This is the chapter where Miror B makes his first appearance. When you read his dialogue, imagine him with the voice Chuggaaconroy uses in his "Let's Plays" of both Colosseum and XD. I highly recommend checking those out

Funky Miror

It was about four thirty when Michael and Liz pulled up to the destination, finding a large news helicopter there, with a woman in a pink pant suit, a camera man, and an absolutely massive man with biceps as big as Michael's head, a black shirt, a grey fedora with a Fletchinder feather, and a clean, black mustache. The news woman had her microphone ready as the cameraman pointed to tell her to start speaking. "This is Pofty, on site with Duking, mayor of Pyrite Town. In what might be a regional miracle, Duking claims to have found two areas where wild Pokémon are beginning to take up residence in Orre. Duking, would you like to tell us how you found these locations?"

"Well, Betty," Duking said

"It's Pofty," the newswoman said with slight annoyance.

"Right…anyway, I worked diligently for twenty long years," Duking began

"Twenty? Wasn't it only ten?"

"Ahaha, one shouldn't let the details get in the way of a good story, should they?" the hulking man said. "Anyway, I honestly just stumbled upon the two locations. The species that seem to appear in these areas wouldn't be considered to be too amazing in other locations, but they're more than enough to show that Orre is improving in terms of how clean the region has become over this decade."

That's when Duking noticed Michael and Liz, but his gaze quickly shifted to the ground near them. "Umm, Duking, is everything-"

"Shh…" Duking cut her off, pointing for the cameraman to turn his lens toward the two trainers. That was when Michael looked down, and saw sand beside him and Liz funneling down as if a hole was opening beneath it. The cameraman was focused on them as the orange head of a Trapinch surfaced, looking at Michael almost angrily.

"Ummm…hi, Trapinch…" Michael said, a bit nervous having a wild Pokémon so close to him. The two-foot-tall ground-type leapt forward, its jaws wide as it tried to bite the trainer.

Michael quickly sidestepped, and grabbed Erebus's Pokéball as the ground-type flew by. "Come out, Erebus," he called. The fire-type came out, and despite him having a usually playful demeanor, he saw that his trainer was in trouble and went into a more serious stance.

"Ember!" Michael said, watching as the Trapinch dove back into the ground only to resurface directly in front of Erebus. The fire dog had enough time to jump to the side, spitting out a ball of fire that hit the wild Pokémon. Michael then started to notice a fire in Trapinch's eyes. As they battled, Michael realized that the Pokémon was attacking to show how strong it was. He remembered learning that wild Pokémon would occasionally attack trainers simply to impress the trainer, with the hopes of being caught in a Pokémon Behavior class in high school. He went to his snag machine's list of items, which he'd restocked with Pokéballs, and some Great Balls in Pyrite Town, and he pushed a "Dispense" option. With a bright glow on the shoulder of the snag machine, a Great Ball appeared. Michael reached up and grabbed the capsule in his right hand.

"Erebus, use Feint Attack!" Michael said, preparing to make his throw. Erebus howled as three rings of dark energy swirled around him. He then charged forward, only to see the Trapinch gathering energy as well. It stomped on the ground, making a cluster of rocks fly into the air, dropping it over where Erebus was going to be. Damn, this little Trapinch is crazy smart. I hope I can catch it.

Erebus slammed into the ground-type, knocking it back just as the rocks fell around him, hitting him hard enough to knock him around. Despite the impacts, and the power behind the attack, Erebus stayed standing. "Great job, buddy! Way to stay strong!" Michael said as he made an overhand curveball throw. He hit the Trapinch directly in the center of its head, the Pokémon seeming to tiredly smile with satisfaction. With one roll, the ball snapped shut, completing the capture.

Breathing heavily from the excitement of the battle, Michael walked forward and picked up the newly filled Great Ball, then gave medicine to Erebus before recalling him. That's when the newswoman rushed to him. "Young man, that was an incredible battle. Tell me, how does it feel to have caught the first wild Pokémon seen in Orre for almost half a century?"

"It felt…exhilarating. It's honestly a shame that trainers here haven't been able to experience this for so long," he said.

"And, may we get your name, for the record?" she asked.

"I'm Michael Orison," he said happily, hearing clapping from behind the camera.

"Truly, that was superb," Duking said. "You have a marvelous ability to train Pokémon."

"Oh, thank you," Michael said, a bit nervously.

"And it was a better method of showing what this place is all about. To be honest, I couldn't have described it much better," the Pyrite mayor said with a chuckle as he walked over. "Now, normally that process involves using bait and a monitor system to get more Pokémon…but this was certainly better for a demonstration." The massive man then turned to the camera. "Does that explain what this place is all about?"

"Absolutely," Pofty said as the camera was shut off. "This should be perfect."

"In that case, Michael, I have a gift for you. I'll give you the location of the second PokéSpot," he said. "Do you have a GPS?"

Michael pulled out his PDA, getting the GPS open and handing it to Duking. The man quickly placed a marker just north of Pyrite, near the river that flowed out of Agate. "Oh…that's another three hours of driving…" Michael said as he looked at the mark.

"We could give you a ride to it," Pofty offered. The newswoman gestured to the helicopter.

"Can the helicopter carry a scooter too?" Michael asked.

"Yes, actually," Pofty said. "It's a retired military helicopter that was given to the station by the Orre Air Force as thanks for Nett, Bitt, and Secc all helping with the shadow crisis ten years ago. It actually used to carry Jeeps, so a scooter will be no problem."

"Great!" Michael said. "Will I need to hook it up to any cables?"

"No, I think we should have enough room in the cabin," she said. "Plus, we wouldn't want to accidentally drop your scooter during flight."

"Yeah, that'd be bad," Michael said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Actually, it wouldn't be too bad. Maybe then he'd be willing to buy a car of his own."

"Don't wish that on Lucielle," Michael said.

Liz just rolled her eyes at the name her boyfriend insisted on using for his scooter.

Pofty and Duking both seemed to chuckle at the exchange, but Michael was already moving the scooter to the helicopter. The cameraman had already entered and was lowering a ramp for the scooter to enter the cabin. Liz got in through the other side, while Michael wheeled his vehicle inside the spacious helicopter. Pofty and Duking entered the helicopter as the engines roared to life, and the vehicle began to fly through the air. What had taken three hours to drive took the helicopter only an hour to traverse, with the teens and Duking being let out north of Pyrite, with the Agate River flowing just ahead, with a palm tree grove around a segment of the winding body of water.

Once they were off the helicopter with Michael wheeling his scooter off, walking into the grove, with the helicopter was fading, Duking began to speak again. "I'd like to thank you, Michael," the man said. "That demonstration was superb. Better than anything I could have explained."

"To be honest, it was no big deal. I just reacted to a Pokémon coming for me," Michael said, trying to be modest.

"Either way, there is something I didn't tell that newswoman…Betty?" Duking said. "See, there's a third location where wild Pokémon have been showing up in Orre. I know trainers are going to flock to these places once that news story comes out, so I intentionally left that information out. Orre is getting better, but it's not at the point where the wild Pokémon can be caught indiscriminately."

"That's understandable," Liz said.

"Well, I can tell that you are trustworthy trainers. So, as thanks, I want to give you the location of the third spot," Duking said. "And I'll give you guys the Spot Monitor App on your PDAs so you can check the activity at each location." He pulled out a computer chip, and Michael went for his PDA, handing it to the man. A short uploading later, Duking then went to Michael's GPS app, putting a marker down at the base of the mountain used for Mt. Battle.

"It's only about an hour away from this place," Michael said. "I'll definitely check it out."

"Oh, one more thing I'd like to ask you. See, there are three very rare Pokémon that can be found in the PokéSpots. You already caught one, Trapinch. The other two are Surskit, which is found here at the oasis, and Wooper, which is at the third one. I'm hoping to get those three, but I've got a town to run. If you happen to catch any of those Pokémon, I'll trade my own rare Pokémon for them."

"Oh? And what Pokémon would you trade for Trapinch?" Michael asked.

"How about a Meditite?" Duking asks.

"Hmm…" Michael thought for a moment as he considered what he'd seen from his battle with his new Trapinch. "Sorry, but I'm keeping Trapinch. I can't explain it, but I have a good feeling having her on my team."

"I understand," Duking says. "But my offer still stands if you ever change your mind."

"Sounds good. Thank you, though," Michael says. "I wish you luck with those trades."

"Thank you too, Michael, and Liz. Best of luck to both of you going forward," Duking said, waving as he walked off toward Pyrite Town, and it looked like he intended to walk the whole way.

"So, want to go now?" she asks.

"To the third PokéSpot? Sure," Michael said with a smile.

They both got on the scooter, and Michael started it up, driving off toward Orre's mountain.

An hour later, Michael and Liz had arrived at the cavern that housed the sanctuary for wild Pokémon. It was a beautiful cave, with waterfalls in the distance, and multiple stalactites and stalagmites fitting like fangs around them. What caught their eyes, however, were the two men in the cavern already: Trudly and Folly, the eccentric men from Pyrite.

"What do you figure the boss is going to do now?" Folly said. "I'm really tired of this life. We need to put down some damn roots."

"Man, don't whine so much. You know what the boss always says. He'll get this team together one day, and then all the Pokémon in world will be ours!" Trudly said.

"Yeah…ummm…about that," Folly said. "Do you really think we can pull something like that off?"

Michael and Liz approached, making Trudly leap in surprise. "Boss?!" he calmed down when he saw the two trainers. "Oh, it's just some teenagers. Don't sneak up on us like that!"

Folly turned to face his comrade. "Man, calm down. I have the radar, so we'll know if the boss is nearby."

As if waiting for that cue, there was a blaring noise from Folly's pocket. He pulled out a device that looked surprisingly like the dragon radar from Dragon Ball. "Oh, shit, boss is here! Get the stereo out!"

Michael and Liz moved to the side, almost behind a stalagmite as they began to hear funky dance music from a small speaker. Looking at the entrance, they saw a man who was recognizable to anybody who'd studied the Shadow Crisis from ten years ago. His afro was split perfectly down the center with one side dyed red, the other white, and it had clearly grown since he was last seen in public. His outfit had changed from the eccentric gold disco outfit, which he had worn ten years ago, to a black shirt with none of the buttons clasped. He wore a yellow ascot, which matched a golden, star-shaped belt buckle, along with gold-framed glasses, and a black glove on his right hand. He even had black shoes with yellow pumps for dancing. "Miror B," Michael whispered to Liz as the man moon-walked into the cave.

The man came to a stop, turning to face Trudly and Folly. "Fuohohoho, hey my posse! Have you rounded up those Pokémon like I wanted?" He paused as he turned to see Michael and Liz. "Hm? Stop the music!" On cue, the music stopped, a record scratch sounding as it stopped. Miror B sniffed the air briefly, stepping side to side in a rhythm. "Oh, oh, oh! I sense the pleasing scent of Pokémon, oh yes, I do! Boy, maybe you and the dime there are a little hood, or maybe you are two fine trainers with the goods? How about you two get with it and join my posse? Be one of us, and soon you'll be owning all the Pokémon in the world. What do you say?"

Michael and Liz turned to each other, looking surprised that this man would consider letting them join his so-called posse. "Wait…really?" Michael asked, sounding as unsettled as he felt.

"Oh, it almost sounded like you said 'yes,' but you need to consider hard before committing to a life of crime," Miror B said.

Liz and Michael both looked and needed no words to agree. "Miror B, you can shove your offer," she said.

Miror B scoffed. "I knew it. You both have this goodie-goodie air around you that told me you'd say no."

"Well, what will you do about it?" Michael asked, stepping forward defensively between the dancing man and Liz.

"What other way is there for trainers?" Miror B said. "Fuohohohoho! Hit my battle music!"

Trudly nodded, touching a button on his phone, and the sound of an incredible bass riff filled the cavern. Miror B did an acrobatic flip, landing solidly on his feet, making enough distance for a battle before jumping and doing the splits in the air. He did a horizontal wave starting from his left hand, going through his shoulders and to his gloved hand. He snapped his finger on his right hand, just as a guitar riff started. If it wasn't for the situation, it would've been an incredible dance move for a performance.

"Come on out, my duo of Lombre!" Miror B said as he threw two Pokéballs out, two bipedal Pokémon with lily pads on their heads. They were mostly green, with some aqua on their chests and faces. They were about four feet tall, with a red bill for a mouth. It seemed to dance a little with music as it played. Michael looked at Liz.

"Want to take this one?" he asked.

"I think this should be my battle…he gives me the creeps," she said. "Plus, I kind of want to break this in." She raised her right arm slightly to show that she meant her snag machine.

"Then he's all yours," he said, kissing her cheek to wish her good luck.

"Oh, I'll be getting a battle with the absolute dime, will I? I hope you can keep with the beat, and battle with the lightest of feet. Otherwise, you will never beat me, bee-otch!" Miror B said to the rhythm of the song.

"Titania, Artemis, come out!" Liz said. The blue Sylveon and the brown bear both appeared, with energetic expressions as they heard the music playing.

"So, the dime has an equally attractive Pokémon, with that blue Sylveon. Truly deserving of her name," Miror B said. "But does she have the skills to back that beauty? Lombro, use Rain Dance. Lombra, use Leech Seed on that Teddiursa!"

According to Liz's HUD, there was, indeed, one female and one male among the two Lombre. "Titania, Fairy Wind. Artemis, use Fury Swipes. Pick your targets!"

As Titania gathered her energy, and Artemis extended her claws, the male Lombre began to dance more vigorously as a small black cloud formed over the battlefield, and rain started to pour over the field. At the same time, the female fired a cluster of seeds at Artemis, who was running straight for the female.

"Oh, baby, you really gonna attack like that? Not even tryna make an advantage for your team? That's sad, baby," Miror B said. "Lombres, show her what I mean with two Water Guns!"

Titania smirked as the fairy-type energy around her began to swirl into a tornado of power. She sent the whirlwind ripping toward the male Lombre. At the same time, Artemis rolled to the side of the incoming cluster of seeds, continuing on her path toward her attack target. What she and Titania both got for their efforts were blasts of water knocking them back. Due to the rain on the field, the attacks were more powerful, causing their health to drop significantly. Luckily, the male Lombre took just as much damage from Titania's attack. Artemis sprinted forward again, scratching the female Lombre repeatedly across the face. The attacks hit hard, and they hit fast. While both Artemis and Titania looked ready to collapse, they stood strong. Their opponents, however, collapsed in exhaustion, getting a scoff from their trainer.

"My Lombres, how did you not keep up to that simple beat," Miror B said, recalling them. "Fine, guess I ain't got a choice in this one. Come out, Lombre and Voltorb!"

Liz stayed focused as the shadow monitor alerted her to the shadow aura radiating from the Voltorb. The electric node Pokémon had a more menacing glare than most Voltorbs tended to wear, yet there was no emotion behind it. All Liz could see was blinding pain.

"Artemis, use Lick on that Voltorb. Titania, show them your Echoed Voice!" Liz said. Artemis was already close to Voltorb after her last attack, allowing her to grab her opponent easily.

"Voltorb, use Shadow Panic!" Miror B said, spinning and throwing his gloved hand into the air like Michael Jackson. "And Lombre, use Fake Out on that Sylveon."

Lombre leapt forward, and clapped his hands in front of Titania, making her flinch and lose her balance. Then, before Artemis could lick her opponent, Voltorb began to screech, causing his aura to flare out, almost making stars with that aura. Those stars struck and swirled around Titania and Artemis, making them both stagger and fall around. Artemis dropped the Voltorb as she staggered around.

"They're both confused?" Michael asked from the sidelines. The move was a new one to him, but it was clearly effective for battles.

"Damn," Liz muttered. "Titania, Artemis, please snap out of it. You need to fight back!" Her calls were unheard, as both of her Pokémon stumbled some more.

"Lombre, use Absorb, and Voltorb, use Shadow Blitz!" Miror B sang. The two Pokémon obeyed, Lombre forming an energy tendril that wrapped around the dazed Sylveon's leg before it began to glow, draining her energy. As she felt her fatigue growing, Titania managed to break through her daze, quickly firing a strong Fairy Wind along the tendril, leading straight back to the grass-type. The Pokémon went wide-eyed as the cyclone struck, dealing enough damage to make him drop to his knees, but not enough to knock him out. So, to finish it, Titania used her ribbons to grab the Lombre and slam him into the ground, knocking him out with the impact.

Artemis, however, was too disoriented to react as Voltorb spun rapidly while its aura flared out of its body and it collided with the little bear. She was launched back from the collision, landing hard on the ground, making a small cloud of dust fly up. Artemis struggled back to her feet, then ran forward, seeming to have finally broken out of her confusion. She began repeatedly scratching Voltorb, dropping the electric-type's health to nearly a quarter of its maximum. Liz began to program a snag, remembering how to operate Michael's Snag Machine as she held out her arm, the Pokéball materializing in her hand. She threw it with an overhand style at the Voltorb, getting Mirror B's now undivided attention. The energy hand grabbed the Shadow Pokémon, pulling it inside and rolling quickly before snapping shut, sending sparks up into the air, completing the capture.

"Aw, hell naw!" Miror B said as he recalled the Lombre. "Not another Snag Machine." He then looked at Michael's arm, seeing the other machine. "And there's two of em! That's it, my posse, RUN AWAY!"

With the clacking of his dancing shoes, the glorious afro disappeared from the cave. Trudly and Folly both seemed shocked. "Boss, wait!" both said simultaneously. They started running out of the cave. Folly however, didn't notice the ribbons that reached into his pocket as he and Trudly ran to follow the dancing Cipher Admin.

"Well…that was interesting," Michael said. "Makes me wonder if he's still in Cipher."

Liz was about to respond when Titania put her paws on her trainer's thigh, mewing. Liz looked at her Pokémon, and she saw the radar Trudly and Folly had been using. "You stole their radar?" she asked with a giggle. Sylveon nodded with a smile. "Good job, girl!" Liz said as she took the device. It seemed rather crude, and it was made from an old PDA system, with a map of Orre. There were multiple spots that pulsed with radar signals which, when compared to a map of Orre, were in Gateon Port, Pyrite Town, the three PokéSpots, and a few more spots in the desert, including somewhere near the oasis of Phenac City, and a few other smaller sites. Currently, there was no response from any of the spots. But, Liz guessed there would be something soon.

That was when Michael's PDA buzzed with two messages. The first was a text from Nett. "Come back to ONBS, we've got a break in the code." The second was a video of a recent broadcast.

Far off, in Littleroot Town, Gwen was sitting in a deep depression. The television was on the news as she waited in desperation for the exact moment that travel to and from Orre was allowed. Brendan was feeling her depression as well, though he and May were both staying strong for Selena. The little girl, however, could still tell things were wrong as she saw Gwen laying on their couch, looking as crestfallen as she had ever since hearing the news that Alicia's ship had gone missing. The five-year-old had decided to try her best to cheer up the Gardevoir who was as close as an aunt. With May watching from the doorway after helping prepare the surprise Selena had wanted to make. "Gwen," Selena said sweetly.

Gwen looked up, smiling softly at the girl. Hey, Selena. Is everything okay?

"I…umm, I brought you some tea. Mommy and Daddy said chamamil-ay was your favorite," Selena said, grabbing the cup of tea off the end table just out of sight from Gwen's position.

Gwen smiled at the kindness, and at how cutely Selena mispronounced chamomile, levitating the cup to another end table beside her. The Gardevoir leaned forward and hugged the little girl. Thank you, sweetheart. That means a lot, she said with happiness in her voice, but May could still sense the sorrow in Gwen's mind.

"Hey, did it go as planned?" Brendan asked as he approached behind May, hugging his wife, placing his hand on her belly. She was almost at three months with their second child, and she was showing a little more than she had with Selena.

"Yeah, I think so," May said. "Her smile was-."

She was cut off as the news station started a breaking broadcast. "This is Gabby, from the Global News Network. We have breaking footage that just aired on the Orre News Broadcasting Station. Though the region is still closed due to a state of emergency, we were still able to get this footage. Before showing this, be aware that the content is extremely disturbing, so viewer discretion is advised."

Brendan's eyes went wide as he and May entered the room. "Selena, please go play in your room for a little bit," he said, sounding gentle, but still firm.

Selena nodded, not really sure why she had to leave the room, and her parents were glad she wouldn't find out until they could explain what they were about to see. Gwen picked up her cup of tea, taking a slightly calming sip.

The screen lit up, showing a normal broadcast. "This is Ancha, reporting to you live. Recently there has been speculation that the head engineer at the Pyrite Wind Farm Power Plant, known for his claims of 'Thirty-five years ofcranking gears" has come under suspicion of having lied about how long he's been at the job, since the power plant has only been in operation for ten years. We will bring you further details as our investigation," she stops as she looks up and away from the camera.

"Hey, who the hell are you? Why are you all here?" said a voice from behind the camera. It was followed by the sound of a sickening impact, then the clacking of hard soled boots on tile as three figures clad in pure white armored uniforms with masked helmets. One was a massive hulk of a man, one was a woman with form-fitting armor, and the last was a man with the smirk of somebody about to do something horrible.

"Hello, first to Orre, and eventually to the rest of the world!" the massive man said. "To start, let us introduce our organization. We are Cipher. You may know us from the Shadow Pokémon incident ten years ago. The Orre Police, incompetent as they always are, still have their heads buried in the sand. So, we are announcing our return. Many of you might claim this to be too similar to Team Rocket's return in Johto's radio tower incident, so my associate here will show you all a small example of our power." That associate took out a Pokéball, letting out its occupant.

Gwen's eyes went wide and she dropped the cup of tea. The porcelain cup shattered on the ground, spilling the tea on their own tile floor. Brendan and May had similar reactions. There, on the newsroom's table, was Alicia.

No, Gwen said. Alicia…what have they done to you?

Brendan and May could both see it just as clearly as Gwen could. Alicia may have been physically there, but she had cold, lifeless eyes. They were the complete opposite of her typically energetic and joyful personality.

"For those of you who don't know, this little brat is none other than the daughter of the Hoenn Champion's Gardevoir. Let's show you just what we can do with a weak little Pokémon like this," Alicia's apparent keeper said. "Now, Ralts, drag the cameraman forward." With a robotic lifting of her arm, Alicia's hand was surrounded in energy so dark and ominous, Gwen knew it couldn't be natural. Not even ghost or dark attacks had such an aura. Things got worse as a distraught man was pulled into view of the camera. "Now, break every bone in his body, one at a time. Just be sure to leave him alive." Alicia seemed to wince ever so slightly, as if the thought of what she was doing was revolting, but her mind and powers still operated on their own. The sound of cracking bones began to reverberate over the video, getting laughter from the Cipher agents. The video was cut off when the man's neck started to bend unnaturally.

"As you can see, the infamous Cipher has resurfaced…in a much more brutal fashion. We will bring you more information as more comes to us," Gabby said as the footage turned off. "And, of course, our thoughts and prayers go out to the Maple family, and to the Orre Region. We hope that the desert region can overcome this threat once again."

Gwen was on her knees, thankfully not over the shattered mug. She's…been turned into a Shadow Pokémon…my baby girl is just a weapon to those bastards. She immediately turned to Brendan. We need to go to Orre NOW!

"Gwen, we can't," Brendan said, kneeling beside Gwen to comfort her, his tone showing that it hurt him to say it. "If we go, the coast guard of Orre will just arrest us, then we'll only make things worse. If Cipher is making an announcement like that, they just blundered. They might have just declared war on their entire region, but that's their mistake: they are trying to take on an entire region." Gwen just hugged her trainer tightly, crying again over how helpless she felt. "Besides, you said you found two trainers there who could help. I'm sure they have the means to save Alicia."

Michael didn't need any more motivation as the video ended. He put on the GPS as he and Liz left the cave, and started his scooter's engine immediately after they were both set to go. "Gwen, if you're listening, I'm keeping my promise to you."

Well, this was another long wait for a chapter, but I started using a great trick to making the writing go much faster: Write in Comic Sans, then edit in Times New Roman. I know, the whole "Eww, Comic Sans" stigma is about to rain on me. But it worked to get me out of a small writer's block. Give it a try if you're skeptical.

Hope you enjoyed this one, and I hope the funkiness of Miror B was balanced well with Alicia's appearance on ONBS. As always, please review the chapter. It will help me to improve the quality of my writing, which will increase your enjoyment.

Next is the Cipher raid of ONBS.

Until next time ~ jmoul18