Sorry this is late. I've got a lot of family stuff going on.
Disclaimer: I still don't own a darn bit of this. I also don't have a beta reader, so I get weird about editing which is why this is taking so long...
In this chapter we take a break from the game to play around with the manga. Because I can. And because I needed more Gamer stuff than just catching pokemon.
Chapter 4: Rude Awakening
A woman with dark looped hair stood on a high roof top, one knee up on the parapet. If it had been light out, the red boot would have clashed with the blue tiles rising over the top of the building's façade but in the darkness it all looked black. A gloved hand raised to activate the visor covering half her face, the sick ochre light throwing the night into sepia tones.
"There's been no sign of the primary target," she clucked.
A second figure sashayed out of the darkness to stand beside her. "We'll make do," she crooned, her own visor pulsing milky chartreuse, the light flinting over close cropped bangs. "How's Unit B doing with Plan B?"
"Everything's locked up tight," the first woman smirked at her companion. "Even without Target 1…"
"Probably better it's not here," simpered the second, "These grunts don't exactly have a delicate touch. And if there's so much as a scratch…"
"We won't be able to extract the power," the first sneered. "But if we fail it's Unit A's fault for not completing their mission."
Their combined laughter echoed over empty shingles.
XYXYXY
The Aquacorde Inn sat at the north end of a row of older stone buildings, all attached in a single stone edifice, so only two sides of the lodge had rooms with windows. It was arranged like a hostel, with community bathrooms and a combination of single and shared rooms. I'd wanted the privacy of a single room, but by the time I'd signed up all the singles with windows had been taken. I'd been surprised that they were allowed to offer rooms without windows, as such a thing was a huge safety violation back on Earth. But Loxley was capable of spitting flames as easily as blinking, and having a fire breathing fox seemed as bad for fire codes as a lack of exits. In the end, I'd put privacy over any of my other reservations. I did NOT want company.
My room was pitch black when I jolted awake, Loxley's furious yowls shooting adrenaline through my body. The bedside light didn't come on and the ancient alarm clock had gone blank. I flailed blindly for a few moments before my eyes adjusted enough to see the one single source of light in my room, a pinprick of eerie red light from the doors card reader. I launched myself across the tiny room and yanked on the handle.
It didn't budge.
I muffled a snarl and tried to steady my breathing as I pressed my ear to the door. Flipping the wall switch for the overhead light didn't do anything either, and my room stayed dark. Loxley continued to growl, scratching at the door. Pressing my ear close, I gulped as I realized I could hear muffled shouts through the wood, and screams … and wicked laughter. Flashes of various villain teams from the games raced through my head, and I reached a terrible, terrible conclusion.
Backing away from the door quickly, I shushed Loxley and rushed for my clothes. For the first time I truly appreciated my new Gamer's abilities. It took only a minute to stuff my scattered belongings, purse and all, into my inventory and equip a clean outfit and oak branch staff.
Whatever was going on, I fully intended to be as armed as I could be. The branch felt far lighter in my hand now than it had before, out on the river bank. Fighting people would be very, very different from battling wild pokémon. Loxley and I wouldn't get far on our own.
And with that thought I reluctantly tugged out two pokéballs. My new scatterbug wouldn't be much use in battle yet, but the pidgey and fletchling might be able to help. This wasn't the best circumstances for meeting them but another muffled scream cemented my decision. I let my new pokémon loose, hoping for the best.
A brief flash, and two indignant chirps, had the two bird pokémon on the bed in front of me. I kneeled down, cupping them in with my arms, as another distant thud could be heard from the floors below.
"Shhhh, now, shhhhhh," I whispered furiously. I didn't have time for the warning sign flashing from the side of my HUD. "We're in serious trouble here little ones." Both birds cocked their heads to the side, listening to me and then the sounds further in the dark, before trying to huddle close and make themselves smaller in my arms.
"I know. I know. And I know I haven't introduced myself yet," I continued softly, "And I'm sorry. I was gonna do it in the morning. But right now we've got to go little ones. Someone's in the building, people are getting hurt, and all the doors are locked. There's no way we're gonna get out of this without a fight and I'm gonna need you two to help, okay?"
Loxley chose that moment to growl something at the two birds before hissing at the door. The two puffed up, rustling nervously, but gave me determined chirps. I nodded back and stood up.
I tapped through my menu screen quickly. "Mini-map!" I hissed, waving pop-ups away. Dealing with levels and shit could wait until later, right now getting out was the main priority. The [Map] feature opened, but only showed a dull blinking icon for Aquacorde in the regional map.
"Mini-map," I tried again, then, "Map of Aquacorde Inn!" The map shifted to the mostly greyed out map of Aquacorde Town, but nothing I said got me anything more focused. Closing the map, I looked around the room desperately. I was seriously regretting picking a room without a window. The air vents were two small to be any use to me and the door was solid wood with sturdy steel hardware. I couldn't get through it and had no tools to pry the hinges loose… A thought flashed in my mind. Cautiously, I reached forward and scraped a knuckle across the wall beside the door. A quick knock confirmed its construction: unlike the stone exterior, the interior wall was just cheap plaster board.
Another shout echoed from downstairs, but closer this time, and followed by raucous jeers. I turned to my pokémon with a grim expression.
"Pidgey, Fletchling, your job is to fly up and go for people's faces," I told them pointing to my eyes for emphasis. The two birds shuddered but nodded as Loxley again growled after me. I hoped he was explaining. "Loxley, ember, as strong as you can. And bite." My fox snarled a clear affirmative, and hunched down, ears flat.
I looked back at the wall, leveled my staff, and nodded to myself. Taking a deep breath, I adjusted my feet into a low stance… and lunged with all my weight behind it.
The crunching sound was far louder than I wanted it to be. So was the heavy thud of my shoulder impacting the wall. But there was a hole all the way through the gypsum plaster boards, and I clawed huge chunks off without another thought, the pieces crumbling as they hit the floor.
I squeezed through the opening into the hall, shaking the dust off as I went; it was almost as dark out there as in my room. All the doors had the same dull red lights to indicate they were locked, and the emergency exit sign at one end of the hall flickered like a bad horror movie. The sliver of moonlight from the single window at the other end did not help. I debated the merits of each exit. The emergency exit led to stairs, which would be easier to get to, but they led down. The noise from below was getting louder, and I shuddered. Loxley was closing in on level 8, but both my birds were only level 4 and I couldn't risk them in some crazy mob fight. The window on the other hand… I could break it, but it would be loud. Possibly loud enough to alert whoever was advancing through the inn. And I was on the fifth floor. Climbing down wouldn't be easy…
A crash and a girlish scream jolted me back to the present with a sickening realization. Shauna and Serena were almost certainly in the inn. And probably didn't even know what was happening.
I looked up at my HUD in trepidation.
[Emergency Quest Alert!]
You're Inn Trouble!: Team Flare has attacked the Aquacorde Inn! Get to your friends on the sixth floor and escape the inn!
You must rescue all 4 of your friends and escape the inn to complete this quest.
Completion: 500 EXP, +5 AP, €5000
Failure: 5 EXP, possible loss of Pokémon, possible death
Accept? [Y]/[N]
Attention: Choosing to not accept this quest will be the same as Failure
I gave the screen a look of pure horror that it would even give me the option to decline. As if I would sit around and just let Team Flare steal and kill and whatever else without at least trying to do something. I hit yes, and checked my surroundings again. No one was in the hall yet, and the noises from below were still muffled; I could only hope there was a floor between me and Team Flare.
I looked around at the locked rooms again. It was tempting to try to wake people up. It felt like the right thing to do, and if we'd all been in one room together I probably would have. But breaking into individual rooms would cost me time I didn't have, and the noise would likely only draw the criminals in faster. The central stairs weren't an option, they were open to below and were a sure way to get spotted. I turned to the dim exit sign at the far end of the hall and straightened my shoulders. The emergency stairs would have to do.
I put my ear to the door when I reached it and sure enough I heard voices sneering on the other side.
"-locked up tight!"
"No way out now-"
I grimaced at the ominous dialogue; it was such very stereotypical villain speech that the cliché was almost gauche. I blamed the Gamer's Mind for the sarcasm in my head, I knew darn good and well I ought to be panicking. But I just took a deep breath to steady myself and pushed, the old metal door squealed on rusty hinges.
Two men in bright red suits, clearly labelled Team Flare grunts level 3, rushed up the stairs at the noise and I barely had time to order "Go!" at my pokémon before the first one aimed a fist at my face.
I ducked, bringing my staff low between his legs before jerking it up with all my might. A satisfied smirk spread across my face as the man gave a painful sounding whimper-squeak and dropped. Loxley spat an Ember right in his face as I swung the branch like a baseball bat at his head. He didn't get up. I took a moment to sniff in derision before focusing on the second grunt.
The other member of Team Flare had held back just long enough to watch me take out his comrade with a dawning look of horror. He gulped and released an absolutely psychotic little zubat that went straight for my birds. Pidgey and Fletchling wove circles in midair trying to avoid sharp nips and rippling sonic blasts. Suddenly fletching dodged wrong and ended up head first in the claws of the screeching zubat. My little bird shrieked like death and my vision went red.
The grunt shuffled back and raised his arms in alarm when I focused on him and snarled, my staff raised in front of me again. I prepared to lunge, because damned if I was leaving my pokémon to fight without me, only to suddenly teeter into a wall when a supersonic attack hit me head on. The was a brief laugh in my ears. The world spun sideways. I don't remember falling, or dropping my staff, but I must have, because the next thing I knew, I was propped up on my elbows retching up bile.
Wiping slime from my mouth, I ignored my flashing red status bar and looked up to see a very charred bat gasping on the steps leading down. I twisted at a loud shout. The second grunt was now on his back, bloody ankles kicking weakly as the two birds pecked him all over and Loxley dove in for a fiery bite again and again. The barbecued zubat was out of the fight for certain. I dragged myself up with my staff and staggered over to sneer down at the man.
"You!"
Thunk!
"Do NOT!"
Thunk!
"Get to hurt!"
Thunk!
"My babies!"
THUNK!
I stood over the fallen man, heaving in rage even the Game couldn't quite calm. I hated animal abuse. Loathed. How fucking dare he?! Where did he even get off?!
Unfortunately, I must have continued to scream that last bit because the ruckus had attracted yet another grunt. Growling through a burning throat, I rushed forward to jab him in the chest just as he reached the landing. He tumbled backwards down the steps, head colliding against the concrete wall with another meaty THUD. My shoulder collided with the wall as I tried to catch my breath, and I spared a moment to gather the fletchling in my arms for a moment. Luckily, it didn't seem to have anything worse than scratches.
Shaking myself upright, I stumbled down the steps to grab two pokéballs on the grunt's belt, then dragged myself back up to grab the one off the grunt my pokémon had mauled and used it to recall the battered zubat. There were two more pokéballs with the first grunt; they all went straight into my inventory where Team Flare couldn't touch them. I scooped up a hunting knife one of the grunts must have dropped from the floor and lurched up the stairs to the sixth-floor landing, clinging to the metal railing for balance.
The exit doors screeched again as I fell out of them, but after several moments in the gloomy with no one coming I felt safe enough to move forward.
"Loxley," I whispered hoarsely down at my fox, "Can you find Shauna or Serena?"
He yipped, and took off snuffling down the hall, stopping several doors down to paw at the wood.
"Good boy," I praised, "Now get back."
I spared the red light on the lock a brief look of disdain before raising the knife. It went through the drywall much faster than the staff, and I soon had a good three-foot hole cut out beside the door. I ushered my pokémon in, before slipping in after them.
"What are you doing?!"
The sudden voice came from right behind my ear. I shrieked and lashed out with the knife, barely pulling back in time when I saw it was only Serena.
"Geez!" I hissed at her, "Scare the girl with sharp objects why don't you?"
Serena had nearly tripped backwards to avoid the blade, falling onto Shauna who was also awake. They were both in their pajamas, barefoot, looking at me like I'd lost my mind. Which was entirely fair, but also completely beside the point.
"Get dressed!" I grimaced at them. "Now! Team Flare's inside and they've managed to lock all the doors! We need to go!"
"Who's Team Flare?" Serena demanded.
"Criminals," I rasped, leaning forward as my lungs reminded me I was, in fact, still in pain. "Pretty sure they're thieves at least, and they're attacking everyone while they're trapped!"
Another round of screams and dark laughter echoed from below immediately on cue. Serena stared wildly at me, and then around the room, as if she expected something to jump out of the shadows. After a moment, though, she tossed her head and hurried to get her bag.
Shauna still flailed in confusion. "But if all the doors are locked, how'd you get out?"
"Drywall is flimsy," I muttered, waving a knife at the hole I'd carved.
"Where'd you even get that knife?!" the brunette demanded, aghast.
I paused, looked at the knife, looked at her. "Team Flare grunts are also flimsy?"
That seemed to finally satisfy Shauna, and she too tumbled around gathering her things.
"Do you know where the boys are?" I asked Serena as she was struggling to pull on her sneakers in the dark. I was so, so glad the Game had let me dress instantly.
"Next door," she answered, tilting her head to the left at an interior wall.
"Thanks." I took a moment to recall both birds, who looked exhausted, and got to work cutting another hole between the rooms. No sense giving Team Flare more easy evidence someone was loose. Trevor and Tierno were quick to wake up, but looked green as they rushed to get things packed. I let Serena explain the situation as I sliced another hole into the next room.
"Um, Gryffin-chan?" Shauna started before I shook my head at her.
"They're catching people below by surprise," I told her. "I could hear the shouts. It's … it's awful to think about. The more people we get loose, the more people we can save from Team Flare. And the better our odds."
"All the trainers asleep in their beds and locked in their rooms," Serena spat. "This Team Flare is made of cowards, all of them."
"Yeah," I agreed grimly, "but they're effective."
"So let's get people up!" Tierno gushed, and turned cherry red when we all shushed him. The eerie gloom made the muffled wails from below echo like a bad dream.
The next room had two more teens, girls, who quickly moved to obey Serena. Their room was at the end of the corridor, and ended with a stone wall, so I shimmied back through to Serena's room and cut a hole through to the next two rooms that way as well.
After I'd cut through two more rooms, we all gathered together to come up with a plan. I quickly explained the building layout I'd seen, but I had no idea how to get a group this size to safety. Team Flare was actively attacking people and my pokémon and I were nearly spent. The nervousness of the group made me think no one here had anything strong enough to really guarantee victory if it came to another fight.
"Should we try for the stairs?" one boy asked. He clutched a single pokeball tight in both hands.
"Je ne veux pas! They'll see us for sure!" cried a little girl as she clung to her big sister. She'd wailed at the sight of my knife and I'd had to sneak my purse back out of my inventory to tuck it away to stop her from crying.
"The window in the hall," Serena finally decided over the squabbling. "We break it and climb out. Who has rope?"
No one had rope. Mentally, I added it to the list of things I needed in my inventory. But we'd managed to knot several sets of sheets into a makeshift rigging when loud shouts rang in the hall and a new pair of Team Flare grunts made the mistake of opening the door.
There was a desk in the room we were in, and Tierno heaved the accompanying chair at the pair of criminals, catching one right in the head. The blond boy was quick to tackle the downed thief, grappling for his belt. With his partner trapped under the larger boy, the second Flare grunt turned only to get a face full of water from Serena's froakie, charred ankles courtesy of Loxley, and several whacks from my makeshift staff and several other random objects the other trainers had picked up for self-defense.
With a clear opening, the whole group of us poured into the hall, and a young man summoned a geodude to smash through the window. I flinched at the sound of breaking glass, but stood in front of the group with my staff raised, if not steady, to guard the end of the hall while they tied off the sheets and started to climb out. I was relieved when Serena came to stand on my right.
"Do you still have 'zat knife?" she asked, her accent slipping a little in the stress.
I shifted my purse to pull it out and handed it to her wordlessly. She shifted into what looked like a practiced stance, the blade held delicately to the side. I had so many questions. And absolutely no time to ask them. Trevor and Shauna had already gone over the edge, with only Tierno remaining to make sure the 'rope' stayed tied.
He moved to call us over when a vicious snarl roared through the hall. I fell back into a low stance with Loxley crouched to the side as Serena lunged into the darkness with the blade I'd given her. A flash of fire was countered with a burst of bubbles from froakie, and a charcoal blur leapt back, roaring, to reveal an absolutely terrifying canine form dripping blood.
Sodden black fur stretched over four muscular limbs, the otherwise sleek body studded with white, bony protrusions like ribs. Ruddy hazel eyes narrowed in a glare under wicked looking horns and flames licked out between glistening fangs.
A freaking houndoom.
Serena and I both edged away from the infernal Doberman. Its mouth stretched into a mockery of a grin and it drooled as it growled, giving the distinct impression that the only reason we weren't dead yet was that it hadn't decided which one of us it wanted to eat first. It glowered at us, bristling, and my staff shook in my hands.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
The rap of stilettos echoed in the sudden quiet of the hall. I peered into the gloom to see a woman with dark hair in pigtails and a freaking red tutu strutting towards us from behind the houndoom, twirling what looked like a police baton in her hand.
"Well aren't you the brave little heroes?" the woman tutted capriciously, and smacked the baton down in her palm with a loud CRACK. "Houndoom! Let's see how much energy these two little darlings are willing to expend."
Serena raised the knife I'd lent her resolutely, but her hands were trembling. Adjusting my own grip in the gloom, I silently read through the HUD window I'd been too busy to pay attention to.
Team Flare Scientist Mable has challenged you to a battle!
There was no quest information, nor any option to accept or decline the fight. Worse, Mable's level was 15, and her houndoom was 22. My HP bar was still flashing red in the corner of my vision and I was getting ready for a full-blown panic attack, Gamer's Mind be damned, when a little white target icon high-lighted a section of wall to my left. I blinked in shock at what it lit up.
A fire-alarm.
Not even thinking, I threw myself past the houndoom, sacrificing my oak branch to the teeth of the snarling hell hound that had charged when the scientist shouted. Serena screamed, slashing wildly, Tierno let out an awful bellow from behind, and I yanked the mechanical level down with all my might.
Sirens wailed, eliciting shouts from around the building, and overhead sprinklers let loose like tiny fire hoses.
The houndoom was crashing into walls blindly trying to escape the downpour. I plucked an equally petrified Loxley back into his ball, grabbed Serena, and fled to the window, not even sparing the Flare woman a glance. Tierno practically tossed us out the casement before rolling out himself. There was apparently a fire escape two floors below, and it creaked and groaned every agonizing step to the ground.
I jumped the last several rungs of the bottom ladder, racing to a growing crowd back towards the fountain plaza as the telltale shriek of police sirens finally blared in the distance.
XYXYXY
"Ho ho ho! Looks like we've completed our mission." The woman with cropped hair adjusted her visor as she skipped over more roof tiles. "Although…"
"Aliana," huffed the blue haired woman behind her. "Mouth. Zipped."
"Ah, don't be like that Mables!"
"Those kids really ticked me off," Mable grumbled at her partner. "I want revenge."
"Bah, who cares about that!" Aliana called behind her. "We got a call from the boss!" she sang. "A new lead on a new target."
Sparing a glance behind her at the police cars in the distance, Mable stopped to smirk before running after her partner.
Who cared about a bunch of snot nosed kids? They had legends to chase.
I'm not used to writing fight scenes. I hope it comes across well.
Out of all the games, XY hands down had the scariest villains. Not that they're presented that way; kids games have to stay PG. But the implications of what Team Flare does in the games is pretty darn terrifying. And they come way too close to achieving it.
Reviews are pure seratonin rushes for me!
Anti-Akuma: I'm glad you finally found me, but I completely understand. I also filter fics out by word count. It's why I didn't post this until I got it to a length I was willing to read myself. Also, I have no control over these people. They pop into my head and do what they want.
Wisp-In-A-Bottle: I love you. All the hugs. All of them.
(Why are people so caught up in CSM for charisma? It's the three most prominent sounds in the word... ^_^*)