already helped a lot during a crisis in Sinnoh. He remembered hearing about this a few years ago. The guy was loud, energetic and intrepid. That enough for Gold was enough to trust and accept the man. He was not the kind of guy to hide something from others, and this kind of man was one of the best allies you can have. From his point of view, at least, because the more they know about the man's personality, the more he saw the irritation of some of his teammates rising.

However, one of the advantages of having Byron on their side was that even if he was not from the region, he was already familiar with mines and the mountain that even after only a few days here, he already knew his way in the galleries outside the mountain, the ones that were still accessible to them. He knew his environment well enough, and he could know immediately when something was wrong.

Like when he suddenly raised his head, his focus now no longer in the conversation he had before, his nose tickling as he sniffed. He stood up, his eyebrow frowned in the most serious expression they saw on him since they met him, his alert eyes scrutinizing the cavern they were in, before stopping at one of the entrances to the mountain. The ones who were talking a bit before were now completely silent, their eyes following the Steel-type specialist.

After a moment, the miner asked, "Hey... Do you smell this odor? It smells like something was burning."

The other concentrated a bit, sniffed, before nodding in agreement. Although it was thin, there was definitely an odor here. An odor of fire, ashes, sulfur. Something was definitely wrong.

With a professional and deadly-serious tone, Lack-two interrogated, "Mr. Byron, do you have any idea of where it comes from? What can it be?"

"Do you think it's the terrorists? Are they finally here?" Gold added with relief. If there were here, it would mean action, and he would not have to keep staying in this cave while freezing!

"Comes from the mountain, without a doubt..." the man mumbled as if he was more speaking to himself than to his comrades. Maybe it was the case. "Comes from above us, not that far so we can notice the odor... S'not a coil fire, neither a machine, probably a building... With the location, probably the lab. Huge fire, lots of fog, maybe toxic smoke, need to be careful. Not a natural fire, too huge, someone did do it. The terrorists?" He then seemed to realize there were other people around him, listening. "So, well, we can either stay here or check what's going on. What would you like?"

"We should go check. If this fire is caused, then there are high chances that the terrorists are here," Lack-two stated. "But one or two people should stay here, just in case. Any volunteers?"

Of course, none of them proposed. Who would want to stay in the gloomy cave, waiting for something that may never come, when you knew your teammates were fighting not so far away? Nobody.

With a sigh, Crystal analyzed their situation, "We need to split into two groups, one that continues to watch the entrance here and one to check what's going on. Byron needs to come, he's more familiar with the terrain than most of us. For the rest, the team who goes to check needs to be fast while the other group needs to be ready to set up a trap and cover a large zone if some enemies arrive. Senior Red's Saur, Black's Tula, and Cress' Simipour may work well to cover the whole entrance. In the case of the attack happening, someone should stay here with them. Gold, you have good teamwork with Senior Red. Would you agree to stay here to support them?"

Although it sounded like a question, the Breeder knew his friend well enough to know that what she said was carefully thought through and that a refusal would not help her at all with whatever idea she had in mind. He nodded, with an annoyed sigh of someone who was not exactly happy with his situation.

"The rest of us, who are Lack-two, Tierno and myself, should go with Byron to check what's going on, and where the fire comes from. Byron, do you think you can bring us to the lab?"

"I memorized the plan, so it shouldn't be too hard to do that."

"Perfect. Let's go! Gold, Senior Red, Black, Cress, good luck!"

"Good luck to you too!"

The Catcher, the Inspector, the dancer and the Sinnoh Gym Leader all disappeared in an instant inside a gallery, leaving the four others on their own. As soon as they were out of sight, Gold and Black let out a sigh of annoyance. They knew the reasons behind this division, they had worked on this kind of thing during their training last week, but it was still terribly annoying for them to just stay here, in the cold, the humidity and, worst of all, the boredom. But no, their Pokémon were good at setting up some traps, so they had to stay here. Well, Red's, Cress' and Black's Pokémon were, because while they all filled the cave with Vine Whip nets, Ice Beam and Electrowebs, the Breeder could do nothing but sit and watch. Why couldn't he go with the others?

While they were putting their traps in place, the burning odor increased and the dark fog that was at first nearly invisible became thicker and thicker, slowly but surely limiting their vision. They were all sitting near the Ice Rock now, waiting for something, or maybe nothing. How much time had passed? According to Cress's elegant watch, less than twenty minutes have passed, but the tension that came from the waiting made it seem like hours. Sometimes, some sounds disturbed the silence, but they were too far and they could not recognize if it was a Pokémon, their friends yelling, the terrorists, or simply the wind.

But eventually, the sounds became closer, and at last, one of them was clearly recognizable for the group. Gold froze, his golden eyes looking to Red who looked as horrified that Gold was probably himself. There was no doubt. The sound that reached them, it was Crystal's, and it was definitely not a cry of victory or to give an order or anything like that. They knew the Catcher well enough to be sure that she was not the kind of person who cried easily. If she did that, it meant that something was wrong, terribly wrong. And both Gold and Red knew that they could not let their friends in danger for the sake of the world, ever less for the sake of protecting an entrance.

They stood up and started to run towards the mountain, towards the cry, towards the action. The rhythm of their nearly flying feet on the ground was not as quick as the one made by their heart in their chest, boosted by adrenaline. Somewhere, behind them, they could hear their two teammates, and, although Cress might have protested, they knew that they had followed them. They climbed some stairs and turned to their right, following the black fog, which was becoming thicker at every single step they did. And before they knew it, they were outside.

At least, they thought they were outside because they were sure that they passed an exit, but it was almost impossible to see what was above them. The black fog had some red gleam, and the crackling sounds they heard confirmed that the origin of the fire was not far away. Except that, it was silent, and they had no clue what could have caused Crystal to cry. But they had to be careful, because they could only use their ears to detect what was happening. Their eyes or sense of smell were completely useless because of the fog. They couldn't even see each other, as the ash quickly covered their clothes, their skin, their hairs, giving them the appearances of black phantoms in a black fog.

"What's going on here?" Gold coughed, before muttering some insults towards the fog. "Where are they, goddammit!"

"Don't know," Red answered, "but we need to find them."

"Gold, Senior Red, you're here?" Crystal said suddenly, with surprise and disbelief. "Why didn't you stay back there?!" This time, they could clearly hear her disapproval, as well as her well-hidden relief.

"Crys, are you okay? We heard you cry, did you just lose or something?" Now that Gold heard his friend and knew that she was alright - she did not sound as though she was badly injured -, and even if he still couldn't see her properly, he could not help but tease her. "Anyway, where are you? We can't see a thing with this damn fog!"

"I'm not far from the big bulldozer, do you see it?"

"The bulldozer... The big shadow? I'll get closer!"

Gold had completely forgotten that if there was fog, it was probably because of these terrorists and that they could potentially still be around here. After all, it was his first time facing them. And, as well as Crystal, he forgot that speaking loudly and practically screaming out his position was as though he was asking for the enemies to find them.

It was already too late when a whistling, followed by a wave of energy, split the fog.

oOo

Fact of the chapter: It's… uh…

I'm sorry I couldn't think of any for this chapter I'm sorry-