Storming Of The Castle

There it is.

The Renegade has taken its first life in this world.

It will certainly not be the last one.

Leader was, once again, bored. If he had a nickel for every time he was in this state, he could shut his members up when they asked for payment.

Judgment had only disappointed him. Sure, their conversation and their brief encounter had been at least some fun, but it had been over rather quickly. In the long run, he hadn't received anything worthwhile from the kid.

The door to his room opened. Leader sat up to see his brother enter the room. He sighed, disappointed, and flopped back down on the leather couch.

"Are you unhappy to see me?" Luke asked.

"Believe it or not," Leader said, "I was half-hoping you were one of those kids, and that you had broken out of your room before coming to confront me."

"Actually, that's why I'm here."

Leader sat up again, this time from confusion. "What?"

"The kids broke out of their rooms. They're making their way here, now. They have their Pokemon with them."

Leader blinked. "What?" He said again, dumbfounded.

Luke sighed. "They've already taken out all of the Pokemon in Burn Squad," he said tiredly. "Their Pokemon are pretty powerful."

"They didn't try to escape?"

"No."

"Are they idiots?"

"They're not dumber than you, at least."

Leader chuckled. Then he laughed harder than he ever had in his life. This was, undoubtedly, the funniest thing he had come across in all of his time spent alive.

"They actually managed it," he said fascinatingly. "He said he planned on taking me down. I thought he was stupid, but he's actually putting some weight behind his words."

"What do you want me to do?" Luke asked.

It didn't take Leader very long to figure out exactly what he wanted. "I want you to stand outside that door," he said.

"That's all? You don't want me to go out and fight?"

"Don't you get it?" Leader asked. "This is a game. I'm the final boss. You're the last enemy they have to go through to get to me."

"They're too strong!"

"How? They're only kids! We have trans-attacks, too!"

The five members of Team Dominion the four of them had been fighting ran away after returning their Pokemon to their Poke balls. The four Pokemon that had defeated them stood defiant as if daring another opponent to be thrown their way.

Now, those guys looked the part, Kyle thought to himself, satisfied in a way. The members of Team Dominion had been dressed in all black, with the occasional gray garment. It was how Kyle had imagined them to look. Like criminals and villains.

"Wow, those candies are really something," Carol commented. "Scarf seems so much more powerful, now."

"Yeah, same with Fireball," Jordan said.

Kyle turned to Adrien. "It seems like Chu's got some more kick, too. Did it end up taking the candy?"

Adrien nodded silently.

"So, where's our stuff?" Jordan asked. "Fireball needs some healing after that battle."

"Our Pokemon probably know," Adrien said. Sure enough, as soon as he said it, Chu began to bound towards a particular entrance. This one was larger than the others, and at the end of a hall rather than in the middle of one.

The doors to the room were completely destroyed. It seemed as if Chu had used a Thunderbolt to blast them open. Kyle stepped inside the room and looked around.

"Damn…," he couldn't help but say.

The room had been utterly trashed. In the center of the room was what might have once been a large machine. It had been torn apart by an unknown force. Bits of machinery were everywhere, along with scraps that might have once belonged to computer monitors or tables. Kyle took all of it in.

Did Chu do this, too?

Kyle heard Carol yelp from beside him. He turned his head quickly to see what was wrong.

Carol was covering her mouth with both hands in astonishment. When Kyle saw why, he couldn't blame her for a reaction like that.

On the floor was a bloodied man. He lay still on his back, his eyes staring at the ceiling, as if he were dead. He certainly looked deceased to Kyle anyway. Fearing what he might find out, Kyle walked over and leaned down to search for the man's pulse. There was none. Kyle stood back up and wiped his fingers on his jeans. There had been some blood around the man's neck.

"Is he-" Carol didn't finish the question, but it was relatively easy for Kyle to realize what she wanted to ask.

"Yeah. He's dead."

Jordan grimaced. "There's a first. Never seen a dead body before."

"I'd definitely call it an experience," Kyle said. His stomach wasn't feeling well, but he pushed past the discomfort. He didn't feel like making a show at the moment. So instead, he put his hand over the man's eyes and closed them. That was the right thing to do, wasn't it?

Adrien didn't seem troubled at all. Then again, it was hard to tell when Adrien was feeling anything.

"There's our stuff," the black-clothed boy said.

Kyle followed Adrien's eyes and found his belongings in one of the corners in the room. He went to the pile of jackets and backpacks and picked up his gray jacket. He didn't put it on. Instead, he stuffed it into his bag. It was hot in the building. He pulled a potion out of his bag and began to treat Eve.

"How could this happen?" Carol asked out loud. She was still staring at the corpse.

"My guess is that it happened the same way all of this happened," Jordan said, gesturing towards the wreckage with his arms. "Look at his chest, too. It looks like he was hit by some kind of energy."

Kyle looked over and saw that Jordan was right. "Like a thunderbolt," he said without meaning too.

Everyone paused. Everyone knew the implication in that statement.

"I mean, I didn't want to say anything specific," Jordan muttered.

"It couldn't have been Chu," Carol said. "I can't believe you'd even think that!"

Kyle sighed. "That's not what I meant to say."

Carol didn't listen. "First of all, Chu doesn't even have one of those ludicrous devices. That immediately makes it impossible."

"I know, Carol," Kyle insisted. "It was probably one of the Team Dominion guys. At least, that's the only explanation I can think of."

"You think he took out his lackey for being incompetent?" Jordan asked.

Kyle nodded. "Right."

"Makes you wonder what a guy like that would do to us."

"Right," Kyle said, a little quieter this time.

Everyone fell silent. Surprisingly, Adrien was the one who spoke up.

"We can't go back now," he said slowly as if he were asking if anyone did want to go back.

"I know," Kyle said. "I guess it's hitting me now that we came so close to losing. You know, the fact that we could all die."

"Well," Carol said, composing herself. "We should probably take this time to think about strategy."

She was right. Their Pokemon were stronger than most here. However, that didn't mean they were going to do this easily.

"Did you have something in mind?" Jordan asked.

"Sort of," Carol admitted. "I was thinking about the guys we just fought against."

"I noticed it too," Adrien said. "They all had fire-types."

"Right," Carol said. "This whole place is probably organized that way."

"You think so?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah."

"That could either be a huge advantage for us," Jordan pointed out. "If the type of the Pokemon we go up against is strong against one of us, the rest will almost always be able to compensate.

"And I don't think there's a single type that we would have to really worry about," Carol said.

"So, what do we do with that?" Kyle asked.

"Well, it tells us that it would be best to stick together," Carol concluded. "But, we also have to think about what needs to be done."

"All we really need is to take down that Leader guy, right?" Jordan asked.

"Not necessarily," Kyle said. "However you look at it, we're probably going to need help. We should call the CPP and the police."

Carol began to search her bag. Then she paused, adopting a confused expression. She began to rummage around more. Finally, she stopped and looked up at the others with a worried expression.

"My phone's gone," she said.

Kyle searched his own bag and found that his phone was gone as well. He even checked his jacket to make sure that it wasn't in the pockets. "Mine's gone, too," he said.

Adrien and Jordan came up with similar results.

"Well, we kinda should've expected this," Jordan said.

"Well, this changes things a bit," Kyle said.

"Based on this debris and from Leader's room, we can tell that this place probably has a lot of computers," Adrien said.

"That doesn't really help us call anyone, does it?" Jordan said.

Adrien sighed. "No, but don't you exchange emails with a professor at the CPP, Kyle?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah, you're right," Kyle replied. "So we just have to search the rooms here until we find a computer, right? Then we can contact him."

"Do we know this place's address, though?" Carol asked.

"Oh! Wait, let me try to remember..," Kyle thought back to when Leader had told him the address of this place. He thought hard for a few moments, then sighed, as he couldn't figure out the exact numbers Leader had said. "No, I can't remember."

"Are you sure you don't remember?" Adrien asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Kyle said, disappointed in himself.

"That's alright," Adrien said. He then recited the address perfectly. Kyle recognized each number and word as he said it.

Kyle looked up at his friend and stared him down. "You didn't want to provide your help a little bit earlier?" He asked, slightly annoyed that Adrien was showing him up.

Adrien shrugged. "I was going to let you do it so you could improve your image, but I guess it just didn't work out."

Kyle scowled and Jordan snickered.

"Do you know if he was telling the truth when he said it?" Carol asked, clearly concerned that they might have the wrong address.

"He was telling the truth," Adrien said. "I could tell."

Nobody questioned him. Carol took a pen and paper and had Adrien say the address again so she could write it down. When she was done, she kept it in her hand.

"So, how are we doing this?" Carol asked.

"Kyle was asleep during this, but I'm guessing you guys were taken through the stairwell too on the way to your rooms, right?" Adrien asked.

Carol nodded. "Leader is on the bottom floor. And since this place has no windows, we're probably underground."

"It would be too risky to try and search the place for computers together," Kyle said. "We might run out of potions before we manage to reach Leader."

"So you think one of us should just go straight for him?" Carol asked.

"Yeah," Kyle replied. "Along with one more, in case they were to run into trouble on the way."

"So we're making two teams of two, here," Jordan said. "One to search the place for a computer, and one to head for Leader and take him down."

"I also wanted to look for the Pokemon they're holding captive here," Carol said. "So I'll be a part of the group that's looking for the computers."

Adrien turned to Kyle. "You have the login needed to contact the CPP, don't you?"

Kyle hesitated, then nodded

Kyle saw understanding in Adrien's face. "But you don't want that job, do you?" He asked.

Kyle shook his head, grinning. "No way. I'm heading straight for Leader."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jordan asked. "Your Pokemon isn't very strong compared to the rest of ours."

"It won't be that way for long," Kyle assured him.

Carol's eyes widened with happiness. "You're going to evolve it!" She said excitedly.

Kyle smiled at her and nodded. "I think it'll give me a much better chance of beating him."

"Well, give me your login, then," Carol said. "I'll use it and contact the guy you talk to."

Kyle wrote down his email and password underneath the address Carol had written on her piece of paper. Carol then folded it up and put it in her pocket.

"So Carol's searching the building and Kyle's heading down?" Jordan clarified. He turned to Adrien. "What do you want?"

Adrien shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Personally, I think it would be best for you to go with Carol since your Pokemon has the highest level out of all of us while her's is the lowest."

Jordan nodded. "Yeah, that sounds logical. And we'll probably be running into a lot of members. Fireball will be able to last for a while against them. Not to mention it'll be fun." He smiled as he said the last sentence.

"It's settled, then," Kyle said. "Adrien and I will head towards Leader while you guys roam the building to find a computer and free the other Pokemon."

Everyone was satisfied with this plan.

"We'll finish searching this floor, first," Carol said as they all stepped out of the room with the wrecked machine. "Then we'll work our way up, then back down. Good luck, you guys."

Adrien nodded and Kyle smiled as the four went their separate ways. The two boys headed for the stairwell while Carol and Jordan began walking in the opposite direction.

Kyle and Adrien entered the stairwell and began to descend. Echoes resounded each time one of them placed a foot down on a concrete step.

"Do you want me to help you fight him at all?" Adrien asked. "I'm assuming you want him to yourself."

That was exactly what Kyle wanted. He wished for him and Leader to battle one-on-one, no interference. He wanted to show the head of Team Dominion what the kid he had laughed at what capable of.

"Yeah, I do," Kyle said. "In case you feel like you'll have nothing to do, I'm sure we'll need to get rid of that other guy."

"Dream Eater, you mean?"

"Yeah, him," Kyle remembered the chill his Gengar gave just by being next to it.

He might be an even bigger threat than Leader.

"Anyway, I'll leave him to you, Kyle said. He continued to jog down the stairs as Adrien followed close behind.

"Sounds good to me," Adrien said.

Carol, Scarf, Jordan, and Fireball moved down the halls of the complex cautiously, but quickly. They didn't want to attract anyone directly, but they also wanted to get help fast.

Every room the four of them had checked thus far had been disappointing. Only about a third of them had computers, and of those, none of them had any connection. Carol was getting annoyed. How could a criminal organization have absolutely no computers with Wi-Fi?

They finished checking the floor without any trouble. Carol was grateful for that, but Jordan didn't seem to share her feelings. They headed towards the stairwell and began to climb upward.

They didn't talk to each other much as they moved around the underground building. Carol decided not to make any small talk. She didn't really know what there was to talk about.

So, are you having fun as we walk around this extremely dangerous environment? She could imagine herself asking. Yeah, me too!

Carol hid a sigh as she put her hand on the door to exit the stairwell onto the next floor. She pushed it upon and froze.

Waiting behind the door were six Pokemon and six black-clothed members of Team Dominion.

"There they are!" One of them said. "Take them down!"

Carol yelped and pulled the door shut with all her strength. Before she managed to close it completely, the Pokemon's attacks hit the opposite side of the metal door. The impact slammed the door closed and threw Carol back.

Carol cursed as she attempted to keep her balance. She remained on her feet and backed away a little farther from the door. Jordan and Fireball readied themselves, and Scarf slid off Carol's neck onto the floor.

The door didn't open again. Carol heard mutters from the other side, but nobody came through.

"They don't want to step through because they're afraid of getting ambushed," Jordan said quietly. Carol barely heard him.

"So, what do we do?" She asked, matching his volume.

"Well, did you see their Pokemon?" Jordan asked.

"Right, hang on," Carol said as she tried to remember. "There were six of them. There was an Abomasnow, a Dewgong, a Glalie, a Froslass, a Beartic, Cryogonal, and a Walrein."

"Those are all ice types, aren't they?" Jordan asked.

Carol nodded. "Yeah." Then she thought of something. "Actually, wait a sec." She walked over the door and began to open it.

"Are you insane?" Jordan hissed.

"Relax," she said, speaking at a normal voice now. She was pushing against the door, but it wasn't budging. "Six Pokemon just used Ice Beam on this door. It's frozen shut. That's why they're not opening it." She turned back to Jordan. "We're not getting through this door anytime soon."

"Well," Jordan said, looking around the stairwell. "This is as far up as it goes. We have to go down from here."

Carol nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Let's get going."

The two of them and their Pokemon traveled back down the stairwell and passed the other floor they had been on. When they reached the right door, Jordan walked up to and placed his hands on it.

Carol stopped him by holding the door shut. "I already tried being fast and careless," she said. "Let's be careful this time."

"I know, I know," Jordan said. He threw the door open.

Sure enough, there were six more Pokemon and six more members waiting for them outside the door.

Man, are they just waiting for us on every floor? Carol thought, annoyed.

She made a quick check of all the Pokemon they were facing. The group consisted of an Ampharos, an Electabuzz, a Magneton, a Zebstrika, a Heliolisk, and a Manectric. Electric types. No real advantage, no real disadvantage.

Of course, the members of Team Dominion did have a few disadvantages in this fight. For one, Jordan wasn't on their side. The kid and his Monferno battled like maniacs. Three of the electric Pokemon were already on their backs before they could react to them walking through the door.

Carol tried her best to keep up with him. There was only so much she and Scarf could do, which wasn't to say she was disappointed with her Pokemon. She had gotten incredibly lucky when Scarf had approached her on the beach. But sometimes she felt down when she saw the boys with their strong Pokemon.

But she knew when Scarf evolved, it would be time for a tremendous beatdown. But that day was still a little way off. For now, she would focus on the battle happening in front of her.

Jordan could take care of, and would probably want to take care of, about four of the Pokemon they were fighting against. That left two of them to Carol. She could handle that.

Come to think of it, Carol thought, these are all electric types. One of them was probably the one that killed that poor fellow back there.

Carol felt fear begin to manifest in her mind. She almost let it take control before firmly pushing it down. There was no time for that. Not unless she wanted to lose it all.

The Electabuzz, the Magneton, the Zebstrika, and the Heliolisk surrounded Fireball. Carol moved into the hall and ran away from everyone to put some make some more distance for fighting. She and Scarf turned around and saw the Ampharos and the Manectric, along with their trainers, approaching her. Scarf readied itself.

Carol wasn't going to wait for a Pokemon with the capability to harm humans to make the first move. "Twister!" She shouted.

Scarf threw its head around a whipped up a mini-tornado. It was almost as wide as the hallway. There was no avoiding it for her opponents. It tore at the bodies of the electric type Pokemon as the struggled to keep their footing. The Ampharos was eventually thrown against the wall, but the Manectric stayed where it was.

The Twister passed harmlessly through the two Team Dominion members. It dissipated before it hit the area where Jordan was battling, which relieved Carol while disappointing her at the same time. While it was good that Fireball wouldn't be damaged accidentally, she had hoped that maybe the Twister would do some damage to its opponents.

"Hit them with Discharge!" Manectric's trainer ordered.

Carol grimaced as Manectric began to charge up energy before releasing a powerful blast of electricity towards Scarf. It hit the Dratini making it convulse and shake.

That's gonna leave some marks, Carol thought. But though she didn't realize it, she had bigger things to worry about. The electricity blast moved past Scarf and continued its way towards Caol.

Oh, shit.

When Carol hadn't yet met Kyle and she hadn't broken her friendships with the toxic girls she was friends with, one of them had offered her a piece of gum. Carol had obliged and tried to take one from the pack. The next moment, she was on the floor. The shock from the joke shock pack had startled her so much that she had fallen down.

That was the best way she could describe the feeling of Discharge passing over her. Like that same feeling with the shock gum, but everywhere, and more painful. Carol gasped in pain and fell to the ground. It hurt like nothing she had ever felt before.

When the wave passed, she laid on the ground, shaking. She didn't want to stand up, but she knew she had to. Her elbows wobbled as she pushed herself to her feet, but she managed to get back up. She took a few shaky steps backward, away from the fight.

The Team Dominion member who had ordered the Manectric grinned. "Hurts, doesn't it? I haven't felt the pain myself, but-"

"Oh, please," Carol interjected, the pain fueling her anger. "Just shut up and fight. I really don't care about any of your monologues right now."

The member's grin changed to a scowl. The Ampharos was back on its feet, now. Carol once again had to worry about two Pokemon at the same time, but that was nothing compared to what Jordan was dealing with.

If he can do that, I can certainly do this at least.

"Power Gem!" Ampharos's trainer called out.

"Dodge it and use Wrap!" Carol said.

A beam of light shot out from the red gem on top of Ampharos's head. Scarf manipulated its own snakelike body to avoid the attack before slithering towards the electric type and wrapping its body around it's opponent's own.

"Use Thunder Fang!" Manectric's trainer shouted.

Manectric leaped towards Scarf and attempted to sink its electric-charged teeth into its body. Fortunately, the Dratini was able to move Ampharos enough so that it took the force of the attack instead. Ampharos squirmed in pain, but Scarf's grip was tight.

"You think you're clever, huh?" Manectric's trainer asked.

Carol had indeed thought that she was clever. She was confident in Scarf's ability to move about Ampharos so that even if Manectric ever did manage to hit it, at least it would hit its friend, too.

"Well, I wouldn't be so cocky," he pointed at Carol and ordered, "Discharge!"

Carol smiled. She didn't even have to say anything. Right before the order to attack had escaped the member's lips, Dratinin had whipped its head and used Twister against Manectric. Not seeing it coming since it was focused on Carol, the blue and yellow Pokemon was thrown against the wall by the attack.

Scarf could still use attacks while wrapping an opponent without the need to release it. It could still protect Carol from where it was. She wasn't just going to put down her only defense against oncoming attacks

The looks on the members' faces were priceless. "I mean, you guys have been in a Pokemon battle before, right?" Carol asked. "I never would've guessed it."

Jordan was having a good time, and yet, he was also very much not having a good time.

He had decided to take on four opponents at once. He was confident that Carol was more than capable of taking care of two of them. He was less confident in his own abilities, however.

Their first encounter with the group of fire types had been simple. Jordan had only needed to take care of two Pokemon. Now it was twice the amount, and he didn't have any help in case he got in a bad spot. Which he was definitely in.

He had already defeated one of his opponents: Magneton. That had been the easy one to deal with. Its steel type had made dealing with it child's play for a fire/fighting hybrid like Fireball. One Mach Punch and one Flame Wheel left it down for the count.

Zebstrika and Heliolisk weren't huge issues. Fireball could fend them off relatively well. They'd most likely be defeated soon.

The main problem was Electabuzz. That Pokemon was quite the nuisance. It was nearly as strong as Fireball, and with the other to on its side, it created one annoying situation.

I just need to whittle their numbers down, Jordan thought to himself. Every time I do, the battle get's easier.

Jordan ordered Fireball to stop focusing on defense and go on the offensive, focusing on Zebstrika. The Monferno comprehended its trainer's orders and began to strike Zebstrika at every opening it received. It took a few hits in the process, but the result was worth it. Zebstrika was soon knocked out with a Mach Punch to the side of the head.

Two to go. Fireball was starting to move slower. Fighting with electric types did this to Pokemon, especially when physical attacks were used. Jordan had noticed this during the times he battled against Adrien's Pikachu.

Jordan felt his back touch something solid. He turned around and found a cement wall. He hadn't realized it, but his opponents had been driving him and his Pokemon backward this whole time.

Alright, I'll show them how a cornered lion fights.

"Flame Wheel!" Jordan called. "Go for the Heliolisk on the right!"

Fireball obliged, cloaking its body in flames as it rushed towards the indicated Pokemon.

"Counter with Thunder!" Heliolisk's trainer ordered.

Heliolisk charged itself up for a moment before letting off a powerful blast of lightning. Fireball quickly evaded to the right, hitting the wall. It ricocheted off the surface of the wall and continued its charge towards its target, hitting it dead-on. Heliolisk crumpled to the floor. The member who owned it moved in and began to drag it away from the fighting to where all the other defeated members had gone.

One left. Jordan sidestepped to the right as the Thunder attack just barely missed his head. It crashed into the wall behind him, sending pieces of rubble in all directions. A few sharp pebbles hit Jordan's cheek, making marks that stung and throbbed.

He had managed to avoid being hit by any attacks, but that had been a close one. He had almost lost his head.

Jordan turned back to the battle to see that Fireball and the Electabuzz were now trading punches: Fireball's Mach Punches and Electabuzz's Thunderpunches. It was like watching a professional boxing match, except Jordan was pretty much betting his life on one contestant winning the match.

Electabuzz had weight behind its punches, but Fireball had agility and evasiveness. It weaved under and around Electabuzz's punches, landing three for every time Electabuzz landed one. It looked like Fireball had a win in the bag.

Then one of Electabuzz's punches hit Fireball in the right shoulder. Following that punch, Fireball went still and rigid as a stone. Electabuzz punched it again, this time knocking Fireball to the ground.

What? Jordan thought. Then he felt his muscles contract. He inhaled sharply as his body failed him, causing him to fall and slump against the wall. What's going on?

The Electabuzz's trainer laughed and the Team Dominion members sitting on the sidelines cheered as they ran over to watch.

"Your Pokemon is paralyzed," Jordan's opponent explained. Then he commented on Jordan's condition. "What? Are you too stunned by your loss to stand?" He showed off his teeth with a vicious grin.

"You know," he went on, "I think I'll finish you off before your Pokemon. Any objections to me beating the kid to a pulp?"

There were none. Jordan tried to raise his hand for comedic purposes but couldn't do to his strange condition. He found it difficult to speak, as well.

"Well then," the member said, turning to his Electabuzz. "He's all yours, buddy."

Electabuzz seemed very pleased by this statement. It approached Jordan, who was still slumped against the wall and unable to move, as it raised its fist.

Guess that's it, then. Jordan sighed and closed his eyes.

As soon as his eyelids were shut, Jordan heard shouting from directly in front of him. He opened his eyes to find that the Team Dominion members standing right in front off him had somehow been scattered across the hall. None of them were moving. Jordan looked around and disbelief, trying to figure out what happened.

His eyes fell on Carol and her Dratini, who were moving towards him.

"Hey," she said. "I noticed you were having some trouble over here, so I decided I would lend a hand."

Jordan looked down the hall to see two more Team Dominion members and two more Pokemon on their sides and unconscious.

"How?" Jordan managed to ask.

Carol pointed at her Pokemon as she unzipped her bag and began to rummage through it. Jordan looked at the eel-like Pokemon and saw a strange device around its neck.

"Is that-?"

"Yeah," Carol said. "It's the thing that lets Pokemon hurt humans. Grabbed it off the Manectric once I beat it. I was against the idea at first, but then I realized our lives might depend on it."

"I guess mine did, in this case," Jordan said. "Thanks."

Carol eyed him. "You've changed a lot since back then."

Jordan snorted. "Tell me about it."

Carol produced a bottle from her bag. "What happened to you, anyway?"

"Oh, this?" Jordan asked, trying to indicate his unmoving body but failed due to the fact that his body, as stated before, couldn't move. "Don't know. Don't care. Just want to be done with it."

"Alright, I'll cure Fireball of paralysis, then we can figure out what to do with you." Carol went over to where Fireball was struggling to move. It was still conscious, at least. That was good.

Carol sprayed Fireball a few times with her potion, and the Pokemon slowly showed signs of being able to move normally again. As Jordan watched it all happen, he found that he was able to move his own body again. He stood, using the wall for support at first before taking his hand off when he thought he was ready. He felt fine.

Carol looked over at him. "You're better?"

Jordan nodded. "Yeah. I guess it was just a time thing."

"I guess so. Anyway, let's search the floor now. I don't want to wake these guys up while we're still here."

"Right," Jordan said. As they started to move down the hall, he heard a resounding noise from behind, followed by a small tremor passing through the ground. He and Carol both turned to see Fireball standing over the Electabuzz from before. It was lying unconscious in a different spot previously.

Fireball must've seen its intent and took it out before it could do anything. Jordan walked over to the fainted Electabuzz and leaned down.

"Thanks, buddy," he said. Fireball seemed very pleased with itself.

Jordan saw a similar device to the one that was on Carol's Dratini on Electabuzz's wrist. He detached it and instead placed it on Fireball's own wrist.

"There," he said. "I think the fights will be a little more even, now."

Kyle and Adrien walked down an empty gray corridor. Chu led the group while Eve guarded the rear in case they were assaulted from behind. Both of the boys knew that this was no time to be careless in any way.

At each intersection they came across, they hid behind cover and peeked around the corner. Each time they did, however, they found that there was nobody to concern themselves with. They were completely alone. The eerie silence was a contributor to Kyle's distress.

The other thing that contributed was the fact that he was alone with Adrien. Kyle was sad and a little frustrated with himself to admit, but he had always been nervous around Adrien since the day of the incident in the park. At school, at his house, and especially at the park. He didn't want what had happened to change how he viewed Adrien, but he would be lying if he said it wasn't.

What if Adrien were to suddenly lose control right then? He had seemed intent on actually killing Petal Dance. Could he try to kill Kyle, too? Would he be able to fight Adrien off? That would be ironic in this situation. Surrounded by criminals, and the one who killed him was his friend.

Kyle was shaken from his thoughts as Adrien raised an arm and pointed at an intersection in front of them. "That's it," he said. "Leader's room is to the right and down that hall."

Kyle nodded. "Right." They repeated the scouting procedure Kyle pressed his body against the wall and slide alongside it until his eye was just past the corner. He examined the hallway to the right before whipping his head back behind cover.

"Did you see something?" Adrien asked quietly.

"It's that guy," Kyle said. "The one with the Gengar." He leaned his head past the corner again to get a better look.

The hallway went down about fifty feet before stopping at a door. Leaning against that door was Dream Eater. He had one hand in his pocket while the other was tossing a Dominance ball to itself. His blonde head was down, so Kyle could only see the top of it.

"Well there's not much we can do here, is there?" Adrien asked. He was implying something, and Kyle caught on.

Kyle sighed. "I guess not." He stepped out into the open. Adrien and the Pokemon followed him.

Dream Eater didn't look up.

Well, Kyle thought, disappointed. I was actually hoping that us stepping out into the opening would be a cool and dramatic moment, but it's whatever. We can do it like this.

Kyle began to walk forward. As soon as he had taken three steps, Dream Eater snapped his head up. Kyle froze despite himself.

"I guess you're here, then," Dream Eater noted.

"Yup," Kyle said. Eve moved in front of him and prepared itself for battle. "Want to get right into it?"

Dream Eater gazed a Kyle for a moment, then at Adrien. Then at their Pokemon. He sighed.

"As much as I would like to," He said regretfully, "Leader would be pretty upset if I beat you to dust and didn't give him a turn. He's like that. So I'll just have to settle for one of you."

He pointed at Kyle. "I know he really wants to go up against you." He turned to look at Adrien. "And I've known who I want to fight the most for a while now."

Dream Eater put a hand behind him and opened the door, stepping out of the way.

"You can go by if you want to," he said. "I recommend it. Fighting him won't be as painful for you as fighting me."

Kyle turned to Adrien though he had already made up his mind. His friend nodded reassuringly.

That was all Kyle needed. He and Eve walked forward and past Dream Eater through the door that was being held open for him. Kyle watched in case the Team Dominion member decided to trick him and make a move, but nothing happened. Dream Eater kept his eyes fixed on Adrien as Kyle passed him.

When he was through the door, it shut behind him. Kyle only guessed that, anyway. He didn't actually hear it close. He was too focused on the man in front of him.

Leader gave Kyle an enormous grin and stood up from his couch. He had a small bag with him. Kyle couldn't tell what was inside.

"I cannot describe in words how happy I am at the moment," Leader said.

"Your happiness isn't something I find myself concerning myself with," Kyle said.

Leader chuckled. "Well then, let's talk about something you do care about then," he said. "Like what's happened since we spoke last."

Kyle shrugged. "Not much to talk about. A friend got me out of that prison cell. We kicked the asses of some of your grunts. We destroyed your Dominance ball machine. We found someone one of your guys killed next to it. Then we split up. I came straight here."

"Wait," he said. "Did you just call my soldiers 'grunts?'"

"Seems appropriate."

Leader laughed. "It certainly does. I like it." Then he sighed. "But I can't say I like that you destroyed that machine. It was a real bitch to pay for, I hope you know that."

"Where do you get all of your money, anyway?" Kyle asked, genuinely curious. "Those grunts have to be getting paid somehow, or else they wouldn't be working for you."

Leader waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, you know. Robbery. Illegal stuff like that. A lot of it." He suddenly frowned. "But I have to ask you another question. You said one of my grunts was killed."

"Yeah," Kyle said, angry that Leader was acting the way he was about it. "Right next to the machine. He was killed by a Pokemon's attack. That has you guys written all over it."

Leader's frown grew deeper. "Our trans-attacks cannot kill yet. We're still working on that. Whatever you saw, it wasn't caused by one of us."

Kyle shook his head. "No way. You're lying."

Leader smiled. "Dear Judgement, I would never lie about this. If I had killed him, I would be telling you with pride in my voice."

Kyle gritted his teeth. There was no way someone in Team Dominion was a part of the killing. There was just no possible way.

I can't believe-

Memories flashed in Kyle's mind. Adrien losing control. Him throwing his Poke ball and expecting Chu to kill Petal Dance. Chu not listening to anything anyone said to stop it. Kyle feeling like Chu actually was going to kill Petal Dance.

The pieces were there. Chu was an electric type, capable of using Thunderbolt. Adrien had been the one to find everybody, providing no explanation as to how he had escaped. Kyle was beginning to find it hard to defend Adrien.

"There's no way..." Kyle breathed. He realized he was sweating. "No… I can't…"

Leader turned his head sideways. "It seems like you just figured something out," he said. "Don't ask how I know. I just do. Care to fill me in? I know we're enemies and all, but..."

Anger flashed inside of Kyle. "No!" He shouted. Leader raised his eyebrows and backed away. "I know it was you! Don't try to deny it so you don't get charged with murder when they take you in!"

Leader paused for a second while Kyle let off a little bit of his steam. "Well, it seems like we're ready. Now that we're at this point, I propose a wager."

Kyle growled. Playing a game with this guy was the last thing he wanted to do, but his rationality was telling him to at least hear him out. "Fine. What's your wager?"

"I won't use a trans-attack. I'll also use a Pokemon that's an equal level to yours, with no type advantages or disadvantages. We'll have a good old-fashioned Pokemon battle. No imbalance. No tricks." He waited for Kyle to acknowledge what he had said so far.

"Go on."

"If you win," Leader continued, "I'll admit defeat. I'll turn myself in and give everything I've taken back to the CPP, if I can." Leader smiled. "But if I win, you give me your Pokemon, walk quietly back to your room, lock the door, and stay there until I find you of some use to me."

Kyle considered his options. It was actually a favorable way to do things. He didn't stand a chance while Leader's Pokemon could harm him. He could also pull out a Pokemon that was a higher level than what Eve was at now, even with the candy. If he lost, he would lose it all, but he had known from the beginning what he was risking.

"Okay," Kyle said. "That works."

Leader nodded appreciatively. "Good." He opened his bag and put his hand inside. "What level is your Pokemon? Remember that if you lie, I'll know."

Kyle did some quick mental math. "Seventy-six."

Leader perked up excitedly. "Really?"

Kyle nodded, confused as to why Leader was so enthusiastic.

"That's perfect," Leader said. "My favorite happens to be that same level." He pulled a labeled Dominance ball out of his bag. Leader examined the label before grinning. "Yup, this is it." He unlocked it and opened it.

A Pokemon materialized at the bottom of the steps that led up to Leader's couch. It was certainly nothing like any Pokemon Kyle had ever seen before. It was shaped like a dog, which was about as similar to some other Pokemon as it got. Its front legs were the legs of a bug while its back legs seemed normal. Instead of a tail, it had a blue and gray fin. On its head was what looked like a helmet with an axe-shaped object on it. Kyle hadn't seen the species before today.

"You're probably wondering what it is," Leader said. "I found it at a CPP. Those devils were experimenting to make weapons for war. Sad, honestly. People will always take gifts and use them as a means to gain power."

"Isn't that what you're doing?" Kyle asked, sensing irony.

Leader looked flabbergasted. "What? Of course not. I do it for fun." Then he smirked. "I also like to impress those that watch me."

The strange-looking Pokemon stamped its feet against the ground, ready for battle.

"They didn't even give it a proper name," Leader said. "They just called it Type: Null. I've called it Null for short until I can come up with something better."

Kyle was going up against an opponent even in strength. The tides could tip either way. The decider of the battle would be the ability of the trainers themselves.

Kyle reached into his pocket and felt the ice and leaf stones he had stored there. The winner of a fight always had an ace up their sleeve.