Chapter 18: Kevin's Shining Moment
Kevin flew up the stairs to the third floor. As soon as he reached it, he didn't bother waiting to open it. Instead, he did a Mega punch and knocked the door inward. Unsheathing Diamond Blade, he activated his Scyther disguise and charged in.
"What in blazes was that noise??" Kevin heard a guard say. The guard turned a corner and found himself face-to-face with an angry scyther.
"What the—!!"
Instead of slashing him, however, Kevin kicked the guard into the nearest solid wall. The guard smashed into it and was rendered unconscious. Or, at least Kevin hoped.
Behind us, Kevin! Duo-Cevan suddenly shouted as he felt a danger pang.
Kevin spun around and held his Scythe up much like a shield. Unfortunately, the attack was nothing he had expected. Kevin was immediately enveloped in the receiving end of an ice beam.
"Yes!" the female guard said. "Good, Jynx. Keep doing it! Freeze that Scyther to the wall!"
Kevin could feel his body temperature slowly dropping as the ice beam continued to pummel him. Ahh, forget it! Kevin yelled to himself. He immediately counteracted the ice beam with a flamethrower that could've made an Articuno run.
"Aaaahhh!!!" Kevin heard the guard yell. She ended up passing out from the heat of the flames. The Jynx, however, was completely knocked senseless from the attack itself. Kevin immediately dashed around the corner that the guard had come from to find a third guard pulling out his radio.
"Oh no you don't!" Kevin yelled, dashing at the man. Kevin thrust one blade forward, stabbing the radio. The other blade was pulled back and swung upward, slashing the guard and sending him flying backwards from the impact. He didn't hit any walls, though; instead, his head made impact with the ceiling as he flew through the pathway, becoming unconscious before he even stopped on the floor. The guard didn't even get a chance to utter a noise from the pain.
Ouch, Kevin thought as he looked at the mark running up the Rogue's face, from the chin to the forehead. That's probably going to leave a scar.
Well… Duo-Cevan sighed. That certainly wasn't one of my cleaner slashes, I must admit.
Kevin, once he found that there were no other guards, dashed around the floor, attempting to find the hostages. It was mostly error, though, as he didn't find them until the last door. Sheathing one blade and swinging the door open, he found that there was no guard.
"Where's the guard?" Kevin asked the alarmed hostages.
A man, who managed to summon up enough courage to face the unknown rescuer, pointed at the door. "Behind there," he managed to say.
Kevin pulled the door away from the wall that it was slammed up against enough to see a Rogue fall out from behind it. Well, that takes care of the guard, Kevin thought.
Kevin turned and was about to ask the hostages something else when he saw his blade begin to shimmer. It stayed only for a moment, though, before the glow faded.
Kevin! Duo-Cevan suddenly shouted. The signal! It's started! Even as Duo-Cevan yelled that, Kevin heard his voice slowly fading.
Dang! Kevin growled. Immediately, Kevin pulled out his other blade. Not bothering to wait, he turned to the hostages.
"Thanks for the help, uhh, Scyther-person," the man said. "Is there anything we can do to repay you?"
Kevin paused, making it look like he was thinking. "Yes," Kevin finally said. "The signal that the Rogues are using is attempting to put me to sleep. Do you, by chance, know of a simple way to stop it?"
"Actually, yes," the man replied. "If it's a hypnosis signal they're sending through the use of the tower, then you can easily stop it by damaging the main satellite dish."
"You use satellite dishes?" Kevin wondered. "I thought you used those steel communication towers."
"Well, we do," the man sighed. "However, this isn't the first time I've seen it happen. That's how I know that they have to use a satellite dish in order to send the signal."
"You mean that this isn't the first time it has happened here?"
"No, that's not what I meant," the man corrected. "I meant this isn't the first time I have seen criminals attempt to use a tower for mind controlling. This is the first time this tower was taken over like this."
"I see." Kevin paused only for a moment before continuing. "So what's the best way to the roof?" he asked.
"There's a maintenance hatch on the roof of the stair passage," the man said. "It blends in with the roof itself, and it's disguised with a light bulb attached to it. If your eyes are as perceptive as a Scyther's, you should notice the second, smaller chain rapped around the light's chain. Unwind it and you should be able to unlock it."
"Can it be broken open?" Kevin wondered.
"Yeah, but I don't know how you can do it," the man replied. "It's pure steel and the latch itself is reinforced. Even if you did break it, you would probably get the attention of anyone who's attempting to stop a resistance like you… whatever you are, that is."
"I'll explain later," Kevin said. "However, we need to make sure that this resistance works. Do any of you have Pokémon?"
"I have an Alakazam," the man said.
"I have a Houndoom!" a woman from the back said.
"A Houndoom?" Kevin wondered.
"Yes," she said. "It's a Dark-type. All Dark-types are immune to Psychic attacks." Calling it out, she grinned. "Some seem to look at these Pokémon as evil."
Kevin looked at the vicious-looking Houndoom. "I can understand why," Kevin remarked. "Well, in that case, you should have no problem. However, I'm not sure about the Alakazam."
"We've been through this before," the man commented. "I've trained him so a hypnosis that isn't used through the use of another's eyes holds no effect on him."
"Good, good," Kevin complimented. He then turned to the woman. "How fast is your Houndoom, and how brave do you think you are?"
"While riding Houndoom, I've leapt from cliff to cliff along a ravine in my past," she said, grinning again. "I'm not bluffing, either, but I won't say why I did that."
"Ok, then I'm assuming your Houndoom is very agile," Kevin said, not grinning at all. "I want you to get up to the fourth floor and attempt to help the hostages there. The guard in their room is taken care of, but the other two might still be moving about on that floor."
"Sure thing," she said. She took off from the door.
"You stay here," Kevin said to the man. "I've got a score to settle with the Rogue's leader, after I stop this signal."
"Be careful then," the man said back. With that, Kevin left the hostages.
Kevin started heading back towards the stairs. He wasn't halfway through the hall, though, when he ran across the female guard, awake after the flamethrower.
"You!" She said, seeing Kevin. "I'm going to take you down, Kevin!" she then charged him.
Kevin sighed, moved, and now held the guard against a blade and a wall. "What was that you were saying?" Kevin asked.
"You won't win, Kevin!" she growled. "By now, the Commander must have given the broadcast to the continent. Johto is ours!"
"That's for me to decide," Kevin snarled. "Now, tell me: is it true that the Psychic is sided with Patrael?"
"How do you know about our Commander?"
"That's for me to know," Kevin said, leering at her. "But you didn't answer my question. Tell me! Is the Psychic sided with Patrael??"
"I'm not telling you anything," the guard said.
Kevin glanced down at her belt, where she held her Pokémon. "If you don't tell me… I'll do something terrible to your Pokémon."
"You wouldn't dare," she said, giving an indication of fear that Kevin was hoping for.
"Try me," Kevin said, grinning. "I've lived in isolation, bringing me to the edge of life. All I need to do is perform Rage and it's all over."
"All right, you want information?" she wondered. "Patrael is sided with a Psychic. Why you want to know is beyond me."
"Good, you're seeing it my way now," Kevin said, still holding a fierce glare. "Now tell me… why is this Psychic after me?"
"Your question is as good as mine," she said. "Shame that I'll be getting a promotion from this job, though."
"What are you trying to pull? I don't want any funny business!" Kevin growled, edging Diamond Blade closer to her face. "I only want answers!!"
"Oh, you'll get answers, all right!" she yelled. Before Kevin could react, she threw a yellow ball at him that she had pulled out without his knowing. It hit him squarely in the chest. However, to Kevin's confusion, the ball suddenly enveloped him in a red light and began draining his energy.
"Gaah!!" Kevin yelped. He immediately shook off the light with his blade and smacked the ball to the side. With the other blade, he crashed it into the guard and knocked her senseless.
What was that? Duo-Cevan wondered. It almost felt like it was pulling us!
Whatever it was, it won't be used anymore, Kevin said, staring at the ball. He then impaled the ball with the blade and smashed it against the wall, breaking it into 9 different parts. Anyway, we won't get answers this way, obviously. We may need to trick their leader Patrael into giving what we want.
Kevin dashed to the stairway area and immediately made his way to the fifth floor. Just as the man described, there was a light on the roof of the stairway area. Kevin quickly placed Diamond Blade on the floor beside him, felt for the second chain, unwound it, and pulled it down. The door, which the light bulb itself was bolted to, swung open. Kevin immediately grabbed the blades and jumped through the new opening into broad daylight.
So where's this satellite dish? Duo-Cevan asked.
Kevin quickly glanced around and spotted the satellite dish. There it is, Kevin announced. He looked at the small device on the tower, surprised at its size. I never imagined it to be so small, though.
Kevin raised his left blade, readying himself to strike the satellite dish, even though he was still a good distance away. However, a noise down on the street took his attention to the rest of the city.
It was complete chaos down on the roads. Even though they were still somewhat crowded, people were running in almost every direction. Police officers, who were just arriving, were attempting to calm down the people unsuccessfully. After managing to filter out most of the other voices, Kevin heard a single voice telling the people that the tower was taken over by criminals.
Come on, Kevin! Duo-Cevan urged. We have to stop this signal!
Agreed, Kevin said. He turned back to the radar, raised a blade, and dashed at it. He only got within ten feet of the radar before he was suddenly knocked back by an intense electrical shock.
Kevin snarled as he crashed to a halt. I knew it was too easy! he said to Duo-Cevan.
Kevin! Duo-Cevan exclaimed. It was obvious he had something else on mind. Look at your blade!
Kevin, who's eyes were already viewing the blades as he lay on the roof, noticed that his blade was not only glowing rapidly, as they were nearly next to a high-intensity hypnosis location, but were also growing rapidly brighter with each glow. Before Kevin realized it, his blades suddenly gave off a brilliant light, which was even brighter than a flash. It didn't hurt Kevin's eyes, though. As soon as it flashed it's last, bright light, it darkened back to its old "glow-and-fade" rhythm.
What was that all about? Kevin wondered, mostly to himself.
Like I have a clue, Duo-Cevan replied.
Kevin glanced at the satellite dish, then at the blade. Getting up and watching his own blade, he raised it as if he were to slash a target. Almost immediately, the blade started to give off a small glow.
Kevin looked at the satellite dish again. Once more, he looked at the glowing blade. "I wonder…"
Taking the Scythe as far back as he could, he performed a full swing at the satellite. Much to his surprise and anticipation, it unleashed a wave of energy and sent it straight at the receiver of the satellite dish. The wave held the arc of Kevin's slash, making it appear like a Sonic boom. However, it sliced through anything that got in its way, including the metal poles that held the receiver suspended above the satellite dish. The energy wave continued, past the roof, and over the city a distance before fading into the air.
Kevin first watched the receiver fall to the roof, then looked at the blades. Diamond Blade's glow-and-fade sequence had stopped, but now it gave a shine of its own and no longer reflected the sunlight.
Duo-Cevan was the first to react. How in the caverns of Mt. Moon did you know that? he wondered.
I guessed, actually, Kevin replied. Why?
Kevin, I think our disguise here has become a little more complicated, Duo-Cevan began. First, we realize that it can absorb a hypnosis signal. Second, you just used it for an attack completely unknown to us. Third, you did that attack, not me.
Huh?!? Kevin asked in shock. You mean you didn't use a sonic boom?
No, Duo-Cevan answered. That energy didn't come from us, but an independent source.
Then that means…
That you can use it at any time, without my aid, Duo-Cevan finished. Was that what you were about to say?
Yeah, Kevin agreed. You know, I actually miss you doing that now.
Both Duo-Cevan and Kevin laughed in their minds. However, it didn't last long, and immediately Kevin ducked back into the maintenance hatch to the fifth floor. Nearly about to kick the door down, Kevin heard voices behind it.
"…tower is completely under our control," Kevin heard while eavesdropping. "Everyone here is a hostage, and if you ever want to see their dear lives again, you will comply to our orders. A Rogue is in every town, and a trainer must give them one of their trusted Pokémon to the member…"
The office must be one giant communication room, Duo-Cevan declared.
Not only that, but the director must be held hostage in there, Kevin said. There would be no reason to hold him hostage on any other floor.
As Kevin was thinking that, Patrael was finishing up on his broadcast. "…you all have one hour to comply to these demands," he stated. "And don't even try resisting, either. The signal we are transmitting to the continent is putting your Pokémon to sleep. If you even try, you will be endangering the safety of fellow citizens—"
CRASH!!!
"Scyther!" Kevin yelled as he flew through the knocked-down door. Kevin's guess was correct, as he was aimed at the far wall where the director was being held. An Arbok, who was coiled around the director as rope, and a Weezing were caught off guard as they were subject to two deadly slash attacks from Kevin's blades.
Patrael and the 'vice-director' spun in the direction where Kevin stopped. "What in the caves of Whirlpool Islands?!?" they both shouted. "Where did he come from??"
It wasn't until Kevin faced the two Rogues that they guessed his identity.
"No!" Patrael shouted. "It can't be…!!"
"I'm sorry," Kevin said with a grin. "Was I not invited?"
"You're making a big mistake, Kevin," the vice-director growled. "Now, unless you want people to be hurt, I recommend you give up."
"Oh, by all means," Kevin said mockingly, "Go right ahead. Contact your silly guards whom I've knocked out a long time ago."
The Rogue started contacting different floors. "Fourth Floor guards, this is the Fifth floor. Kevin is here!" he shouted. "Get a hostage and prepare him for torture!…"
None of the floors responded, save for the first floor. A familiar voice spoke up in it. "Go get them, Kevin!" it yelled, whom Kevin recognized as Jimmy.
"So, who's going to have the courage to face me?" Kevin wondered, throwing a stare from one Rogue to the other. His eye turned in time to see a familiar yellow ball come flying at him. This time, however, he had time to react. He quickly dodged the ball as it sailed over his head.
"Rats! Grus, ready the Hyballs," Patrael said to the other. "We're both going to have to take him on."
"Right, commander!" Grus, the vice-director, complied.
"So that means you're Patrael, eh?" Kevin said, turning to the Rogue. "All right, I want to know one thing. You're sided with a Psychic; what does he have against me?"
"Do you seriously want to know?" Patrael wondered. He pretended to think for a moment. "Sorry, but I don't know, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!" he began calling out Pokémon.
Kevin watched them come out as he threw their Pokéballs. The first three, Growlithe, Noctowl, and Magneton weren't a surprise, but the last two caught Kevin completely off guard: Kabutops and Omastar.
"What the..??" Kevin said in wonder. "I thought those were extinct!"
"They're as extinct as you are, Kevin," Patrael growled. "And I'm going to make you wish you were!" he began concentrating their attacks to the floor itself rather than at Kevin.
"Oh no you don't!" Kevin shouted. Using several Psychic abilities that he had learned from Mewtwo, he lined the walls, floor, roof, and objects with a reflect/light screen to protect them from damage. Next, Kevin constructed a barrier, sealing off the door. He even protected the Director with an independent reflect/light screen shield.
"What the…?" Patrael said. He had never seen this sort of thing before.
"You caused me too much grief, Patrael," Kevin said, "and it's high noon. It's time that we end this."
Oh, but your troubles are just beginning, a mysterious voice said.
"Who's there?" Kevin wondered. A black bird flew onto Patrael's shoulder and stared at Kevin.
"Oh yes, I forgot another of my friends to make you wish that you were extinct," Patrael sneered. "Meet Swieten, the Murkrow."
Kevin only stared at the bird, wondering what it was doing. A sudden feeling of danger swept over him, stronger than he had ever felt. However, after a moment of feeling, Kevin realized that this danger signal was actually one he recognized.
Kevin's surprise and confusion suddenly transformed into anger. The Murkrow realized this, and barely managed to avoid being hit by a ball of thunderbolt. It flew towards the window to escape. Kevin, however, couldn't stop the bird as he was suddenly attacked by Patrael's five other Pokémon.
"You'll pay for this, Patrael!" he shouted. "That bird will get away, and the only one to call the thunder on is you and your Pokémon!"
"Good," Patrael said, laughing. "Then let's end this once and for all!"
A raging battle commenced following their remarks. Kevin had immediately launched himself into a Fury Cutter strike, repeatedly attacking the Omastar first before continuing on to the other Pokémon. The Kabutops attempted to target Kevin with Ancient Power, and only once did he hit. The other times, he ended up hitting his own side. In the end, the only one it helped was Kevin, as he learned the move. After Omastar was taken down, Kevin turned his Fury Cutter on Magneton, thinking he would hurt it more than the others. The steel-type addition was a surprise to Kevin, but his Fury Cutter had gotten so strong it almost didn't matter.
Almost immediately as he knocked out the Magneton, though, a mysteriously generated Rock Slide from the side pummeled him. Rather than come back with Fury Cutter, though, Kevin negated the power he earned and recovered from the damage, and retaliated with a generated Razor Leaf attack. Kevin also managed to dodge a flamethrower from afar and a close-range peck. Kevin was then hit from the back by a Hyball, which took him longer to shake off due to the constant attacks.
Kevin leapt to the stair side of the room, getting the vice-director, Patrael, and all the other Pokémon in his view. "That does it!" he yelled, and immediately 'slashed' a wave of energy from Diamond Blade, wide enough to catch all of them in the strike.
"Aaah!" Patrael yelled as the energy not only caused tremendous pain, but also pushed him back to the window. The vice-director and Patrael's Pokémon, however, weren't as lucky as they were carried through the wall. As for the Director, however, the wave passed him, unharmed. After the wave had pushed Patrael and the gang out from the tower, it dispersed, causing them to fall toward the street.
As people below were catching them, Kevin looked down to them. "Arrest those men!" he yelled, audible enough that he could be heard from three blocks away. "I'm going to tell people in other cities that they no longer need to worry."
* * *
Once the tower was clear of all the Rogues and the new broadcast made, all the employees gathered around at the entrance to thank their rescuer. Kevin, now that he no longer needed his blades, put them in their sheathes and put on his trainer disguise. He knew that he wouldn't be fooling anyone when he walked out of the tower.
"Clearly, we are in your debt, Scyther-warrior," the Director said, shaking Kevin's hand. "As a token of our gratitude, we hereby grant you full admission to the radio tower. You are welcome here in Goldenrod."
"Please," Kevin sighed. "This wasn't all my doing, Director. You should be thanking some employees here, as well. If it weren't for them, I never could've pulled this off."
"Yeah," Efalno agreed, who had just arrived. Some were adjusting to the fact that he actually had no visor on. "He needed me to get into the building in the first place."
"I had to help a resistance on the first floor, after helping him find the hostages on the second floor," Jimmy said.
"I had to protect those with me on the third floor," a man said.
"I got to help stop the guards on the fourth floor!!" a woman said.
"Thank you, thank you all!" the Director said, nearly in tears. "I will never forget your consideration for others. Raises for everyone!"
Everyone gave out a cheer. Soon, Officer Jenny arrived. "I just got word that all the Rogues have been arrested," she said to Kevin. "Apparently, they had a lot of positions throughout the whole continent."
"Well, I'm glad they're gone," Kevin said with a sigh of relief. Suddenly, his Pokégear began vibrating. "Excuse me." Kevin walked into the doors of the tower and closed them.
"Hello?"
"Kevin!" Barks voice rang out. "I just heard that the Goldenrod Tower was liberated and the Rogues arrested. Well done!"
"Save the compliments," Kevin sighed. He immediately changed the subject. "Have you gotten the name from that informant of yours?"
"No," Barks answered, "but he did tell me what his code name was. He called himself the surveyor."
"I knew it!!" Kevin exclaimed, his suspicions confirmed. "That wasn't any informant, that was my scientist friend, Warles! Did he give a location?"
"The last he contacted me was from Cianwood City," Barks explained. "I don't have a number, and the radio he contacted me from is broken. Apparently, the Rogues discovered him spying and attempted to have a Scyther attack him, only for him to get away by sacrificing his radio. He painted it red and threw it past them to lure the Pokémon away. It may be that he's now off the island."
"Blast," Kevin said, semi-growling. "How will I ever catch up to him?…"
"Well, I gotta go," Barks suddenly said. "I have to attend a meeting—"
"Wait!" Kevin interrupted. "Patrael had a bird, a Murkrow. Unfortunately, Patrael had me occupied, but as it stared at me, I felt a danger signal…"
You mean you're still feeling it? Duo-Cevan stated. The danger signal, though the Murkrow was long gone, still lingered.
"…Ok, I'm still feeling the danger signal," Kevin corrected. "And I recognize it as the 'echoing' signal from the other incidents."
"What??" Barks suddenly became alarmed. "Did you just say that you felt the danger signal of a Psychic from a Murkrow?"
"Yeah," Kevin answered. "More than that, though. I'm still feeling it."
"Kevin, you're in a lot of trouble, then," Barks stated. "If there's a Psychic signal coming from a dark-type, then that means that they were connected through the mind somehow. If that's the case, the Psychic not only has a visual of you, but because you were next to his Pokémon, he can now sense your energy. That means he can now throw any army at you that is nearby!"
"Flying Petals!" Kevin shouted. "What should I do?"
"My suggestion is to go to Cianwood as fast as you can," Barks suggested. "Don't even stop at the cities unless you absolutely have to. In fact, completely side-step them. I know you can do it!"
"That would take days!" Kevin argued. "And there's no way I could make it if I traveled that long. My energy can't handle it!"
"Well, then if you stop at the cities, don't stay too long," Barks stated. "Every minute you stay in there, you'll be endangering who knows how many people at once. A Psychic of that caliber could probably send all of Mt. Silver on an uncontrolled warpath!"
"Are Pokémon extremely powerful there?"
"Not extremely, but currently stronger than most wild Pokémon," Barks explained. He then looked up, and back down to the monitor. "I'm sorry, I have to go now. The meeting can't tarry any longer. Contact me when you get to Cianwood, ok? Bye!" Barks then hung up.
Kevin turned around and walked out the front door. He then faced the audience. "I'm sorry," he said. "I can't stay longer. I have important business to attend."
Kevin then started to walk off. However, Kevin suddenly felt the melody amplify tenfold. It caught him not only off guard, but it almost felt as if he were torn in two.
"AAAuuuAAUrrrGGHhh!!!" yelled Kevin. The pain was unbearable. Not only did it bring him to the ground, but he began slamming his head on the ground to attempt to advert the pain. Several voices began going on at once.
"What's going on?"
"Is he being attacked?"
"Maybe the work of a Psychic!"
"Maybe the experience is too much to bear."
"All right, all right, calm down!" Officer Jenny shouted. "Someone who's strong enough help me carry him to Nurse Joy!"
Meanwhile, Nurse Joy was tending to some of the Pokémon that were feeling after-effects of the hypnosis signal when Officer Jenny and Efalno burst through the front door. The extra police in the city were forming a blockade to prevent people from swarming into the center.
"Nurse Joy!" Officer Jenny yelled. "We have a problem with this Scyther-warrior!"
Efalno determined it was safe, as there was no one in the Pokémon center at that moment. "Yeah," he agreed. "Kevin is in a lot of pain!"
Nurse Joy burst through the doors to the care centers at that sentence. Seeing Kevin writhing from within their grasp, she guessed what it was and got a stretcher with a Psychic inhibitor. "Hang in there, Kevin!" she said, attaching the device on the stretcher to his forehead. She had assumed that Kevin was experiencing an aftereffect from the hypnosis signal. She immediately took the stretcher and left for one of the recovery rooms.