Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Pokémon or any of its parent companies. I am merely a humble storyteller. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this journey with me.

Note: I am English, so some of the wording, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.

Chapter Seventeen: Boom! Boom! Boolum!

Ending the run of the fifth and final Huge Storage was such a relief, so much so that the battle against a trio of wild Vigoroth was no problem at all, Lucy and her Pokémon buoyed by the fact they had almost ruined Phobos Battalion's plans for good.

All that was left was the final Phobos Mobile.

Then Baron Phobos himself.

It was within reach.

And after a scuttling train, a giant jet, a submarine that was looked more like an amorphous lifeform, and a drill, Lucy was sure that whatever came next would not shock her.

And it did not shock her, for it did not have electricity. However, what the Phobos Mobile did have were massive spheres that resembled rocks which it tried to strike down Lucy and Flygon with, falling and crashing into the cliffs and rocky terrain like a meteor shower. The goliath would also shine so brightly when Lucy and Flygon closed in on it all that she would see were black silhouettes and brightly coloured spots as she desperately clung onto a Flygon that was spiralling out of control.

Oh, how could something that looked so silly be so troublesome? It was not cool or dynamic as one might see in certain movies, its body, shoulders, and hands round and clumsy with a Starmie-looking crystal on its chest, and a head that reminded Lucy of a Claydol.

A Hyper Beam might work. But that would probably seriously harm the stolen Pokémon within their Poké Balls, and, while the General within the behemoth was her enemy, she was not going to risk turning him into a ghost.

They had to immobilise it. But how? Maybe Sand Tomb would work, getting its feet trapped with the quicksand? No, it was much too big and too powerful to be trapped by a Pokémon that, while quite strong, was not a natural battler as much as she was an agent, whose techniques were not on par with a Flygon's that had been put through rigorous training like an Elite Four Trainer's would have.

Flygon screeched as another sphere rocketed past her face.

"Don't worry," Lucy said, caressing the back of Flygon's head. "You're doing great. I just need more time to think of a plan. We need to stop it from moving entirely, or at least enough to distract the General."

Could Bug Buzz disrupt the Mobile's power source, temporarily or otherwise? Could it combine with Seismitoad's Supersonic in a way? Maybe an Electric-type move could do that? A pity Manectric was the only team member she had that could use one as Spark would not do what needed to be done; if only he knew Thunder or Thunderbolt or Discharge, anything that would be able to hit a greater area of the mecha.

What about Aipom? No, no, she would be the most ineffective of all in this situation. Oh, but what about Ditto? Oh indeed, what if it became a Flygon too? Could a double Sand Tomb incapacitate the Mobile long enough for Lucy to infiltrate it?

Ditto popped out of its Poké Ball and was immediately saved from falling to its doom by Lucy's quick reflexes as Flygon darted out the way of another Phobos assault.

"Ditto!" Lucy shouted, struggling to make herself heard over the explosions. "Ditto, use Transform and turn into Flygon, okay? Do it quickly!"

Ditto squeaked and dove off Flygon, disappearing from view for a few seconds before speeding back up as Flygon's twin.

"Great!" Lucy pointed at the Mobile's feet. "Both of you hit its left foot with Sand Tomb!"

The two Flygons hummed and flapped their wings as intensely as they could, and beneath the Mobile's left foot the solid ground slid away, becoming soft sand that proceeded to devour the metallic extremity, absorbing it, hiding it away within its clutches.

The Phobos Mobile ceased its blitz. It tried to take a step forward, its robotic leg revving and whirring as it attempted to pull itself free from the quicksand.

"Quickly, Flygon!" Lucy ordered. "Get me to the head!"

Flygon soared and circled the Mobile, close enough that Lucy could jump down, her Magnezone Boots saving her from sliding off the robot's head.

"Good work, you two," she said, holding out Flygon and Ditto's Balls. "Return."

Lucy puffed out her cheeks, the chill evening air stinging her eyes. One step at a time, right? First, get on the blasted thing, and then get inside it. Now, speaking of getting inside…

It only took a Lucy a single glance to notice a hatch on the mecha's head, and a little jimmying and jammying enabled her to pry it open and let herself slide right in.

That was the next part done. But now it was time to locate the General.

Ah, you may be asking yourself, why would she search for the General instead of making her way to the Phobos' stolen goods? Well, it is quite simple for you see the General obviously knew she was now onboard their Mobile, so there was absolutely no way Lucy was going to have the chance to Trozei the Pokémon without the General getting in the way. She was better off confronting them first.

And she was certain she knew where they were.

o~o~o~o~o

Lucy arrived at a pair of sliding doors, emblazoned with the Phobos Battalion insignia, the blackened out Lunatone glaring at her.

Guard up, ready to roll to the side once the doors revealed her to the General, Lucy stepped forward.

Yet, no one attacked her once the doors slid open, there was no call for a Pokémon to use its moves on her, and no alarms were flashing.

Instead, Lucy was greeted by a man dressed in a strange, spiky metal getup with a moustache that could best be described as cartoonish sat in a yellow iron seat sipping juice (?) from a golden goblet. The oddest thing – or perhaps the most intriguing – about this picture was the fact the chair seemed robotic, its legs shifting like the Phobos Mobile's, moving the man from here to there, as though it was pacing in his stead.

"Hm," he said, swirling his juice. "Bang Boolum am I. You avoid Jammer Balls I throw at you and you board my Phobos Walker."

"'Phobos Walker'?" Lucy said, looking around the control room. "So that's what this thing is called?"

"I name it myself," Boolum said. "Good, yes?"

"It's less obvious than the other four, I suppose," Lucy replied.

"Yes, yes, others," Boolum said. His eyes hardened. "You take down my allies. You embarrass us." His voice grew louder. "You little Rattata sneak all day and all night. You ruining great plans of ours." He slammed his goblet onto the floor, denting it and spilling its contents everywhere. "Now you come steal from me!" he roared, his eyes bulging. "From Bang Boolum? I angry now! I make you sorry! I punish you, sneaky Rattata!"

"Whoa, you went from zero to a hundred pretty quickly there," Lucy said. "Then again, you were trying to kill me out there." She armed herself with a Poké Ball. "But you have no right to accuse me of stealing, not when it's me rectifying the harm you've done to others. I'm taking you down here and now, Bang Boolum!"

"I stop you here!" Boolum bellowed, calling forth a Pokémon, a bulky, spherical creature that was covered mostly in steel plates, the only parts that were not being in between the plates, where the Pokémon's eyes were, a space from which four red cylinders protruded from.

"Forretress, dual Bug and Steel-type," Lucy recited to herself. "Incredible defence. Okay, Seismitoad should be able to handle it."

"Ha," Boolum laughed, twirling his moustache because was there not a cliché he did not want to do? "Seismitoad stand no chance against Forretress. You give up now, yes?"

"Dream on," Lucy said. "Seismitoad, Muddy Water."

"Light Screen," Boolum countered.

A stream of muddy water drenched Forretress, yet some of it slid off a yellow barrier the bagworm threw up.

But Seismitoad had more than enough power to finish the job, didn't he? He rocked Forretress with a solid right hook and did it again with his left. And he followed it up with two more Drain Punches, barely giving Forretress time to breathe.

However, Boolum never lost his cruel smirk.

"You doing well, little Rattata," he said. His voice deepened. "But not enough well. Forretress, Explosion!"

"Wait, Explosion?" Lucy screeched, stumbling back in panic.

Forretress' body glowed, almost as if it was evolving, and what followed was a boom so deafening Lucy's ears seemed to forget what sound was, a blast so immense it flung her into the nearest wall, her spine and the back of her head bawling as agony took over her very being for those torturous seconds.

Through watery, half open eyes, Lucy spied the unconscious form of Forretress, eyes closed, body smoking. And before her was Seismitoad, lying prostrate on the floor, insentient and bruised.

"Seismitoad?" she groaned, her ears ringing, her voice sounding muffled. "Seismitoad?"

She crawled over to him and tried to shake his heavy body, barely enough strength in her arms to even get her there at all. She looked past the amphibian, watching Boolum's mouth open and shut as he no doubt taunted her, spit flying off his lips as he laughed at her anguish, gesturing at how everything in the control room was practically untouched by Forretress' Explosion, Lucy almost hearing him say 'And that is why I BANG Boolum!"

With a herculean effort, Lucy used Seismitoad's unconscious form to lift herself to her knees and sent him away into his Net Ball. She was in trouble, utterly and completely. How was she meant to expect someone to order their Pokémon to use Explosion in such a confined space? As Boolum implied, it seemed those attacks were his speciality.

She had no Ghost-types, nor anything with high defences that could endure such destructive techniques. She had no Pokémon with Damp to fizzle out Explosion, nor did she have anything with Protect or Detect. She was up a creek.

Boolum sent out his second Pokémon, with his loud, boastful voice reminding Lucy of someone speaking on an old radio filled with static. It looked quite like Forretress, its body not as rounded, somewhat like how the Earth is depicted with its squashed poles. It was covered in thorns and entirely metal, a green spike was set on top of its head, and around that spike were three long, green vines tipped with more spikes, almost as if it had caltrops attached to them.

"Ferrothorn," Lucy mumbled, her head screaming as she forced herself to stand up. "Grass and… Grass and… er… Rock-type? No… don't be… don't be stupid, Lucy. Grass and… Grass and… Steel. Yeah, that's it. I think. More high defences. Urgh."

She winced as another pulse of pain ran through her head and along her back.

Boolum was still speaking, but even if she was able to hear him clearly, Lucy would not have cared to hear a single word.

Iron Barbs. Yes, that was Ferrothorn's Ability, so it probably was not worth putting Aipom or Manectric up against it. And a Ferrothorn versus Ferrothorn battle would not be any better than a Metapod one, so Ditto was out. It had to be Flygon. Lucy could only hope she could knock it out before it had a chance to do its own fireworks display.

Lucy's fingers struggled to keep a tight grip of the Ultra Ball. It nearly fell to the floor, yet it did not, saving her from showing any weakness to her enemy, and her dragon appeared, looking down at the strange, metal creature and his Pokémon.

"Flygon!" Lucy said, knowing she was speaking louder than she needed to but not being able to help it. "Bug Buzz straight away!"

Soundwaves with a greenish hue engulfed Ferrothorn, albeit mitigated by the dying gasp of the Light Screen left over from Forretress, and the Thorn Pod Pokémon responded by throwing out its rather vicious-looking vines and catching Flygon in the face.

Bug Buzzes and Metal Claws were exchanged, and soon the former's damage increased with Ferrothorn's yellow cloak dissipating entirely. It shook wildly as the strident buzzing struck it for the umpteenth time.

Lucy could breathe a little easier, and she grinned. That was it. That Bug Buzz had taken it out! They had pulled it from the cusp of–

Her grin faded as the Ferrothorn righted itself up, worse for wear but still in it, scarcely. Then, with a feeling of abject horror that seemed to render herself immobile, she read Boolum's lips: "Explosion!"

Not again. What could she do? She had nothing, no one else. Flygon would not be able to withstand it. There had to be something, one last trick up her sleeve. Anything.

Ferrothorn was glowing like Forretress did before, and it was then something struck Lucy, much like when she tried to infiltrate the Phobos Walker in the first place, an idea, a crazy brainwave that had more chances of failing than succeeding.

Ditto.

With speed General Buzz's Ninjask would be proud of, she recalled Flygon and threw out Ditto's Poké Ball, screaming, "Transform!" and leapt away and curled into a ball at the base of the wall that she had made acquaintances with only a few minutes prior.

There was Ditto.

Ditto was gone.

Hello Ditto-Ferrothorn.

Lucy pressed her face into her knees and covered her ears, Nevertheless, the Explosion this time was not as bad, somewhat due to Lucy knowing what to expect this time and mostly due to Ditto standing strong in front of her, absorbing the blast, with a metal thorn barely out of place.

Boolum's mouth opened and shut repeatedly, but this time Lucy knew there was no words now, only silent confoundedness.

"How'd you like that?" she asked, forcing a little bravado into her slurred voice.

Boolum beheld her with a glower so dark, so murderous, that Lucy would have surely died if looks could kill. He jumped off his chair and stamped his feet, shrieking in a language Lucy could not understand but felt she got the gist of. It was probably quite rude.

Graveler was his next choice, a jagged rock monster with four arms, and it was quickly felled by a Seed Bomb from Ditto, a lucky guess from Lucy who had almost called for a Power Whip. At least Graveler's Ability was not Sturdy.

Despite her injuries, despite her head feeling like it wanted to use Explosion too, Lucy felt she could afford a smile. They were on a roll. Boolum probably did not have a Pokémon that could take out Ditto now, no one with anything that could harm a Grass and Steel-type. A sense of deep satisfaction of seeing this Phobos General tug at the ends of his moustache acted as an adequate shot of morphine to Lucy.

Multiple Metal Claws took care of his Koffing next, the floating, poison-filled sphere with a permanent happy face done it with a critical hit.

They were so close. When Boolum was out of Pokémon, Manectric would stun him, and she would be left with no obstacle blocking her way as she finally shut down everything with the Phobos Battalion logo tattooed on it.

Not far now.

Not far at all…

Oh, what's this? Lucy dropped to her knees, breathing heavily, her hair hanging loosely over her eyes. She looked up at Ditto-Ferrothorn and Boolum, who was fumbling with another Poké Ball, mouth stretched in a horrific grimace. Her head felt like a Salamence was using Outrage in her brain, she was sweating profusely as though she had run five marathons, and her throat was dry and scratchy, like ancient parchment.

It could not be, Lucy did not want it to be. But it was, as much as she tried to deny it to herself: she had hit her physical limit.

This should not have been the case, not by a long shot, but Forretress' Explosion had done a number on her, weakened her to the point that she would not see out this battle without collapsing, let alone Trozei the Pokémon the Phobos Walker had sealed away.

Yet, she had to fight, didn't she? Yes, her duty did not actively involve battling, but if it involved completing her mission, then she would not shy away from it, such as the case here. However, what was the point if Boolum would be able to capture her after she fell, locking her and the Trozei Beamer away, giving her and SOL the mark of failure right before the finish line? She could not give up. She had to power through the pain, the exhaustion and –

Lucy reeled and barely kept herself from toppling onto her back.

She sighed, barely noticing Boolum's fifth Pokémon. No, she could not combat the limit the Explosion had brutally set on her. As much as it made her grit her teeth, as much as it made her dig her nails into the soft skin of her palms, common sense spoke harshly to her and told her what to do, what anyone should do in this situation: retreat.

So, she stumbled away, almost missing Ditto with the Poké Ball's red return light, and rushed through the sliding doors, banging her shoulder against the side of the hallway as her muddled head seemed to turn it ninety degrees.

Her eyes were closing, her legs were wailing, her back was searing, yet Lucy staggered through the Phobos Walker, instinct as opposed to memory guiding her to the very top of the motionless mecha. She slammed the hatch behind, Bang Boolum's irate screams reaching even her damaged ears.

It was still early morning, and the fresh wind roused her, only a little, but enough for her to collect herself and call out Flygon. Flygon, scuffed and sapped herself, collected Lucy onto her back, and soared away to the top of a nearby cliff, her wings flapping slower and slower until they crashed into the dirt, hopefully out of sight of Boolum and his Walker.

She had failed, no question about it. For the first time, she had flopped on this mission. If only she had information about Boolum beforehand, then maybe she could have Trozei'd the stolen Pokémon. She could have been offered a Golduck or a Quagsire, anything with Damp to stop those wretched Explosions, or at least the first one that spelled the end of her stopping the fifth Phobos General.

Mechanical whirring and ke-chunking reverberated through the valley. The Walker stomped around in a circle, its steps big and deliberate, scouring the area for Lucy. Fortunately, the cliff she was on was much too high for it to see her.

Spitting out a glob of bloodied bile, Lucy pulled out her compact communicator and pressed a button. Immediately, Professor P appeared on the screen.

"Miss. Fleetfoot," he said. "What is your status? Have you completed your mission?"

Lucy took in a sharp intake of breath through her teeth as another spasm of pain pulsated through her body. "No, professor. The General – Bang Boolum or… whatever – he… he damaged me too… much. He loves… the move… Explosion."

Professor P shook his head, distressed. "Miss. Fleetfoot, you are to return immediately. I'll send someone to pick you up and take you to the infirmary. I'll track your location, and someone should be there shortly."

"No, professor!" Lucy said, sitting up sharply. She grimaced as her back gasped, yet put it to one side and continued, mustering all her strength into her voice. "We're so close. Yes, send someone over. No, send as many agents as possible. I don't have to do this alone now. With all of us together, we can overwhelm them, and I can sneak through and finish the job on the Phobos Walker and finally stop Baron Phobos." She peered over the cliff; the Phobos Walker had given up its search and was moseying on. "It's leaving, most likely returning to base, so everyone will be together. We can take down the entire Phobos Battalion right now! They have no more surprises left across the region! They can't catch us out!"

Professor P stared thoughtfully from under his bushy eyebrows. "That would be perfect. But the only problem is that you are the only one with the proficiency of using the Trozei Beamer, which is my fault for only creating one, and you are much too injured to continue. No, it is better for you to head back to base."

"But what if this is it?" Lucy said angrily. "What if this is the day Baron Phobos completes his plan? You can't risk that just for me. Just bring some Potions for my team, and some painkillers for myself. Yeah, I feel dead on my feet now, but those should keep me going until we've done this."

Professor P frowned, not saying anything.

"Please, professor," Lucy said. "This is the best course of action. We can't gamble on throwing it all away now."

"Miss. Fleetfoot…" Professor P sighed. "Very well, we shall go along with this plan. However, you are to wait where you are. Do you understand?"

"I do," Lucy said, unclipping her Venonat Viewer from her belt. "And I'll keep an eye on that thing for as long as I can. But it's moving ever so slowly it probably won't be over the horizon before someone shows up."

As a result of her injuries, Lucy failed for the first time on her mission to Trozei the stolen Pokémon. Yet, despite this, the hope was still alive and burning that Phobos Battalion's race was almost run.