A/N: I apologize if this sounds rushed, but I was forced prematurely off the computer before I could give this chapter my full attention. So I had to basically slap together something for you. Again, my apologies if it doesn't live up to my normal standards, I may replace it later on with a better version of this chapter.
Ch 6
As Red and friends made their way out of the plant, four Pokémon materialized outside and began to make their way in. Jupiter and Pluto led the way, racing for the door and preparing themselves for a fight to reach their friends. They didn't expect to run into them as soon as they entered the building. Rui looked around the collided group and blinked at them.
"Jupiter! Pluto! You're here? How?" she exclaimed.
"Boy, are we glad to see you! Seth told us to find you and stay with you! He let us out of the Shadow Machine at Cipher's new secret base but he didn't come with us!" Jupiter babbled, unaware that only one person in the group understood them. Red quickly began translating as soon as he sat up. "I don't know why he didn't come with us, but he gave us our Poké Balls and told us to protect you!"
"This is too confusing." Brendan grumbled as he rubbed his head, "First the guy tells the bad guys where we're going, then he turns around and sends us reinforcements. What the heck's going on in his head?"
"I told you he's not evil! We have to find him and save him before Cipher finishes him with that last piece of DNA!" Rui cried and collected the pouches from the four Pokémon.
"Not yet. We still have to deal with the Silph Co. building." Red added as he led the group out of the Power Plant. "Once we have released it from Cipher's control, we can go after Seth directly." He held up the Poké Ball he had taken from Dakkim, "And I've already got the Shadow Pokémon so we don't have to worry about that. One down, several to go, right?"
"You think another one's at the Silph building?" May asked as she watched a boatload of policemen and policewomen rush onto the shore and head for them. "That's funny. A lot of those women look alike."
"The Officer Jenny Army tends to confuse newcomers to Kanto. You'll get used to it." Red replied with a grin, "Apparently, Gary had the sense to call in for reinforcements of his own for us." He led the group aside as the men and women in blue rushed the plant and started taking down grunts and peons that ran in panic. "Let's leave them to enjoy the battles here and head out ourselves." May nodded and released HeartSong, watching her friends board the dragon as Red and Silver climbed onto the Charizard that the Kanto champion raised. "Follow us! We're going to Saffron City!"
Dawn rose over Kanto as Ein readied the lab for work on the new Snag Machine. He printed out the blueprints and began work on the circuitry for the new device. Sera walked in on him, fresh and cheerful. She noticed him working on the machinery and raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Ein, what are you doing?" she asked, walking up to him and peering at the object.
"Building another bloody Snag Machine for Seth. He wants to use it to snag the legendaries his former allies have." Ein replied as he began building the skeleton for the Snag Machine. Sera lit up and clapped her hands together.
"What a wonderful idea! Ein, can you enhance the machine for him? Make it to where he always snags a Pokémon?" she exclaimed. Ein paused and looked up at her in incredulousness. "I know you can do it! You'd better!"
"And how am I to pull off this wondrous miracle?" the scientist muttered, resuming work on the skeleton. Sera thought carefully and smiled.
"The Master Ball technology in Silph. If we can get that into the Snag Machine somehow, and have every ball Seth charges with Snag power also copy the 100 percent capture signature of the Master Ball, would that work?" she cooed. Ein looked up at her again.
"How much of my research have you been reading lately?" he asked suspiciously as she laughed and spun around the room, silver wings flapping from the back of her dress. "Call Fein and tell him to bring us a Master Ball from the building. I'll incorporate its technology into the Snag Machine." he added, resuming his work. "And see if Seth is awake yet. I need him to come and test this when it's ready."
Seth grumbled as he buried himself into the blankets of his bed. The servant peon Sera had sent for him had thrown open the curtains to the room, looked at the rope dangling down in confusion, then tried to shake him awake.
"Sir! Mr. Evice! Ms. Evice would like for you to wake up and meet her in the conference room." he remarked loudly.
"Go away." Seth griped back, "I'll meet her later." The peon shrugged and headed out to deliver the message. As soon as the door was closed, the Snagger crawled out of bed and dragged himself towards the private bathroom to freshen up. The night before for him had been plagued with odd dreams and he hadn't been able to sleep well. "Rain, rain, go away. I don't want to blow my brains." he muttered under his breath as he washed his face in the sink.
It took him time to look normalized again, but he continued to ponder the dreams as he walked to the conference room. He remembered it clearly; a mirror image of himself standing in an open field in the center of what looked like a colosseum stadium. His arms were stretched up towards a huge storm that spun all around above him. The stadium looked half destroyed and the maelstrom that roared in fury continued to chew away at it. Suddenly, a pair of dark blue wings spanned from the other Seth's back, the deep colored feathers ruffling in the winds spinning around him. The sight had taken him by surprise, but as he watched he could see the representation of himself struggling with the storm. Was he trying to contain, control or release it?
Seth never knew the answer, because seconds later a shaft of lightning far larger than any bolt he had seen before suddenly struck down and slammed his other self. The dream ended with an explosion of light and dark blue feathers that scattered to the winds, a girl's scream of anguish piercing the air.
"I suppose this means Plan A is gonna fail." Seth grumbled as he entered the room and looked over at Sera, who sat daintily in her seat and watched the screen on one wall. Rayquaza was circling the Indigo Plateau. He took note of the stadium and realized with quiet horror that it greatly resembled the one in his dream.
"Good morning, dear brother." Sera murmured as she flicked the screen off and turned to him, "Sleep well?"
"Quite." Seth returned shortly, "What did you want from me? Short of my clothes in the corner over there." Sera smiled and leaned forward in her chair, golden hair draped over her shoulders.
"Pooh. Spoil my fun, why don't you? Actually, I'm going to tell you a rather fabulous secret." she replied, "Ein is enhancing your new Snag Machine to copy the Master Ball's perfect capture signature into every Poké Ball you have."
"Meaning I'll be able to snag every Pokémon I set my sights on without fail." Seth finished for her. She nodded and sat back. "How is he going to pull that off?"
"Fein is currently 'acquiring' the Master Ball from Silph Co. in Saffron City. Once we have it, Ein will put it in the Snag Machine for you to use." Sera answered. Seth nodded. "But I'm curious to know why you decided to join us after all. I was actually hoping for a bit of a fight from you." she added with a purr and a coy look.
"You would have had one, if I had anything to fight for." Seth remarked coldly, "Brendan stole Rui from me. She rejected me because she didn't trust me, even after all I've done for her. Without her, I have nothing but the darkness that was part of me when you created me."
"So you decided to reject her too and join us for revenge?"
"If you wish to see it that way, yes. I did it for revenge."
"Wesley. Do you know that name? What it means?" Sera asked, looking distant and wistful. Seth blinked and shook his head.
"Only that it is my designation, the name Cipher's scientists gave me when I was completed." he answered. Sera waved the words away and tsk-tsked him.
"That's a lie and they knew it." she corrected him, "Wesley Evice was my older brother, and the only son of my father, Garik Evice." She gave him the wistful expression again. "Long ago, my father was a good man who ran a company dedicated to bringing water and forests to Orre through major terra-forming projects." Seth slid his hand into his pocket and fingered the PDA. He had to get to the lab and look at the secret tape, then contact Rui about the new events. He didn't have time for a story. "Wesley was his pride and joy. He went off to explore the world and become a famous Pokémon trainer." Sera went on and then turned dark, "And instead, he wound up dead."
"What?" Seth murmured in surprise. This was something he had never heard before.
"That's right. He went off and got himself killed by a wild Pokémon in some God-forsaken forest. The news of his son's death drove my father insane and he spent his fortune and time creating a super-legendary Pokémon to use the weather and conquer the world that had taken his son away." Sera clarified, "That's when he used my DNA and that of Groudon and Kyogre to create you, his new son. His legacy. You were his new pride, the bringer of the chaos he wished upon the Earth."
"The fat little clown of a figurehead is my father?" Seth shrieked in disbelief. Sera nodded with a smile. "That's why he sent those Snagem goons after me in Phenac the day I rescued Rui! He wanted them to drag me back to him?"
"That's right, little brother!" Sera cooed, "My handsome little brother and weather god. He wanted you back when he saw that you had run off on us before we could get you ready for the Earth Seal Project."
"Is that all you called me in for? To startle several years off of my life-span?" Seth grumbled, "Because you did a bloody fine job of it right there."
"The more you hang around Ein, the more you start to pick up on his favorite phrases." Sera muttered and shrugged, "Actually, there was something else I wanted to tell you. I just got reports in from one of our agents in the Power Plant near Cerulean City. Apparently, despite your telling us about your former friends' attempts to break the plant free of our control, Dakim still failed to keep it under our power and lost the Shadow Jolteon he had in his possession."
"Really? What a shame." Seth replied with a grin. "And what happened to the old hothead?"
"Probably dead, according to one of our agents that escaped the police. Electrocuted by a little yellow rat, I think. That's Red's favorite Pokémon, right? A Pikachu?" Sera grumbled, "I'm starting to wonder if maybe having you on our side is really such a good idea."
"You wanted me here, right? So deal with it. And they're probably going to go after the Silph Co. Building next. Better warn Fein that they're on their way, or he might have a nasty surprise coming in the form of my true 'father'." the Snagger replied with the grin growing wider as he walked out of the room.
Fein pulled the Master Ball from within its safe and studied it carefully. The first thing he noticed about it was the large white 'M' stamped on it, the second was the purple color, the third was the fact that it had two pink spots on the top. He rolled it in his hands and looked over at the blubbering CEO in his chair.
"Can't you people come up with better colorings for your Poké Balls? Purple with pink polka dots? That's so gay it's not even funny." he lectured. He tossed it into the air, then caught it again. "Oh well. The boss wants a funky purple ball, the boss gets a funky purple ball."
A peon ran into the room and gasped for air before blurting out a message that the trainers of Hoenn, Johto, Kanto and Orre were just outside and currently entering the building. Fein scowled and opened the monitors to watch the five heroes run into the office building and start climbing the stairs and elevators to the top floor.
"Oh, great. Just what I need. People to come and ruin my perfectly good disguise." he grumbled, "Okay, you guys can deal with them. I have to deliver this ball to Sera and Ein." He tossed the peon a Poké Ball and headed for the window. "That right there is the only other Shadow Pokémon in our arsenal, so don't lose it! Stay up here and make sure you delay those annoying trainers for another hour or so. When I deliver this ball, everything will be set to go." With that, Fein climbed out of the window, climbed up a rope ladder and seated himself in the helicopter that waited for him.
"Oh, and I just wanted to stay in bed today." the peon moaned, clutching the little red ball in his hands.
Red and Silver both knew the Silph Co. building's layout, so they split their groups and took to the stairs, elevators, and warp tiles to reach the floor they knew the boss would be at. Grunts and peons did their best to stall for time and take them out, but fell to the wayside under the combined forces of Hoenn's two on two battle system, Johto's manipulative item hold combos, Kanto's pure power attacks, and Orre's stamina for battle. Rui cheered on the twin Eons as they fought their way to the top. Jupiter and Pluto were safe in their Poké Balls in her pocket, but Rui felt she had to purify the girls somehow. Battling seemed to work best with them, as they quickly began to remember former attacks like Bite and Psybeam. Shadow Rush, once their mainstay attack, became little more than a last ditch head-butt in comparison to their new favorites.
"What's that noise?" Silver remarked as they reached the final door. Red kicked it open and rushed inside to meet with who he thought would be the head man overseeing the Silph siege.
"I dunno. Sounds like the helicopter we rode around in." May replied. The peon caught sight of the trainers, counted them out, then did some quick math in his head. After rolling his eyes around in his head, he opted to live longer and tossed them the Poké Ball containing the Shadow Pokémon before throwing himself to the floor and begging for mercy.
"That was... disappointing." Brendan murmured and sighed, "You mean, I got all psyched up for a big battle and this is all we get? A sniveling little wienie of a grunt?"
"Hey!" Rui exclaimed and rushed to the window, looking out as Fein escaped the building in the chopper. "It's Fein! He survived the fall in Johto! He's getting away!"
"Hello, down there!" Fein called back cheerfully, holding up the Master Ball for them to see, "I suppose my recruit didn't do a good enough job of stalling you! I've actually been waiting to see you to the top so I could taunt you before I make my grand escape!" The others appeared at the window and glared up at him. "There you are! I've got what I was sent for and now I'm off to help conquer the world! With Seth and me working together to snag Pokémon, Cipher is unstoppable! See you around, maybe!" With those laughing words, the helicopter began to zip off towards the Indigo Plateau.
"Man, I hate bad guys with lousy senses of humor." Brendan grumbled as he moved away from the window and leaned against the wall. "Now what do we do?"
Red handed the ball to Rui and looked around. The CEO had fainted at the sight of two old heroes coming to his rescue, and the room itself looked fairly all right. There was no damage, save to the display case that once housed the Master Ball Fein had taken off with.
"Only thing we can do." he replied, "Go to the Indigo Plateau and finish this once and for all."
"By saving Seth!" Rui demanded, "I won't let you hurt him! He deserves another chance! He never did anything wrong!"
"It depends on how he reacts to us when we show up." May put in, "Actions speak louder than words. If he turns on us when we arrive, then we'll know for sure he's one of them." Rui pouted as they began to leave the building, then blinked as she felt her PDA go off in her pocket. Pulling it from her jacket, she opened it and gasped lightly at the mail.
It was from Seth.
"Celebi, will you cut it out with the prophetic dreams stuff? It's driving people crazy!" Latios growled, "Especially those that we need to keep sane!"
Celebi smiled sweetly as Jirachi finished voicing a complaint of having been woken up again for another dream delivery, then slouched back into Raikou's fur for his nap.
"I do what I can to make sure that the future I found is the one that comes to pass!" she remarked brightly, "Rain, rain, come again! Make the future I see plain! Rain, rain, silver rain! Help to end Raykyoudon's pain!"