The City of Doppelgängers – Part 2
Michael was waiting for ten minutes, getting his team healed before one of the nurses came out of the room where Liz was being tested. She saw Michael and immediately went over to him. He looked over at her attentively.
"Mr. Orison, she's just about finished with her preliminary tests. She's still asleep, but it's clear she has a bad concussion. Any worse, and she might've had severe brain damage," the woman said, looking concerned.
Michael nodded. "I figured as much," he sat silently. "So, when will she be waking up?"
"We're not sure. She might even sleep until tomorrow," the nurse said.
"Then, Alicia…we're going to stop Cipher. I think the best place to start will be inside the Pre-Gym."
Agreed. The Hexagon Brothers came out of there impersonating Justy, so we should go to check if everything is okay there.
The nurse looked confused, eyeing the Snag Machine on Michael's arm. "So, you're really Michael Orison? The guy who's fighting Cipher on his own?"
"Well, not on my own. I have my team, Liz, and her team helping me," he said, trying to be humble as he left. As they exited the hospital, Michael and Alicia looked determined. "Cipher will pay for what they did." They walked to the Pre-Gym, finding the doors unlocked. Naturally, they both went inside. Immediately, something felt wrong about the whole place.
To start, Michael could hear the gym's teacher talking about how Pokémon were nothing but tools to be used in battle, then disposed of as soon as they were no longer useful. Then there were the gym's trainers, who seemed more intimidating than welcoming. Usually, the trainers would have a competitive air to them, but it would never seem malicious.
Then there was Justy himself. Michael couldn't exactly figure out what was actually wrong with the Justy in the arena, but the man seemed off. Perhaps it was the fact that Justy, a man known to be compassionate and caring towards Pokémon and other trainers, was allowing all of the issues to continue. Based on all rumors about the man, he would never let somebody keep saying that Pokémon were expendable.
Nonetheless, Michael was in a hurry. He walked up the stairs to the arena, going towards Justy. "Justy, I need some help. The city is being targeted by Cipher."
The leader of the Pre-Gym seemed to look over at Michael with indifference. "You think so? I don't see any reason to be worried," he said with a smile.
"I've been battling them around the city. I know they're here," Michael said, stopping as he saw the smirk spreading across Justy's face. "You're a fake too."
"No, I'm not a fake. I'm the real deal," he said as his façade faded, along with the images covering the teacher and one of the trainers along the side of the arena. All of them were now in the uniforms of Cipher Peons. "Now, surrender, or we'll take our time beating you down for daring to come into this gym.
Michael…why did you feel the need to announce that we had dirt on Cipher? We knew they were impersonating Justy already, Alicia said, sounding both disappointed and angry with her trainer. I get that you're angry about what happened to Liz, but you need to be cautious, or they'll actually catch us…and kill us.
Michael winced, knowing she was right. I'm sorry…I wasn't thinking. But, with luck, maybe these three won't be too difficult. They might not even have Shadow Pokémon.
Now that you said that…I'm pretty sure they'll all have them. That's like Movie Clichés 101.
Michael stifled his laugh at the comparison. Yeah, you're right about that. I hope you're wrong, but that just makes it so we can snag more shadow Pokémon.
The Peon who had disguised herself as the normal trainer approached him first. "I'm battling you first. Let's go!"
Alicia jumped from Michael's shoulder, while he sent out Nick. The Jolteon smirked and looked over at Alicia with confidence. It seemed like he was telling her he trusted her in this battle.
The woman just smirked and threw out two Pokéballs. The Pokémon that came out were a Kirlia and a Linoone, both level 23. Alicia and Nick were both at 25. This would be close.
"Nick, Shock Wave on that Kirlia. Alicia, use Confusion on Linoone," Michael said. The two Pokémon immediately began to gather their energy, with electricity crackling around Nick, and Alicia's body glowing with psychic energy.
"You two, kill them. Get creative," the Cipher Peon grinned as she spoke, wanting to see her enemies suffer.
Unfortunately, it seemed that was too vague for her Pokémon. Linoone sprinted at Jolteon, moving with shocking speed, but Nick managed to side-step, sending a blast of electricity at the Kirlia across from him. Alicia then took that chance to launch her Confusion. The shot of psychic energy hit the long raccoon Pokémon and knocking him from his feet. Alicia then fired her own Shock Wave to finish the job, zapping Linoone enough to make his fur stand up like a Zigzagoon's, knocking him out.
"Seems that your mistreatment of your Pokémon isn't paying off," Michael said, seeing that the enemy Kirlia was looking unstable on his feet. He just went and tried to use Magical Leaf. Alicia countered almost identically, hitting the leaves with her own Magical Leaf. That coordination gave Nick the opening he needed to use Quick Attack, knocking out his opponent.
"Nice work, you two! That was a great–" Michael stopped as he watched the Peon pull out another ball.
"Slave, come out," the Cipher Peon said as she sent out a little green bird, which triggered the Shadow Monitor.
"Shit, another Shadow Pokémon," Michael said. "Alright, let's make this quick."
"Shadow Wave!" the Peon called to the Shadow Natu.
"Nick, Thunder Wave. Alicia, use Confusion. We just need to weaken this one a little," Michael said. "We need to focus on snagging."
Got it, Snag Mode, engaged, Alicia said, almost sounding like it was a joke.
Natu began gathering energy, shooting two shadow orbs at both Alicia and Nick. Nick fired a blast of static electricity, hitting Natu and paralyzing it. Alicia then began to gather her psychic energy, managing to dodge the incoming Shadow Wave. Nick was not quite as lucky, taking a grazing hit. Michael winced as he saw Jolteon take the damage, but the electric type got up and shook himself off as he got to his feet.
Alicia grabbed Natu with her energy, gripping the little bird as Nick used Quick Attack, dealing a little more damage as Michael finished setting up a snag. He stuck out his arm and threw the ball, the energy hand grabbing the psychic type. It took three shakes to click shut. "Where's the Staples easy button?" Michael quipped.
Almost immediately, the second peon, who had posed as the teacher, literally kicked her out of the ring and ripping off her Pokéball belt. "My turn. Get out here slaves!" The two Pokémon that came out were a Remoraid and a Golbat. Before it even got a chance to move, Remoraid was on the ground flopping to get a breath. Michael knew he needed to do something to make sure the little fish survived.
"Open the pool!" Michael shouted at the Peons. None of them seemed to care as the little water type started to suffocate. Michael took out his flask and opened it. "Alicia, I know it's counter productive here, but please move the water around him. I won't be involved in killing a Pokémon."
Alicia barely even needed the command. She moved her hand and the water moved to surround Remoraid. The little fish seemed to come back to life, though it was still just laying on the ground, immobile.
"Inept little piece of shit," the Peon said. "Fine. Roselia, come out!" As soon as the little floral Pokémon came out, Michael's shadow monitor responded.
"Another one…Alicia, Nick, take out the Golbat first. Focus all your attention on him," Michael said. "We'll get Roselia next."
Nick moved quickly while the Golbat seemed to gather little wind scythes around his wings. With a strong beating of his wings, Golbat sent two cyclones at Alicia and Nick. The Air Cutter was fast, but Michael knew that Nick was faster. Alicia just used a Protect to defend herself, looking almost nonchalant about it.
"Shadow Wave," the Cipher Peon commanded. The little grass-type Pokémon gathered the aura around her enough to fire two shots.
Thankfully, the attacks were slower than usual, making it easy for Alicia and Nick to dodge. Alicia then threw Golbat with a Confusion, while Nick shocked him immediately after. The electricity was the determining factor as the Golbat was knocked out. Roselia was now in their only target, since Remoraid was out of commission already. The dodged Shadow Wave attacks flew past Michael hitting the ground, bursting into small clouds of shadow aura. Michael didn't think anything of it as Nick and Alicia began tag-teaming with Thunder Wave, and Disarming Voice. Michael programmed a snag, beginning to feel a slight stinging sensation on his exposed hand.
Without making a connection, Michael threw the ball, quickly snagging the little floral Pokémon within the first shake. Michael smiled a bit, then looked at his hand seeing that the skin was looking a bit red, as if irritated.
"I'm sure it's nothing," he said softly. Alicia gave him a concerned look, but he waved it off.
You'd better be okay, she said as the two beaten Pokémon were recalled, only for their balls to be dropped to the floor. That was when the "genuine Justy impersonator" came to the ring, slapping the woman in who'd just lost.
"You're a disgrace to Cipher. If you were going to fail this hard, you might as well have gone to Alola to join that group of failures pretending to be punks," he said. "Get out of my sight!"
She ran out of the building crying, which almost made Michael feel bad for her. "You in Cipher really have no idea what loyalty is, do you?" Michael asked.
"Loyalty? Friendship? What are those but wastes of time?" the Peon said. "I will show you just how much we don't need them. The only thing that matters is power, and how you use it." He then threw his Pokéballs. Michael was faced with a Kadabra, and a Sneasel. Both were weaker in level than Alicia and Nick.
"Nick, use Bite on Kadabra. Alicia, Disarming Voice!" Michael said.
"Kadabra, disable. Sneasel, use Sucker Punch!" the Peon said. The Sneasel was blindingly fast, his claws glowing with a deep violet energy, looking almost like the night sky. At the same time, the Kadabra's eyes glowed a light blue. Alicia tried to shout, but no sound came out, as if it was being blocked. As fear spread over her face, Sneasel sped towards Alicia punching her hard, the energy shooting around her body. That sent her to her knees, gasping for breath.
Arceus, fuck that hurt! Alicia said. She then went a different route for her attack. I need energy, and I know something Mom once did to win a battle.
"Do what you need to," Michael said as Nick bit the Kadabra, shaking it around rather harshly before throwing the psychic type into the air. He then improvised and
Alicia grabbed Sneasel and kissed him on the cheek. Her lips glowed as she sapped energy from the dark-type, spinning away. Michael recognized the maneuver, since he had been watching the Hoenn League Tournament that year, marveling at the power those elite Pokémon and their trainers possessed. If Alicia was already emulating her mother during that tournament, he was eager to see what she could do in the future.
That Draining Kiss was enough to knock out the ice-type, though it didn't have the charming effect that Gwen kissing Sam had during their battle, it was still quite impressive as it took out her target.
"Nice work Alicia!" Michael smiled as he pumped his fist eagerly. He watched as the imposter sent out his next two Pokémon. The first was one of the Pokémon that had made up Wes's legendary team. It was a Misdreavus, but this one looked far paler than a healthy specimen would be. It looked sickly, even for a ghost. The second one triggered Michael's Shadow Monitor. It was the small cream-colored cat Pokémon, Meowth, and it looked rather strong, despite what looked like whipping scars on its body.
Par for the course for these guys, Alicia said. Making Pokémon suffer like this. I'm gonna tear them apart for this.
"Then, use Confusion and make that easier," Michael urged. "Take out that Misdreavus. Nick, Thunder Wave!"
Alicia gathered psychic energy again, while Nick collected static electricity. The two attacked almost simultaneously, with the shots moving fast. "Shadow Rush, and Shadow Ball," was all the Cipher Peon said. The Misdreavus gathered energy fast and shot the blob of ectoplasm at Alicia. The attack flew rapidly, while Meowth ran at Nick, surrounded by his own aura of shadow. The attacking cat looked angry as he ran forward and crashed into Nick, just as the Jolteon fired his Thunder Wave. Nick stumbled from the impact, but managed to pull through despite how hard he had been hit. The hit had dropped his health below three-quarters, but the Jolteon refused to give up.
Alicia managed to barely get out of the way of the chilling ectoplasm, but it burst behind her, knocking the Kirlia off her balance. To make it worse, Misdreavus seemed to have planned for Alicia to dodge, as a second Shadow Ball hit Alicia just as the first one missed its mark. Alicia cried out as she fell to the ground. Owwww, damn, I hate this! I can't get a good shot! She was down to her last few points of health, and she seemed to be very concerned, as her Confusion attack hadn't really done much to Misdreavus, maybe taking a quarter of her health.
"Alicia, try Disarming Voice! Nick, Double Kick on Meowth!" Michael said. Nick was sprinting as soon as Michael gave his command. Alicia, however, had to gather herself for a second, barely getting up after falling to the ground. She immediately shouted, using as much power as possible, actually causing Misdreavus to falter in the air. At the same time, Nick delivered two strong kicks to Meowth's body, knocking the scratch cat back again, just as Michael finished setting the snag. The ball materialized in his hand, and he threw it confidently. The energy hand flew out and grabbed the Meowth. The Pokémon was pulled in and the ball snapped shut quickly. "Perfect! Now, Nick, Shock Wave on that Misdreavus. Finish this!"
With a spiral of electricity launching out from Nick's fur, the attack doing exactly what Michael hoped. Misdreavus dropped to the ground, and the Peon just growled. "Damn…well, guess I'll be going." He turned to leave.
Alicia grabbed him with her power. "Now…hold it right there," Michael said, his voice dangerous in tone. "We know you know where the citizens of Phenac are. Now, why don't you just spill and tell us."
The peon laughed. "Oh, they're directly below us," he said, gesturing to the elevator, which was locked on the lower floor, leaving only its Pokéball-design roof visible. "But, you know, I'm not important enough to get a key for that elevator. You're shit out of luck." Alicia let go of the man, sensing he was mocking them with the truth. He ran off without another word.
Michael sighed and pet Nick and Alicia happily. "You two were great in those battles. Now it's just a matter of where to find their leader. He probably has the key."
"What about Phenac Colosseum?" said one of the regular trainers, who had been hiding in the nearby classroom of the gym, and listening in until the chance came up. Michael turned to him with a questioning look.
"Wait, you mean the big dome at the top level of the city?" Michael asked. "But that's the most conspicuous building in the city. Would they really have their leader there?"
Maybe, I mean people would think what you're thinking now, and rule it out of their search, Alicia said with a lightly questioning tone.
"Good point," Michael said. "Should we go up there?"
Let's go, we don't have time to waste, Alicia said. Michael nodded.
"But you and Nick need to heal up again," Michael said.
"There's a healing machine in the back," the other trainer said. "You can use that."
"Oh, perfect," Michael said with relief. He recalled both Alicia and Nick, following the kid to the machine. He placed his team members into their slots, restoring them to their peak conditions. As soon as they were all off the machine, Alicia came out of her Pokéball, immediately sitting on Michael's shoulder.
To the colosseum, Alicia said.
It took less than five minutes to find the staircase to the stadium. At the top, Michael could see an elderly man with a Nuzleaf, just waiting at the top, smiling weirdly. "So, the hero arrives…" his tone told Michael that the man did not, in fact, consider him to be a hero.
"So, you're a fake too," Michael said, barely flinching now.
"Heh, so I guess it's time to take the mask off," the man said as the hologram faded, and he straightened his back. "Damn that disguise hurt my back. But doesn't matter. Time to kick your dumb ass." He sent out the orange tortoise Pokémon, Torkoal. The Pokémon let out some smoke to intimidate.
"Alicia, you sit this one out. Erebus, Boreas, come out!" Michael said. Alicia watched happily, wanting to see her friends from the Libra battle. The Houndoom howled fiercly, while the Spheal bounced happily. It was a stark contrast of personality, but the two seemed equally eager to battle. Michael turned on his battle monitor again, ready to go as well. "Erebus, use Ember on Nuzleaf. Boreas, use Water Pulse on Torkoal," he called.
"Torkoal, use Smokescreen. Nuzleaf, use Bullet Seed on Spheal." The man seemed confident, and his strategy seemed relatively strong. Relatively, though, did not make them actually strong. Torkoal shot out a smokescreen quickly, cloaking the whole battlefield in smoke. Spheal fired three rings of water at the fire tortoise. The water seemed to also permeate the air, making the smoke heavier, making it ash, revealing Nuzleaf as he was taking aim at Boreas, spitting seeds out at high speeds. Boreas seemed to just roll with it, almost having fun with the battle. Erebus quickly shot flames at the seeds, burning them to ash before they even got close, and continuing to hit Nuzleaf directly. Michael smirked as the Water Pulse hit Torkoal easily, knocking him back hard. It made him even happier when Boreas and Erebus began charging up the same attacks.
The Cipher Peon noticed his Pokémon looking at him for help. All he did was look disdainfully at them, as if to tell them to "perish." The looks of betrayal on the faces of the Pokémon was heartbreaking for Michael.
How can people be this cruel? Alicia asked, looking sadly at the two as they were taken out by the attacks.
"Pathetic," the Peon said. "But, I'm sure Swinub can fix the problems here." He threw a Pokéball, sending out the ground and ice type wooly pig. The moment after it appeared, the Shadow Monitor went off.
"We have another one to snag," Michael said with a confident smirk. "Alright, Boreas, use Powder Snow to try and freeze it. Erebus, use Bite. Try to immobilize." Both Pokémon moved quickly, Boreas breathing frigid air and making small clusters of snowflakes form as they flew at the Swinub. At the same time, Erebus began to prowl around the ice-type, waiting for the right moment to attack.
"Shadow Wave!" the Peon said. Swinub fired two orbs of Shadow aura, aiming for each of Michael's Pokémon. Spheal tried to roll away, but the energy seemed to follow him this time, as if Swinub was intentionally targeting him more than Erebus. Shadow Wave knocked Boreas back hard, taking over half of the Pokémon's health out in a single shot. Erebus shot an ember to counter the Shadow Wave coming his way, giving him more freedom. He bit hard, throwing Swinub across the battlefield. The shadow Pokémon's health dropped below a quarter.
"Perfect timing," Michael said as he programmed a snag. He held his arm to the side, and the ball materialized. At this point, the motion was becoming ritualistically easy. He got into a stance and threw the ball perfectly. The energy hand came out and grabbed Swinub as it was struggling to its feet. The ball landed smoothly, shaking three times before snapping shut.
The Peon sighed. "Key Lair it is," he said, leaving his Pokémon and belt of Pokéballs on the ground. Michael sighed in relief and went to heal Boreas.
"You two were great out there," he said, using a Super Potion spray on the Spheal's wounds, healing them almost instantly. "Now, get some rest. I'm pretty sure you will be battling again soon." He recalled them to their Pokéballs, feeling a bit exhausted. "I think I'll need a rest from everything once today is done."
Alicia almost giggled. Yeah, no kidding. I can tell I'm getting exhausted too.
Michael smiled to her as Swinub's new Pokéball was teleported to the HQ Lab. He then turned toward the tunnel of the Phenac Colosseum. "We'll just have to power through," he said as he walked inside.
The waterfalls around the reception desk made the entrance a sight to behold. Thankfully, there were no people in the building. The doors leading to the stadium itself, however, were locked tightly. "There has to be a way to get inside there," he said.
Want to search the desk. Maybe there's a button or something inside, Alicia said.
"You know, that's a good idea, but I'm going to feel uncomfortable doing it," he said. True to his word, feeling very uncomfortable as he worked, Michael opened up every drawer until he found something interesting. What he did found was a chest hidden under a false-bottom of the bottom drawer. He opened the chest and the first thing on the top was a note.
"Let's see. It reads: I pray that Cipher does not find this. I only barely got this much together in the hopes that, one day soon, somebody will come along and help this city. Cipher is coming in through the waterway in the back of the stadium, and I doubt they'll have any trouble taking over this city. If you're reading this and Cipher hasn't been dealt with, please accept these items so that they might aid you in removing them from our oasis." Michael noticed that it was written with rather sloppy handwriting, showing that the note was written hastily.
So, what are the items? Alicia asked.
Michael went through the case and found a Water Stone, a TM disc, and what looked like a garage door opener. "Let's see what TM this is," Michael said. He took the disc out, seeing the number 13 on the front. "No way…this is Ice Beam," he said with awe in his voice. "This is one of the most valuable TMs in the world."
Oh? And is it the old or new model? Alicia asked.
"This looks like it's the new model, so we can use it as much as we want," Michael said. "I'm going to teach it to Boreas," he said. He held up Spheal's Pokéball, taking the disc from its case, and opening the TM disc slot on the Pokéball. In two minutes, the disc popped out with a catchy tune playing to indicate that teaching the attack had been a success.
Michael returned the disc to its case, pocketing it as he took the stone as well before looking at the remote. "Well, if this is what I think it is, then we've got our ticket inside." He aimed the remote at the door, pushing the only button. The blue door to the left of the desk opened. "And bingo," he said.
He went inside, immediately seeing the massive arena, the waterway surrounding it beautifully. There were two Peons already running at him as soon as he entered the stadium, but he still had time to see the surroundings. There was another Peon in the center of the arena, beside him were Marcia and Cameran, two newscasters from ONBS that Michael recognized from school as well. The one who really got his attention, though, was the man dressed, for lack of a better description, like a literal storm cloud.
"Now, you two will submit to my demands, and you will hand over whatever records you have from this city," the eccentrically dressed man said to Marcia. "I will not say it again." His tone was threatening, but in a way that sounded smooth, like the most convincing of politicians.
"No, screw you. You've kept us prisoner in the basement here for over a week. We're the press. You will not bully us!" Marcia said.
"Then you've picked to die for your beliefs. Only difference is that nobody will care about you when you're gone. They won't even know what happened to you."
Michael had heard enough, so he stepped forward, which he correctly guessed would panic one of the Peons into sending out her Pokémon. "Pelipper, Electrike, take out the intruder!"
Michael turned to the attacking Peon. "Sarah and Nick, come out!" he said. His voice caught the attention of everybody in the room, distracting the walking storm cloud from Marcia and Cameran. Cameran, who was carrying his news camera, seemed to start going through the settings. Michael took his focus elsewhere, not wanting to get Cameran caught. Instead, he looked at the levels of his team and his opponents.
"Level 24s for them, and level 28s for my side. This'll be easy."
Whatever Cameran was doing, Michael had other things to focus on. "Nick, Shock Wave to take out that Pelipper. Sarah, use Earth Power on Electrike!" Michael commanded.
"Pelipper, use Protect. Electrike, Bite that Trapinch!" the white-armored peon said, looking determined to look good in front of her boss. Michael didn't care what the woman wanted. And, from the looks of it, neither did his team.
Nick shot a bolt of powerful lightning at Pelipper, while Sarah gathered energy quickly, shooting it into the ground hard, making the area directly in front of Electrike shoot up and hit the electric-type hard, almost immediately knocking it out. "Really? Do you guys ever train your Pokémon?"
"Why would we train tools? Not like their lives mean anything. They're all just weapons." the Peon asked. Pelipper heard her say that, and immediately looked depressed. Michael legitimately felt bad as the bird dropped his Protect and let Nick's Shock Wave knock him out. "See…and not even a functioning tool."
So…this is the kind of scum that Cipher brings to them. I could understand groups like Team Aqua and Magma before they merged. They at least believed they were trying to help the environment. Team Rocket weren't even so low. They were usually just greedy. You sick bastards are all psychopaths. Alicia's eyes showed a sense of fear as she spoke.
"Well, I don't give a shit. Now, come out, Spearow!" she said as she sent out the common brown bird with red wings native to Kanto and Johto normally. The moment Michael saw it, he knew the Shadow Monitor would go off. He realized he was starting to recognize what a Pokémon looked like when it was under so much pain that it had gone numb. It was something he'd never thought happened often enough to begin recognizing it. When the monitor went off, it just confirmed his hate for Cipher.
"Nick, paralyze it," Michael said coldly. Alicia was right about Cipher. They had no motives that could be seen in a positive way. They had no empathy, and they discarded Pokémon they deemed worthless. They were truly heartless and deserved no pity. Michael just felt sorry for the Pokémon they would leave behind along the way.
Nick was quick to fire a Thunder Wave, sensing that Michael was ready for the snag already. Surely enough, as soon as the Spearow was paralyzed, Michael threw the Snag Ball, which snapped shut before it even touched the ground. It teleported to the lab after it settled on the ground. "Alright, now for you," Michael said, turning to the man.
As if not caring about how overwhelmingly Michael just won, he sent out a Chimecho and a Stantler. The former was a floating wind-chime Pokémon which should've looked happy. This one was deadpanning directly at Michael, almost pleading for help. The Stantler looked sickly as well.
"So, when you guys call your Pokémon tools, do you not even do maintenance on your tools?" Michael asked. With a growl, Sarah used another Earth Power, aiming for Stantler. The stag Pokémon's antlers, however, began to glow hypnotically. Even though the Earth Power hit, Sarah began to fall asleep from the Hypnosis.
"Sarah, return," Michael said, recalling her a split second before she fell asleep. "Now, come out, Ceres!" The Breloom looked eager to fight. "Now, use Mach Punch to take out that Stantler! Nick, use Bite on Chimecho."
"Chimecho, use Disarming Voice. Stantler…try to survive and stop being worthless." Ceres pummeled the stag Pokémon with a fast punch, noticing its look of betrayal.
I really hate hurting these Pokémon. It's like we're hurting kids for what their parents do.
"Yeah, but I'm considering it more like a vaccination. It hurts them a little at first, but it frees them from a lifetime of pain," Michael said. "It makes it easier, to be honest."
As he spoke, Nick bit the Chimecho, making the psychic type flinch and fail to attack. With a powerful Shock Wave at close range, Chimecho was knocked out. "Well, these two are worthless," the Peon said. "Come out, Grimer!"
Again, this Pokémon immediately triggered the Shadow Monitor. Michael sighed, starting to feel that this was getting monotonous. "Nick, Thunder Wave. Ceres, Headbutt."
Nick acted fast, shooting a ball of static electricity at the poison type, paralyzing it before Ceres slammed her head into the poison type. That dropped his health to nearly half.
"Like a Magikarp in a barrel," Michael said, the snag set as he moved his arm into position. "Guess there's comfort in that. We can save these Pokémon much easier. Michael threw the ball, the energy hand grabbed the target to pull it inside, and it then snapped shut, capturing Grimer successfully. Both of the Peons wound up sprinting away, leaving their teams on the ground, along with the Pokéballs.
Michael sent out Sarah, who was now sound asleep, and used an Awakening on her to wake her up. The Trapinch woke up with a lot of energy this time. Michael just smiled. "Great job you guys. Now, let's go take out the next two," he said, turning to the peon and the storm-dressed man, who Michael assumed to be an admin of Cipher, still standing by Marcia and Cameran.
"So, you're Mr. Orison," the admin said. "Seems my underlings are too buffoonish to stop you." He turned to face the other Peon, who was wearing the same uniform as Napps had been. "Egrog, take care of this boy for me. I wish to see him fail."
"Oh, uh…yes sir," the man said, taking out two Pokéballs. "Hoothoot, Graveler, teach this little punk his place!"
"Guess I'll take your challenge. Ceres, Boreas, I need you two." Ceres, who was already out of her Pokéball, hopped forward. Michael opened Boreas's Pokéball, letting out the Spheal. "Let's keep this fast," Michael said.
"Oh, we will," Egrog said. "Hoothoot, Peck on Breloom. Graveler, use Rock Blast on that Spheal. Make this wimp eat the dirt."
"Ceres, use Bullet Seed on Graveler. Boreas, use Ice Beam on Hoothoot," Michael said. Without hesitation, both Ceres and Boreas reared back and fired their attacks. Hoothoot was already flying forward, and it took the full-force of the Ice Beam, the frigid beam hitting her and freezing her wings. She crashed and passed out after that one hit. Graveler managed to pull a big rock out of the ground, launching it at Boreas before Ceres could land her own hit with Bullet Seed, which hit hard repeatedly.
That was all it took for the round to end, as Graveler and Hoothoot were unable to battle. The Peon just scowled and sent out his next two Pokémon. "Gulpin and Seel. Come out!"
Michael was actually unsurprised when the shadow monitor went off. At this point, he was expecting there to be a Shadow Pokémon on Egrog's team. What wasn't expected was Seel being the Shadow.
"Oh, this could be interesting," Michael said. "Ceres, use Stun Spore on Seel. Boreas, use Water Pulse on Gulpin!"
"Gulpin, Poison Gas on that Breloom!" Egrog said. "Seel, Shadow Wave." Again, both of Michael's Pokémon outpaced their opponents. It was a thing of grace to behold, as Gulpin belched out a cloud of toxic gases that flew at Ceres. The gases wound up missing the mark, as Ceres dodged to the left and sent out a cloud of spores, aiming at the Seel. The spores swirled around the water type, making his muscles seize up, preventing him from making any attacks. Boreas acted just as fast, launching three rings of water at Gulpin, hitting hard and dropping his health by half.
Michael had a snag already set. "Boreas, use Ice Beam to finish that Gulpin." Michael smirked as he extended his hand, watching Boreas fire a chilling blast, which hit hard, finishing the job. Michael then threw the materialized ball, which opened and the energy hand pulled the water type inside and the ball snapped shut tightly. In a second, the snag had succeeded, and Egrog was looking appalled.
"Hmph," the man in storm clouds seemed to scoff. "So, you're skilled. Or perhaps Egrog was just not up to it." In a really fluid motion, the man pulled out a remote. "In that case, he is no longer needed…nor are any of the other failures among my subordinates." He pressed a button and Egrog began to shake and seize as if he was getting electrocuted. That was when the smoke and smell of burning flesh began to spread from his body, and he fell to the ground. It was clear the man was dead.
Marcia leaned over to Cameran. "Please tell me you got that on film," she said quietly.
"Don't worry, I caught it on film. And I just connected to the ONBS satellites. They will be getting this next battle live."
Michael was in shock now. "You…just killed a man without even a second thought," Michael said.
"Oh, contraire. I killed every member of Cipher who was in this city who failed me," he said. "Unlike Team Rocket and those other failures, Cipher has no tolerance for failing in our orders. So far, only one man ever escaped us for failing, and that was my embarrassment of a dancing cousin, who was involved in the last Shadow Incident."
"You mean Miror B?" Michael asked.
The man sneered. "My name is Snattle. The Grand Master ordered me to take this city, and he will ensure that I become the next governor of Orre," his sneer turned to a look of pure rage. "But you…you have ruined my ambitions. For that, I will make you and your Pokémon suffer," he took out two Pokéballs and gave a look that showed he was ready to fight.
"Oh, trust me, I will keep ruining your ambitions, murderer," Michael said, looking at Ceres and Boreas, since they were already out of their Pokéballs. "Let's go."
Holy hell, that was way longer than it should've been to get this chapter out. So sorry for that. I know I said that I'd go faster this time, but I had multiple things to deal with, due to moving and job issues.
Anyway, there were enough battle in this chapter, so I will have the battle with Snattle next chapter. Hope y'all don't mind.
Leave a reply to let me know where I can get better, and what you thought of the chapter. It really helps with the quality of the chapters to come.