Chapter Five—Nascour's Plan II, Shadow Pokemon Lab, and the Rise of the New Enemy

(AN: Dear readers, I hate this chapter much. I've been stressed out lately and I don't think this shows my best writing quality at all. But I wanted to get this chappy out, and so here it is, but don't expect much, kay? DM)

This morning, it was not Char to wake first, but Nascour. Char had fallen pretty deeply asleep last night, and he knew that we wouldn't even be dreaming of awakening at such an early time.

Nascour was used to rising early, having experienced the life of a Cipher boss once before this. You had to be up before everyone else—everyone who was below you in rank, that is. It was an unspoken law. Now Cipher wasn't as strict. Nascour liked that idea.

Nascour decided to let Char sleep, not disturbing him as he slid out of bed, and headed to the shower.

---

Char woke to the sounds of clothes rustling, and the first thing his eyes met was Nascour, digging in the closet.

Not rising out of bed completely, he just sat, watching him pick out one of his MANY purple outfits.

Nascour, by this time, had sensed that Char was awake, and came to sit on the bed, laying his outfit down beside him.

"Good morning, Char." Said Nascour, leaning in and kissing Char. "Sleep well?"

Char gave Nascour a kiss back. "Yep. So what's on the to-do list today, hmm?"

Nascour smiled fiendishly. "Besides you, there's that takeover of the Shadow Pokemon Lab. I have to admit, I'm not sure how this will go. Unlike Mt. Battle, this place probably won't have much police guarding it. But also unlike Mt. Battle, this was and is a place of importance to anyone who wishes to create Shadow Pokemon. Our mission today is twofold. We must take over, and destroy or convert to good use anything capable of creating or maintaining Shadow Pokemon!"

Char nodded. "I think it will be a serious blow to our enemies if that place was taken."

"Yes." Nascour agreed. "And that's why this will be dangerous."

The two sat in silence for a while, before Char rose out of bed, smacking Nascour in the head as he passed him.

"Put your clothes on silly! Unless you plan to take over Orre naked."

"I'm sure you wouldn't object to that."

Char blushed, walking into the bathroom. "Clothes, on!" he demanded, before closing the door behind him.

Nascour just laughed. "Whatever you say…"

---

After breakfast, and the morning meeting, which explained the takeover plan to everyone, Char and Nascour found themselves outside with the peons and Admins, who were training their pokemon for the upcoming takeover. Ein was surveying them closely, deciding which would be most useful for his mission—taking names down on a clipboard as he strolled about the lawn.

Finally, Ein found his way over to the bosses of Cipher, who were chatting away about pokemon strategy.

"..yes, but Xia can easily bypass her Fire weakness with an Earthquake attack, she's quite powerful, and fast too! What can Sneasel do, Char?"

"Sneasel's too quick to get hit by a Fire attack."

"A Fire Spin could easily stop him."

"Yeah, well, I have other pokemon you know!"

Ein walked up to them. "Char, Nascour. I think the peons are doing well. I have the names of those I want to take with me tonight. Is there anything else I need to do? Ranbrage and I have done our training."

"That's good, Ein. It looks like you're all set for tonight. And you know you're aware of what you need to do with the technology?" Nascour asked.

"If it can be used for our cause, use it. If it can not, destroy it!" Ein said, knowing well his orders.

"Exactly," said Char, nodding his head.

"Well, I suppose we're done training then," said Nascour, surveying the area. Everyone seemed to have battled someone else at least once. "Call them in, Ein."

Ein signaled to the peons and they began to walk back inside.

Neither one of them noticed the their shadows disappearing.

---

The night came quickly and again the mansion was filled with anxiety. Cipher peons were scurrying to and fro, getting pokemon, calling for friends.

Char was not at the balcony this time, but outside with the ready, but nervous, Cipher. Nascour wasn't with him, and while Char always liked to have his company, it was ok that he wasn't around. Sometimes, Char just wanted to be alone.

Ein walked out of the door then, with the remaining Cipher peons in line behind, a stern arrow, piercing the atmosphere and spreading the feeling of anxiousness among those dispersed.

Char, however, felt secure, the mission needed to be done, and he knew it would be.

Nascour and Xia emerged from the door now, the last pieces to the puzzle.

Nascour looked calm. 'We're going to Teleport to the front of the Lab. While we all know the building's structure, it would be dangerous to Teleport directly inside. If our enemies are in fact holding the building, we don't want to be in the middle of them when we get there, understood?"

The crowd nodded, and Nascour signaled to Xia.

A flash of blue left them in front of the Shadow Pokemon Lab, a strange mix of metal and sand that projected from the desert like an unsightly growth.

They walked forward, when Ein halted them. Pulling out a small device, he held it up, waiting for a beep that did not sound. Stepping over to Nascour, he whispered into his ear.

"Bad news. The building's power system is down. Someone's cut the power. And yesterday, when I scanned the building from my lab, everything was online."

Nascour's eyes widened. So there were complications already? He gave Char a look to let him know not everything was ok, but he had overheard the whispered message anyway.

"It doesn't matter," said Char. Our priority is to take this building over. We'll just have to do it in the dark."

Char's confidence gave new life to Ein and Nascour's will. Addressing the peons, Ein explained the situation.

Now that everyone was clear, they progressed into the building.

Once everyone had filed into the doorway, Ein threw out his Shining Lanturn.

"Ranbrage! Flash!" he commanded, watching as the room was illuminated. Ahead was little but an elevator, one that would start this maze of corridor and elevator that was the Shadow Pokemon Lab.

"Ein! Since it will be your job to deal with the technology, I think we should split up. Don't you agree, Nascour? I mean, he and his group can head to the tech room, and we can search the place. We need to not just take over the control room, but make sure that this place is safe!" said Char, pointing all around. "Whoever cut the power knew we were coming. Let's pay them a visit they won't forget."

Nascour smiled. How he loved Char's attitude right now. He wondered how on earth he would have gotten this mission done without him. "Good idea. After the first elevator, Ein I want you to take half of the group. Char and I will take the rest and search the area. And if you can, Ein, turn the power back on. While we know our way around in the light, the dark may prove to be a bit more than expected. The only person who has this area memorized is you."

Ein nodded in the dim light, signaling that his group should move into the elevator. They ascended to the higher floor, and Nascour and Char's group soon followed.

But after the last peon had stepped into the elevator, no one noticed the shadow that closed the door behind them.

---

About an hour after splitting up, Xia, flashing, led a group of nervous peons and two edgy Cipher bosses down a long hallway full of electronic doors. This would be the last besides the control room's path, which Ein was supposed to check out.

So far everything was going along smoothly. No sign of any enemies, nothing out of order.

The group walked into a large room, and Char took the opportunity to sit down.

"I just knew someone was here, Nascour. Something's not right. We should have run into someone by now," he said, worried.

"I know, Char, I know. Don't worry. Our enemies can't hide themselves forever."

"Oh, they can't?" a voice came. "I've been hiding the whole time you were walking, and you didn't see me at all!"

Everyone was on alert. Char quickly rose to his feet, throwing down Sneasel's pokeball.

"Sneasel!" cried Sneasel, knowing well something was wrong.

The doors around them quickly shut. And all of a sudden, Xia stopped Flashing.

"Xia! What's wrong?" cried Nascour, noticing that his pokemon's light had faded.

But Nascour wasn't focusing on Xia for long, as in the pitch black he couldn't tell what was going on anymore. He called out. "Char! Where are you?"

Char did not answer. Instead, he kept his eyes focused. There was a glitter in the front of the room, a glitter that none has seen before. A dark purple glitter.. like that of what Yuya had described to be a Shadow Pokemon's aura..

The aura was sliding toward where Char had imagined Nascour to be from his voice. He warned him. "Nascour! Look out! Something's coming!"

clang

Xia was there to stop the blade only seconds before it would have cut into Nascour's flesh.

The unseen pokemon continued to battle with the all but blind Xia, while the Cipher peons fumbled with pokeballs and with finding their own pokemon. Even Char and Sneasel were having trouble.

Then, like a miracle, the lights came back on, and both Char and Nascour's communicators lit up. It was Ein—he must have turned the power back on.

And with the power, came the revealing of the Shadow Pokemon.

Standing before them, was a black Scyther, surrounded by a very visible purple aura. The Scyther screamed, "SCYYYYTHER!" and flailed about in the light for a few seconds, before regaining sight.

Char stepped over to Nascour. "So this is our enemy's power, hmm? Let's test it," he said, pointing.

Nascour only nodded, and Xia and Sneasel rushed forward.

Char attacked first. " Sneasel! Icicle Spear! Stab it!"

Sneasel rushed at the Scyther, stabbing at it with Icicles. Xia knew well what to do without orders, it used its Metal Claw to pin the Scyther to the wall, allowing it to get the full Icicle Spear attack.

When the Scyther was released by the Metal Claw, it slid to the floor, panting. It was weak.

Before the two pokemon could finish it off, however, a red light surrounded the Scyther, and it disappeared.

A man who looked very much like Gonzap appeared in a hologram before them.. He looked angry, in fact, he looked furious. He quickly addressed the Cipher bosses.

'So you've defeated Scyther. He was only a test! You'll see that the real Cipher plan will never fail! You'll see…"

The hologram faded along with Gonzap's sentence.

Nascour made sure Xia was alright, and then turned to Char.

Char beat him to the question. "What was that?"

"Our enemy. You saw Gonzap there. He must be taking orders from Evice. That Scyther was a Shadow Pokemon, and while easily defeated, it was certainly different. They must have been in the stages of developing new Shadow Pokemon here at this lab. Scyther must have been an experiment." Nascour explained.

Char nodded, then decided it was time to move on. "We'd better got out of here before they attack us again. We need to get back to Ein."

Nascour agreed, and after ripping out the locked electronic door, they were off to the control room.

---

"You were attacked?" asked Ein, wondering why they had taken so long to meet up with him after the power had been turned back on.

"Yes. By a new kind of Shadow Pokemon. A new model, if you will."

"Yeah, and it wasn't more powerful than the old Shadow Pokemon though, just different. We think it was an experimental pokemon," said Char.

"Ein. I want you to search the computers. Search for any research you can find on the development of new Shadow Pokemon. I don't want their Shadow Pokemon plans to progress past this experimental stage. If we know what they're up to, we can stop them," said Nascour, serious.

"Got it. I'll do that, Nascour."

"I'm counting on you Ein, keep this place secure."

Ein nodded sternly. "Whatever it takes, I will make sure this place stays under our control. We need this lab."

Char and Nascour looked at eachother. Was this new threat simply that, some new threat, easily defeated—or was it a menacing rival that would surely cripple their plans in the future?

They pondered this as Nascour signaled Xia to teleport them home.

---

Nascour's mansion, in the night air felt still. It wasn't just the lack of peons, it wasn't just the lack of bickering Admins. It was also just the feeling of uncertainty. How was everything at Mt. Battle? What happened at Shadow Pokemon Lab?

Many wanted to know these things. And soon, Nascour would address them.

Sitting in the presentation room with Char, he hoped things would go well. The new enemy, while weak, could be improved upon! It could receive Legendary power even! Nascour knew very well Evice's plans!

But he stayed silent. Only looking to Char for reassurance, he bid inside the remaining Cipher and Admins, who had been waiting for the night's meeting.

When everyone was seated, Nascour and Char stood at the head of the room.

Everyone sensed that something was wrong.

Nascour cleared his throat, and began.

"Fellow Cipher," he said. "Our enemy has arrived."

End Chapter Five