Prison Break

However, this new phenomenon worries me.

It had never decided to take a vessel before.

Does that mean it knows the strength of the bond?

Jordan watched in awe as Carol slumped to the ground within the cloud of poisonous gas. She looked to be in great pain and discomfort before she passed out. His surprise turned to confusion, then to rage.

Why?! Why risk yourself like that?

Jordan snarled like a wild animal. He felt the adrenaline begin to pump through his body, causing the pain in his body to fade.

"Fireball! Flame Wheel! Now!" Jordan shouted. He gave the command without any indication as to who Fireball should target. He didn't really care.

The Monferno seemed to hold the same hostility Jordan himself was feeling. Fireball cloaked itself and fire and began to recklessly and angrily slam itself against the Pokemon occupying it. Surprisingly, it worked better than the fighting style Fireball had been using before. Three Pokemon dropped to the ground, defeated.

Now that it had some room to move, it stayed on fire and rushed towards Salazzle and Skuntank. Skuntank was dropped immediately from the impact of Fireball's Flame Wheel.

Salazzle saw its teammate fall before it and was given time to prepare. It swiftly dodged out of the way as Fireball's body flew past it and slammed into the wall. Jordan felt the entire building shake from the impact. Fireball's flames faded.

Salazzle moved quickly, pinning Fireball against the damaged wall. The fire-type struggled and thrashed against the fire-poison hybrid, but was unable to free itself. With its opponent subdued and vulnerable, Salazzle opened its maw and breathed purple gas directly into its face.

Fireball began to sputter and choke. Its body began to show signs of a clear deficit of strength. Its attempts of escaping the hold Salazzle had on it were weaker. It began to look tired and sick as it slumped against the arms of its opponent.

Jordan began to feel a little sick, as well. His head began to spin and he found himself on his knees a few moments later. This only spiked Jordan's annoyance, as not only was the timing inconvenient, but he had no clue as to why he might be feeling sick now. However, his annoyance faded to fatigue when his sudden illness began to persist.

Jordan's vision was beginning to blur, so he barely saw Fireball thrown to the ground in front of him. It pushed itself to its hands and knees but didn't go past that margin. It didn't look like it would be fighting much longer.

"What's wrong?" Jordan heard a voice say. "Is your obvious defeat making you feel upset?"

Jordan turned his head and looked up at the woman with the Noctowl. She hadn't made any move to fight, for some reason. She could have easily picked them off from where she was.

The noise of conflict next to Jordan was cut off. A moment later, Carol's Dratini was also thrown onto the ground. The serpent-like Pokemon lay completely limp. The number of able Pokemon on their side had suddenly dropped significantly.

Jordan opened his mouth to speak. However, instead of words, bile came rushing out of his mouth, spilling onto the floor. He heard several complaints from the people around him. Jordan immediately positioned his head so that he was throwing up away from where Carol lay unconscious.

"Come on! Nobody wants to clean that up!"

Jordan turned his head in the general direction he had heard that second voice. It had sounded male, so he faced one guy in the area and formed a gesture with his hand holding it up for him to see.

Jordan heard a growl and something that sounded like the beginning of an order to attack, but he was saved by Notowl's trainer.

"Enough," she said. "They've both had enough. Take them back to their rooms."

"No!" Jordan shouted. He came to his feet then, staggering to keep his balance. "You still haven't finished me off yet. I'm still fighting."

Jordan watched as multiple members produced small vials of purple liquid from their pockets and began to give them to their Pokemon. Potions.

The Noctowl's trainer sighed. "Look, kid," she said. "Your Monferno's badly poisoned. We all have potions. You can't try to heal because you have nobody left to cover you. It's over. Just give it up."

Jordan kept quiet while he racked his brain. It gave him a headache to do so, but he had to think of a plan, now.

We're severely outnumbered, he thought, even with our buffed up Pokemon. We need reinforcements. Unfortunately, the only way to get some is by calling the CPP. And even if we did, it'd take them a while to-

As an idea suddenly came to Jordan, he didn't have to struggle to hide his excitement from the enemies around him. His odd sickness had drained him of the energy to show strong facial expressions. Despite this, he believed he had enough strength to pull off his new plan.

It wasn't on any other floor, so far. We haven't finished searching through this one, either. If it's on this floor, and I can find it...

Fireball looked expectantly at its trainer, waiting for orders. Jordan found it incredibly miraculous and convenient at times that Fireball seemed to always know exactly what was going through Jordan's head. It never hesitated when Jordan gave it an unexpected order.

One large burst of power, Jordan thought, preparing himself. That's all we need. He looked at Carol. He didn't think he had the strength to carry her or her unconscious Dratini. I'm sorry.

"Flame Wheel!"

Fireball bounded past Jordan towards the Pokemon and members that had taken out Dratini. Their eyes widened in surprise as Fireball barreled through them like a battering ram, creating an opening.

Jordan wasted no time as he scrambled after his Pokemon, doing his best to stay upright. He left Carol and Scarf behind. He felt a pit form in his stomach as he did so, making him grit his teeth.

I'm sorry.

The members of Team Dominion found themselves a few moments after Fireball stunned everyone. Several launched attacks in Jordan's direction. He quickly threw himself around a corner at an intersection in the hallway. He heard a few splashes of poison, some blades of air, and a single fireball hit the wall between him and his attackers.

Jordan heard incoherent shouting, followed by the sound of running footsteps. He increased his speed, matching his Pokemon's. His head was throbbing immensely and he felt bile forming in his stomach and throat.

Please, let it be close, Jordan prayed. Come on.

He and Fireball came to a door. The Pokemon punched it inward and Jordan looked through. Nothing. Just an ordinary room. They moved on to the next one and discovered that it was no different.

Come on! Please!

The ones chasing after him and Fireball were rapidly closing the distance, which wasn't as surprising as it was alarming. The two of them were incredibly weak at the moment. They tried to keep their speed up as they checked doors and turned through corridors.

Attacks narrowly missed Jordan's body, either falling short or flying past. At one point, a Flamethrower attack went past his right shin, igniting part of his jeans. Jordan knew if he tried to put it out, it would slow him down, so he simply kept running as fast as he could manage.

Just as Jordan thought he was going to collapse, he saw a picture painted on a door. It wasn't very good, but there was no mistaking what it was. It was a classic, red and white Poke ball.

There!

He didn't even need to tell Fireball. The Monferno punched down this door with more intensity than he had with the other doors they had come across.

Someone must have realized what Jordan was planning. "Stop him! Stop him now!" He heard a voice shout angrily and frantically.

Jordan stumbled past Fireball into the room and looked around wildly. Wires were everywhere on the ground, all of them connected to various machines that lined the walls, as well as a single computer at the center of the room.

Jordan heard the sounds of a battle outside the room. He turned and saw brief glimpses of Fireball struggling against at least five Pokemon at once, depending on how many had decided to stay with Carol.

It's trying to buy me time, Jordan realized. He smiled a little before his expression hardened. Meaning I can't afford to waste any. His pants continued to burn. He felt the heat on his leg and did his best to ignore it.

Jordan made a quick analysis. The identical machines had Poke balls inside of them, but he didn't know what the machines were or how they functioned. Trying to figure it out and free the Pokemon might take too much time.

Jordan went for the thing he was more experienced with: the PC. He rushed over and nearly tripped on the wires. He fumbled with the mouse and keyboard, trying to get the computer up and running.

The monitor flashed on. To say that Jordan was relieved that there was no login required would be an incredible understatement. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Jordan found that the computer was already running a certain program. One look was all it took him to realize that the application was meant for managing all of these peculiar machines. There was a list of links he could click on that would bring him to a specific one. There, Jordan could see which exact Pokemon was in which Poke ball.

This was all useless to Jordan, at the moment. He was looking for a way to set them all free.

Then he found it. It was fairly hidden, probably because Team Dominion didn't want anyone to accidentally screw up and set all of their captured Pokemon free. In the top left corner, there was an 'options' tab. Jordan dropped it down and placed it over the 'release' option. From there, he was given another option to 'release all.'

The sounds of fighting from the hallway were abruptly cut off. The Salazzle came charging through the doorway, opening its mouth in Jordan's direction. He saw its throat begin to glow amber.

He clicked the option once.

A second passed as the command registered. Then, around fifty Poke balls simultaneously burst open, drenching the room in light. Jordan shielded his eyes as he jumped clear of Salazzle's Flamethrower attack. The cone of fire engulfed the computer but didn't touch Jordan.

There were too many Pokemon for Jordan to be able to identify them all. They were of varying types and sizes. Most of them seemed like pre-evolutions or mid-evolutions, indicating that they were fairly low in level. However, EXP didn't matter when there were around four dozen of them.

All of them roared or cried in anger as they all prepared attacks. Jordan almost panicked before realizing none of them had trans-attacks. They couldn't hurt him. Salazzle, however, would definitely be pummeled by the attacks that were aimed at it.

The Pokemon let loose their moves. There were a Flamethrowers, Water Guns, Razor Leaves, Shadow Balls, Thunderbolts, Rock Throws, and even more. All of them struck Salazzle dead on, blasting it out of the room. Jordan laughed and coughed before promptly hurling onto the floor again.

He looked up and saw a particularly angry Excadrill. The subterrene Pokemon wasn't angry at Jordan, of course. It was more likely that it was frustrated that it had been trapped for so long. So it wasn't to blame for what it did next. However, it didn't stop Jordan from wishing it hadn't done anything.

Excadrill drove the drills at the end of its arms into the ground. It didn't look like the motion would have much effect, but the entire floor shattered and collapsed as Excadrill used Earthquake. Jordan felt the ground beneath him fall inward as he went with it.

Kyle felt the entire building begin to shake around him. He kept his balance and looked around. The room. Leader briefly paused as well.

Eve broke away from its fight with Null. It was doing a much better job now that it had evolved into Glaceon. Leader still had the upper hand, but Eve was at least holding its own. It had learned a new move, as well, one it had replaced Sand Attack with. It was called Icy Wind. The new move had especially helped.

Kyle looked up at the ceiling and saw cracks beginning to form. The fracture spread across the concrete before breaking completely, causing fragments of different sizes to fall like a meter shower.

Kyle yelped and did his best to avoid everything. Leader dodged, too, but he was also still focused on the battle.

"Air Slash!" He ordered.

Null moved its head in a horizontal motion and sent a blade of air in Eve's direction. As it traveled, a large piece of falling cement crossed its path. The slash cut it clean in half and didn't stop.

Eve ran forward and jumped over the slash easily. It was nearly struck by a falling rock as it went airborne.

It's going to use Tri-attack, next, Kyle thought. "Icy Wind!" He called to Eve.

A gust of air burst from the Glaceon's body and passed over Null. The normal-type had been about to use an attack, but the chill of the wind caused it to stop. Null's teeth chattered.

"Follow up with Double Kick!" Kyle shouted as he dodged out of the way of another falling chunk.

Glaceon landed gracefully and continued rushing towards null, its hind legs beginning to glow white. As it approached its target, it jumped again and turned itself around so that its back legs were facing Null.

"Move away!" Leader said. "Quickly!"

Null composed itself in time to dash backward. Eve's first set of kicks met empty air, but it wasn't finished. It unleashed a second set of kicks toward Null. This time, unfortunately, another rock came in between the two Pokemon. It shattered as Eve's Double Kick hit it.

However, the scattered pieces of cement flew into Null's face, distracting it. Eve landed and began the third set of kicks. The previous distraction made it so that these strikes hit their mark. Null was thrown backward onto the ground.

Leader frowned. "Your Pokemon has a move that has an advantage over normal types," He commented disapprovingly.

Kyle shrugged, unbothered. "What can you do?"

Leader met his gaze. "Well, you see, you could have kept that advantage by refusing to evolve your Pokemon. However, now it's an ice type. Steel type moves are effective against ice types."

Kyle felt as if Eve has used Icy Wind on him. Null knew a steel type move, one that was much more powerful than Double Kick. It hadn't hit Eve with Iron Head since it had evolved into Glaceon, thankfully. But it would only take about three or four hits from that attack to take Eve down.

Kyle thought his nervousness must have shown in his expression because Leader grinned as he watched his face.

The rocks continued to fall for a moment longer before they stopped, though Kyle could still hear the sounds of cracking. Dust began to fill the center of the room, obscuring the Pokemon inside. There was nothing either trainer could do until it settled.

Adrien had been wrong all of the times he had been in a close battle. This was the most fun he'd ever have in his life.

Dream Eater was one of the greatest of trainers Adrien had come across so far. He and his Gengar which he called Midnight - seemed to act as one being. It was clear that they understood each other and used that as a part of their fighting style.

Their battle had been an active one. They had traveled around the entire floor at least once, maybe twice, as their Pokemon tried to get past their opponent to strike the enemy trainer. They had taken turns going on the defensive or offensive.

Neither Adrien nor Dream Eater had been a situation that would've been a cause for major concern. The battle was still very even.

Adrien was breathing hard as he moved. He couldn't afford to drop his focus or take even a moment of rest. Doing so meant there would be an incredible risk of being struck by one of Midnight's attacks. He was exhausted, but a smile like no other was plastered across his face. In his heart was nothing but utter joy.

Adrien was on the defensive, backing up as Midnight applied pressure on Chu.

"Shadow Ball!" Dream Eater called.

Adrien readied himself to see if Midnight's attack would be aimed at him or Chu. Dream Eater never specified who it was sent towards. It didn't seem like he needed to. Midnight sent it one way or the other and it was clear that the direction it chose was the one he had expected.

A ball of dark energy formed between Midnight's purple hands. The ghost type leaped into the air, spun around, and sent the Shadow Ball straight past Chu and towards Adrien in a line drive pitch.

Adrien grinned even wider. He jumped to his right and pressed himself against the wall for stability as the Shadow Ball crashed into the space he had been standing before. A small crater was left in the floor. Pebbles flew from the space, hitting Adrien's arm as he turned away to avoid being struck in the face.

"Poison Jab!" He heard Dream Eater say.

Adrien whipped his head back around. Shadow Ball had been a distraction. Midnight had landed and was rushing towards Chu with tremendous speed. Its right fist, glowing a shade of pinkish-purple, was pulled back.

"Parry with Double Kick!" Adrien said quickly. Not frantically. He knew what he was doing, despite his seemingly peculiar attack choice.

Chu's hind legs began to glow white. It turned itself around and threw out a single kick. The first one struck Midnight's luminescent fist as the Gengar sent it into a punch. The Poison Jab was stopped in its path.

Chu sent out a second kick. This one knocked Midnight's fist away while also throwing it slightly off balance.

There was no point in Chu throwing out another set of kicks. They wouldn't do anything.

"Thunderbolt!" Adrien said.

Chu's body crackled with electricity before it unleashed a powerful shock onto Midnight's off-balanced body. The grinning Pokemon was knocked to the ground.

Adrien grinned. While fighting type moves were normally ineffective against ghost types, Midnight's fist had been covered in poison. This allowed Chu to parry the attack with Double Kick since Poison Jab made Midnight's fist tangible.

Dream Eater seemed surprised at the way Adrien had handled that encounter. Adrien didn't blame him. He had been a little surprised when he had seen it while watching two other kids battling each other.

And now that Midnight had been hit by an attack, Adrien had the opportunity to go on the offensive.

"Alright, use -"

Adrien stopped as he felt a tremor pass through the building. He saw that Dream Eater noticed it as well. Both of them examined the walls and ceiling around them.

Too late, Adrien noticed a large rock falling from the ceiling above him. He tried to move out of the way, but he was too slow. The chunk of cement struck him on the head, and everything went dark.