Thanks a lot for the kinder reviews, everyone. To be honest, I was so fed up with the accusation that I had stopped work on the story for a day or so. Then I saw my inbox full of new reviews from you saying how much you were enjoying this sequel that I just had to continue! So, I dedicate this chapter to my happy readers, thank you all for your support!
BTW, I checked my notes. Now I know why this story is partially inspired by 'Coming Clean' by Hilary Duff. You're all going to have to wait it out and see for yourselves how Seth will 'come clean' in this story. -
Ch 4
Lady Venus stood on the bow of her luxury boat, gazing up at the waterfall that led to the Victory Road. At its end was the Elite Four's headquarters, and the prizes at hand. She smiled and looked down at her e-mail, double-checking her orders one final time.
"All right! Miss Evice wants us to not only get rid of the Elite Four, we must also steal all of their Pokémon to deliver to Ein!" she called out to her troops, easily a hundred women in pink uniforms riding on assorted water Pokémon, "Now, Ein's reports say that they are hiding away at the end of the Victory Road, at the top of that waterfall! You are positioned to act as rear guard to the primary wave of troops already setting up for the first wave!" She yawned in boredom and glared at her attendants. "The sun is hitting me, you imbecile. Raise the parasol higher!" she hissed, then turned back to her team. "In five hours, we will rise up this waterfall and storm Ever Grande City! Hoenn will witness the destruction of their precious Elites, and this region will become a new state of the Cipherous Empire!"
Team Venus cheered and whooped, then wobbled somewhat unsteadily on their Pokémon. They hadn't had much time in adjusting to the quick pace of the plan. Lady Venus smiled brightly and whirled around to re-enter her cabin.
"Ein, your plan is working flawlessly!" she gushed into a small satellite phone in her hand, "They're buying it, these stupid little Hoenn girlies! All right, the plan goes as follows, correct?"
"Yes, yes. For the last time, yes. Have Team Venus distract Hoenn by taking down the Elite Four. I've done research for the past month on the strengths and weaknesses of the lot of them. Compared to the Elite Four of Indigo Plateau, Hoenn's Ever Grande Elite Four is quite susceptible to attack. Steal their Pokémon, though it will be a touch harder to do without Seth and the Snag Machine, then finish them as you like. Deliver the Pokémon to me and I'll make them Shadow. They'll be useful against the Indigo League's Elites."
"Okay. Once both Elite Four groups are dead..."
"You're jumping ahead of me, Venus. The point of this conquest is to draw out the legendary Pokémon of the world. Once we have them, the very Earth will bow under Cipher's power and we will rule supreme over people, Pokémon, and Mother Nature!"
"By catching a bunch of cheapie Pokémon?"
"Oh, never mind. Just follow the plan! We have enough attention in all three regions to draw Seth out of hiding. Do try to capture the boy if he shows his little face, dear. He is a key element to this whole venture, after all. And try not to lose those two Shadow Pokémon I gave you to him, all right? Cheerio!" Lady Venus glared at the phone and clicked it off, scowling at her mirror.
"'And try not to lose those two Shadow Pokémon! Cheerio!' Myah!" she mimicked nastily at her reflection, "What does that stuffy coot know? I'll emerge victorious in this battle and all of Hoenn will be mine to reform! I shall have an island paradise fit for a queen!" The woman smiled suddenly, looking as sly as she could behind her pink veil. "As for dear, darling Seth, well... I'm sure Ein will have a fit if he were to have a rather fatal accident in battle, hm?" Lady Venus laughed to herself as she headed off with her attendants to pick out a new dress for her upcoming attack.
May pointed out Shoal Cave and the Latias flew down to enter it. The cave was definitely flooded and the dragon immediately settled into the water to surf along, paddling deeper within to a large section of land. Two masses of people dressed in shades of red and blue were gathered, arguing or resting depending on how they got there.
"Aw man, they're at it again." Brendan sighed. Seth settled back and gazed up at the cave ceiling, Rui twining her arms around him again and smiling into his back.
"This place is so wonderful, Seth! All the cool, green grass and so much clear, blue water! And everywhere, Pokémon being happy, being wild, being free!" she laughed, "Would Johto and Kanto be like this? If Orre were like this, it would be so heavenly!"
"No, it would be an even more lethal place for Pokémon." Seth replied softly, "Because then Cipher would have enough of them to become even more of a threat than they are now." HeartSong pulled up to the shore and called out to the two feuding teams. They stopped and looked over at the trainers.
"Hey! Archie! Maxie! We're here! Don't make us have to trounce you again to get you to behave!" May called teasingly, sliding off the dragon. Two men stepped out of the crowd and grinned at the group as they joined together. One was dressed in red and black and looked like a scientist; the other looked like a pirate with blue bandana on his head, blue and white striped shirt and dark blue pants. Seth hung back from the group, sidling into the shadows as the whole group gathered around a large fire.
"May, Brendan! Finally made it, eh? Maxie here finally got over himself enough to jump on a Water-type and get here. So what's the plan, guys? We only have four hours to get ready, get there and get it over with!" Archie, the pirate, declared. Maxie rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Huh? New faces? Who're they?" the pirate added, waving his hands towards Rui and Seth.
"This is Rui Roane, from the Orre region." Brendan introduced them, "And the creepy guy over there is Seth." Rui smiled brightly and waved at them. Seth merely nodded his head, watching them all and trying to gauge their total strength. "Okay then. What do you have already figured out?"
"The agents I have placed around Ever Grande say that there are easily over two hundred women prepared to enter the city's main waterfall via the lagoon at the base of the island." Maxie began and brought out a small machine from a suitcase, setting it up before the flames. He clicked it on and stood back, a remote control in one hand. Team Aqua and Team Magma looked up at the cave wall, a projection of Ever Grande displayed on the rock. Seth winced at the light and nudged his visor down, leaning back against the wall of rock furthest from the two groups.
"The way they're set up, they look like they're going to try a head on rush through Victory Road." May remarked, studying the photos taken by the teams' intelligence agents. Seth eyed the slideshow, taking note of the placements of Team Venus.
"I have agents intermixed with the Elite's trainers in Victory Road. A land-based ambush will be the best way to stop Team Venus in their tracks." Maxie added with a smile, "Team Magma will prove that no other team can best us in battle!" Irritated grumbling arose from the blue-clad Team Aqua as Rui tugged at Brendan's backpack.
"What's going on?" she asked softly, "Who are these people?"
"Maxie is the leader of Team Magma, they believed that Pokémon need more land to live with people and tried to wake up Groudon to dry up the oceans. I caught it before the weather was thrown completely out of balance. Archie leads Team Aqua and they wanted more water for Pokémon, so they woke up Kyogre to flood the world. May caught that one. Since then, they both turned over new leaves." he explained quickly and glanced at them dubiously, "Sorta. They get along pretty well as long as they forget to mention to each other anything about land and water activities." Seth snorted from where he stood and Brendan glared at him. "I suppose the almighty Hero of Orre doesn't have problems with renegade, world-wrecking teams? Oh, my mistake, he did... until he blew them up!" he griped.
"Bite me." Seth muttered, turning his attention back onto the photo on the wall.
"Hey, hey, hey! What's with all that?!" Archie snapped at the other man, "They're positioned in the lagoon! The best time to strike is while they are still sitting ducks in the water! All we have to do is dive under and burst through in their midst! While they're still in shock, we can lambast them from all sides!" The Aqua members cheered at that idea. Brendan groaned and dropped his head into his hands. He knew what was coming next.
"Then you are a bigger fool when you're not drunk!" Maxie declared, "Water attacks against water Pokémon?! Are you mad?!" The two teams descended into yet another shouting match. Rui looked around in a panic and decided that it would be best to flee to her partner. Brendan and May started trying to talk to the two leaders, hoping to calm them down and get them organized again. Seth just watched the photo, the positions of Team Venus's members seemed to call attention to something. Rui was hiding beside him, staring out at the groups.
"Wait here." he murmured to her and walked closer to the projected image, lifting his visor and studying it carefully. "What is that?" Running his fingers along the photo, Seth could make out a pattern that the others had overlooked. "These women here... they're hanging too far back to be a full head-on rush." he whispered and stepped back. "It's a wave. They've split themselves into a wave. One set will attack first to weaken the Elite Four's defenses, the second will finish them off." he realized and spun around to face the squabbling teams. "EVERYONE, SHUT UP!" Seth bellowed, the caves carrying his voice and echoing it enough to startle the entire mass of people. HeartSong blinked and stared at him, wondering if the strange little Pokémon had snapped.
"Uh, thanks." Brendan finally managed to say after several moments of awkward silence. Seth glared at the group, then turned and pointed out the pattern.
"Look here and here. Team Venus has divided its forces into two waves. The first wave is stationed closest to the waterfall at this point. Am I correct in assuming that Victory Road is at the top of this waterfall?" he declared.
"Yes. At the end of Victory Road is the Elite Four's headquarters. The cave system itself has been its first defense since it was discovered." Maxie confirmed.
"And its second defense?" Seth asked, looking back at the older man.
"The building. It's very well built."
"That's not going to cut it against an army of Pokémon. Now here is the second wave." the Snagger went on, circling the further set of women with his arm, the firelight catching on the Snag Machine and helping to draw attention to the image. "They're positioned to keep any sea-based attacks away from the primary wave. Attacking from the land only will do nothing. You'll only tire yourselves out and be taken down by this rear guard. The same with the sea. If you attack from the water, you'll allow the primary wave to slip by unnoticed and the Elite Four will die." He spun again to face the teams. "What must be done is a Pinsir's Clamp maneuver!" Seth commanded. The two leaders lit up with interest and he hid a smile. This was getting to be fun.
"I'll be damned! The kid's right! Sorry, Seth, is it? If you can find that out when we couldn't, then you're no kid!" Archie remarked with a hearty laugh. "So, what's this Pinsir Clamp thing?!"
"The Pinsir's Clamp is exactly what it sounds like, gentlemen." Seth replied smoothly and walked up to the two team leaders. Rui ran up to rejoin the group and smiled proudly at May and Brendan, who both looked stunned by the turn of events.
"This is another reason why I love hanging around with him." she confided and watched him work.
"Allow me to explain." Seth went on, deftly stealing the controller from Maxie's grip during a handshake and switching on the laser pointer. "Team Aqua excels with water-based attacks. Positioning yourselves at these points here..." He pointed out three spots around the lagoon that were clustered with rocks and sandbars, "will provide you cover for an ambush and places to set up any artillery you may have on hand."
"Cannon fire!" the team yelled and whooped. Seth shrugged and moved on, pointing at the land portion of the lagoon.
"Team Magma, attack from these points around the water. If you can make your attacks criss-cross in front of the waterfall, Team Venus will be unable to climb it. You'll have them trapped on both ends within the lagoon in a very effective pincer move." he finished and turned to give the group a charming smile, "The Pinsir's Clamp." The men and women clapped and murmured amongst themselves. Maxie and Archie looked at each other, grinned, then joined in giving him applause. Seth merely gave a polite bow and handed the controller back. "I'd also learn to keep a better eye on your possessions." he added to the surprised man, who had never noticed it missing.
"Okay, then! We've got a plan and two hours to get in place! Let's do this!" May cheered. Rui immediately went to Seth's side and hugged him, laughing.
"We can do it, Seth! We can save Hoenn and find the Shadow Pokémon!" she declared. He only nodded, already looking distant as he pondered that part. In working out the attack strategy for the two teams, he had completely forgotten about them.
"Rui, tell May that she should fight with Team Aqua. Her Kyogre can help to add power. Brendan should join Team Magma with his Groudon for additional strength. You and I will hang back and watch from a distance. I'm going to need you to spot the Shadows for me." he bent to whisper into her ear. "Once I've snagged them all, we'll move on to Johto."
"But what about Brendan and May and the Elite Four?" she asked in confusion as the team members began to climb onto water Pokémon and boats to leave the cavern.
"This is their problem. We were sent to snag Shadow Pokémon, not save a bunch of people too dumb to do it themselves." Seth reminded her coolly, "I don't like Hoenn and it can basically go to hell by itself for all I care. I'm only interested in getting those Pokémon, purifying them and setting them free in Relic Forest."
"Seth! You can't do that! This is where Groudon and Kyogre came from! This is the region that helped create you!" Rui cried in shock as May and Brendan called from them to hurry and join them. "This is where you were practically born!"
"All the more reason to hate this place." the Snagger muttered, pulling the visor back down to hide his expression and making his way to the two Hoenn trainers. Rui sighed in exasperation and ran after him.