Michael:

Jolteon (Nick)

Gardevoir (Alicia)

Houndoom (Erebus)

Sealeo (Boreas)

Breloom (Ceres)

Vibrava (Sarah)

Liz:

Sylveon (Titania)

Ursaring (Artemis)

Ampharos (Voltaire)

Vulpix (Vixen)

Roselia (Lilith)

Togepi (Not named yet)

The Key Lair Part 2

"Aggron, Iron Head on that pathetic Sylveon!" Gorigan said with an evil smirk. "Finish this battle!" Without hesitating, the massive steel tank of a Pokémon charged forward, her head shining brightly as she plowed into Titania, knocking the Pokémon into the air. The blue Sylveon landed hard on her side, passing out from the attack.

"Titania!" Liz cried out, running to her Pokémon. "Please, be okay." She knelt beside the Sylveon, seeing that the battle was over. She hadn't even beaten one of the man's Pokémon. No…this person was no man. He was a monster. Titania was still breathing, but Liz could tell she would not be moving any time soon.

"Weak, weak, weak!" Gorigan laughed. "And you thought you could pose a threat to the Grand Master. You couldn't even scratch me!" He stepped closer, then grabbed Liz by the neck. "You'd be fed to XD001 before you even blinked. You're so weak!" With one hand, Gorigan began to lift Liz into the air, starting to choke the girl. "You know, maybe I should put you out of your misery. I'll make sure your boyfriend and your traitorous Pokémon join you quickly."

Liz couldn't even pretend she was listening as she clawed at the man's massive hand, feeling his grip casually relax to let her gasp for air only to cruelly tighten again. Titania was too injured to move, Liz was helpless, and she was about to pass out. Michael…Alicia…help…

"Damn it!" the Cipher Peon cried, falling to his knees as Michael had the snagged Shadow Arbok sent to the HQ Lab.

"Get over it," Michael said. "You're scum who uses Pokémon like weapons. Karma just decided to hit you extra hard today."

The Peon chuckled. "Oh, you poor kid. I'm not concerned one bit about the loss. I'm pissed because I missed the boss beating your little girlfriend and her team to Hell," he said. "You were so focused on me; you never even noticed her sneak inside. Probably was on some mission to take out Gorigan on her own."

Alicia's eyes widened, then she grabbed Michael's arm, pulling him at a running pace as they got into the office area. The décor stood out with the red and black color scheme, but Michael was more focused on the man with his hand wrapped around Liz's neck. "Alicia, get Liz and Titania out of there now!"

Alicia instantly teleported to Liz, getting a hand on both the brunette and Titania. In an instant, they teleported back to Michael, Liz gasping for air with a bruise forming around her neck. "Liz," Michael said with a tone of relief. He pulled her into a comforting hug. The girl was still gasping and breathing heavily, but she was improving. "You okay?"

Liz looked up at him, clearly still badly shaken. "I'll be fine," she said with gasping breaths. Michael could tell she wasn't, but now wasn't the time to bring it up. Now, he was livid. A fire seemed to burn in his eyes as he looked toward Gorigan.

"You'll regret that," Michael said, grabbing two Pokéballs. "Go, Erebus and Ceres." The Houndoom and Breloom both appeared with a bright flash. Gorigan just smirked.

"What do you think you'll do that your pathetic girlfriend couldn't?" Gorigan said. "She didn't even beat one member of my team. You'll be no different."

"Alicia, do me a favor and try to heal Liz's throat. I'll call for you if I need you in the battle," Michael said.

Be careful, Alicia said. I get the sense that this guy doesn't play around.

Trust me…I won't take him lightly, Michael said as Gorigan took out his choices.

"Aggron, Walrein, time to hunt your prey!" Gorigan said. The two Pokémon he sent out were intimidating, with one being a massive steel dinosaur, and the other a blue walrus known for powerful ice attacks. Neither of them was a particularly fast Pokémon, but their natural defenses were enough to cover for that weakness.

"We need to fight smart," Michael said. "I trust you two. We need to win this battle." Both his Pokémon nodded, looking to their opponents with determination.

"Aggron, Protect. Walrein, Earthquake," Gorigan said menacingly. Both his Pokémon responded, with the massive steel type forming a shield around himself.

Ceres leapt forward, her fist glowing gold as she landed a Mach Punch on the Walrein. The ice type groaned at the impact, only for Erebus to move next, using a Flamethrower once Ceres was clear. The Walrein seemed confident, taking both attacks without so much as flinching. The attacks took about a third of the water-type's health. The Walrein then reared up and slammed his body into the ground, sending a shockwave out. The attack made the floor crack as it shot up and hit both of Michael's Pokémon. Meanwhile, Aggron was unfazed by the attack, her shield absorbing all the damage. Ceres seemed relatively unharmed, but Erebus took the hit hard. The fire-type's health dropped to less than a quarter, with him looking out of breath. With a gleam of rage, Erebus reared back and gathered a ball of intense flames in his mouth. He knew he was close to falling, so he decided to take aim at Aggron. The fire turned blue then quickly shifted to bright white as he unleashed a powerful Overheat. Aggron had just let her Protect shield fall, and wouldn't be able to bring it back up before the searing job flames engulfed her. Michael smirked at Erebus's dedication, but realized that some rest might help the Houndoom stay in the battle longer at a later point.

"Erebus, great job so far. Get some rest, and be ready in case I need your help again," Michael said. The Houndoom vanished into his Pokéball, immediately starting his recovery. "Now, let's go Nick!" The Jolteon appeared with a flash, electricity arcing from his body in anticipation. As her new partner appeared, Ceres leapt toward Aggron with her hands glowing golden. She punched the steel giant hard, sending her flying back to a pillar nearby.

Gorigan sneered angrily. "Pathetic weakling. Get back over here!" he said angrily. The Aggron returned to her Pokéball. "Now, Slowking, help finish the job!" Gorigan said. The water type appeared, his shell crown glaring back at Gorigan, while the ruby-like charm gleamed in from the lights above. His pink body looked sluggish, but looks could be deceiving. Nick and Ceres both looked at Michael with confused expressions, knowing they had the advantage in type here.

"Be careful you two," Michael said. "They both probably know Earthquake, and a few ice moves. Don't lose focus."

Gorigan just glowered at his two Pokémon, and they both attacked quickly. The Walrein fired a powerful Ice Beam at Ceres, while Slowking's eyes glowed with psychic energy. Ceres was suddenly unable to move as psychic energy surrounded her. Nick fired a Thunder Bolt to intercept Walrein's incoming Ice Beam, but it seemed Slowking's Psychic was enough. Ceres collapsed to the floor, out of energy, and out of the fight.

"Good fight, Ceres, please return," Michael said, recalling the Breloom. He then grabbed the next ball on his belt. "Don't worry, we won't lose to this guy. Now, come out Sarah!" The Vibrava appeared on the field, her wings almost vibrating to keep her airborne.

"Sarah, Dragon Breath on Slowking. Nick, use Thunder Bolt on Walrein!" Michael said, his voice full of both passion and rage. Sarah darted around the battlefield, a violet electrified flame flew across the field, engulfing the Slowking with its energy. At the same time, Nick fired a large lightning bolt at Walrein.

"Both of you, tough it out. Then use Earthquake!" Gorigan said. Both of his Pokémon seemed to grit their teeth, and brace as they took the attacks. Walrein, however, couldn't make it through the Thunder Bolt, and he passed out. Gorigan growled deeper, waiting to recall the knocked-out Pokémon. Slowking looked at Walrein as the Dragonbreath faded, seemingly concerned about his teammate. "Slowking, I gave you an order. Do it now!" The Slowking relented and sent energy rippling through the ground. The energy caused rocks to erupt from the ground under every other Pokémon on the field. Sarah easily dodged by being in the air. Nick, however, was hit full-force, and was sent flying to the wall. Despite being nearly at full health, the electric-type was knocked out from the damage. Michael immediately ran to Nick's side, checking if the Jolteon was still breathing. Luckily, the damage was limited to what one would expect in a normal battle.

"You fought really well, Nick. I promise we'll win this. No problems," Michael said. Nick looked a bit unsure as Michael recalled him. Michael knew why. Nick's speed paired with Thunder Wave was currently the most reliable way to give their opponents status conditions that would make snagging easier. With how the members of this base had been, Michael knew Gorigan would have two Shadow Pokémon at least, so he would need to fight cautiously now. "Boreas, I need your help!" The Sealeo appeared on the battlefield with an eager look. "Boreas, be careful out there. This will be a difficult battle from now on."

"Walrein, you useless disappointment, come back," Gorigan said, the Walrein looking battered and bloody from the second hit from the Earthquake. "Ursaring, get to work!" The massive bear appeared on the field, its powerful muscles visible through the thick fur. "Both of you, go berserk. Kill them if you want." Both the Ursaring and Slowking did as they were told. The water-type gathered energy for an Ice Punch, running at Sarah. The Vibrava, however, proved to be too quick for him, swooping in and delivering a powerful Crunch to his side.

While Slowking was teetering on the edge of consciousness, he still managed to deliver one last Ice Punch, using the contact to his advantage. Sarah cried out, falling to the ground as her wings briefly frosted over. She focused for a second, working to vibrate her wings, slowly starting to shake off the ice. However, it expended the last of her energy. That, however, was all she could manage to do before she passed out as well.

It's down to three Pokémon each. But Erebus is probably still on his last legs. I'm behind, and his other two Pokémon are probably shadows, Michael thought, gritting his teeth as he recalled Sarah.

Alicia looked Michael in the eye, a confident smirk before walking to the battlefield. Hey, don't worry. I've got this, she said. Her voice sounded confident, but Michael could tell she was nervous.

Liz watched as Gorigan sent out his next Pokémon. What came out was the pig monkey fighting type, Primeape, and it looked angrier than the species normally did. The immediate response of the Shadow Monitors was all they needed to know for an explanation. "Alright, Alicia. Just don't knock him out. We need to snag him."

Don't worry, I'll be careful, Alicia said. But I also can't go easy. She put her hands in front of her, gathering more electricity quickly. But first, that Ursaring needs to be stopped. Boreas, help me with an Ice Beam.

Boreas nodded, firing a stream of ice while Alicia unleashed a Thunder Bolt, both aiming for the Ursaring. Both attacks were incredibly powerful, but they were too focused on one target. They didn't notice Primeape gathering shadow energy into a cyclone, almost like a storm, until the wind couldn't be missed. Ursaring managed to send a shockwave through the ground for another Earthquake before the elemental beams hit their mark. Michael grit his teeth. I can't do non-verbal battling now, he thought. "Boreas, Alicia, both of you use Protect!"

Alicia looked shocked at Michael's sudden return to verbal commands, but she did as she was told. Both her and Boreas surrounded themselves with energy shields, blocking both the Earthquake and the cyclone. Ursaring fell to one knee under the force of the attacks, but he stayed conscious to avoid the treatment Walrein received earlier.

"Good work, Asset 057, send another Shadow Storm, and don't let up till those traitors die," Gorigan said menacingly.

Michael, please, don't stop the non-verbal commands. Please trust us! Alicia said.

I do trust you, but right now, I need to battle more comfortably, Michael said. We can't afford to lose this.

Alicia grimaced, feeling uneasy about how she and Michael were working together. But, she understood why Michael was so concerned. They were up against the wall, and Michael knew loss almost certainly meant Cipher would take them all prisoner. "Alright, Boreas, use Body Slam on Primeape. Alicia, use Psychic, finish off that Ursaring."

Boreas bounced off the ground, moving forward with surprising speed, given his more hydrodynamic anatomy. The arc of his bounce put him on a collision course with the Shadow Primeape, who was busy gathering energy in front of him. When the fighting type saw the incoming Sealeo, he wrapped himself in the Shadow energy, and launched himself shoulder-first into Boreas's gut, knocking the wind out of the seal. However, Boreas still had enough energy from his Body Slam to do some slight damage. What was more important, however, was that Michael noticed some slight static coursing through the Shadow Pokémon's fur.

At the same time, Alicia had used Psychic to try and grab the Ursaring. Her energy, however, missed its mark as the Ursaring rolled and ran toward her. His claws gleamed with a white light as he barreled his way toward Boreas, slashing the ice type along his side. Boreas grimaced through the pain, but Michael could still tell he was on his last legs in this battle. "Boreas, use one more Ice Beam, take out that Ursaring! Alicia, Shadow Ball on Primeape, don't let him fire another Shadow Storm."

Michael was starting to program a snag as his Pokémon started their attacks. Ursaring was breathing heavily as Boreas fired his Ice Beam at near point-blank range. Gorigan, however, just crossed his arms with confidence bordering on cockiness, despite the Ursaring dropping to the ground and passing out. He just recalled his Pokémon and pulled out his next Pokéball. "You won't win, boy. You're panicking, getting sloppy. Just give up. It's obvious you're losing focus…and that precious faith you and your ilk preach about so wearily often." He threw his next Pokéball, letting out a yellow bipedal tapir Pokémon that held a pendulum charm in his hands.

Michael glared at Gorigan, not even reacting as the shadow monitor responded again. No matter how he wanted to make a retort, Michael couldn't say anything in response. The man was right, and Michael knew it too. But right now, he needed to finish this battle. Otherwise, Orre would pay for his mistakes. Alicia, Boreas…I'm sorry for being stubborn, Michael said. Please, keep fighting.

Alicia looked back at Michael for a split-second before snapping her attention back to the battlefield. I will. Immediately, around both her and Boreas, a glimmering orange barrier appeared for a moment. Right after, a blue barrier similar to the first appeared. She then looked to Boreas, gathering energy in her hand, hitting her teammate with a Heal Pulse. Sealeo seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as his energy increased greatly, his eyes showing gratitude for his partner's assistance.

"Worthless. Asset 097, use Shadow Storm. Asset 057, Shadow Rush on Hoenn's PokéPrincess. Leave her in a bloody heap!" Gorigan shouted, his voice made it clear that any disobedience would mean devastating consequences.

Alicia began to look livid. So…you intend to keep torturing them even though they're already Shadows, she said, static electricity gathered into her palms as she fired a Thunder Wave at the Hypno. So, it's not just a job for you. You take pleasure in our suffering! The electricity struck the other Psychic Type, paralyzing it. Boreas then fired an Ice Beam at Primeape, the Shadow Pokémon tried to dodge, but his limbs seized up with the paralysis. Michael watched Primeape's health drop below a quarter, so he quickly initiated a snag sequence. He held his arm out to the side, feeling the ball materialize in his palm. He gripped it lightly then threw the Ultra Ball at the Fighting-type, the energy hand glowing brighter than it would with a Pokéball. The Primeape just wobbled, unable to really escape as he was pulled into the ball. It took only a short time before the ball snapped shut. If it weren't for you…I… Michael could tell Alicia was starting to cry in anger. You tortured me and all the others, like we were your playthings!

"Hypno, Shadow Down, then Shadow Storm," Gorigan said, not even acknowledging Alicia. The tapir Pokémon's aura flared to life, and two clusters of what appeared to be shadowy feathers flew at both Boreas and Alicia. The energy hit its mark, but it did no damage. Instead, it seemed to weaken their constitutions, making their defensive abilities drop significantly. The feathery energy was immediately followed by another tornado of shadow aura. This time, neither Alicia nor Boreas could summon a Protect barrier in time. Both of them braced against the cutting aura, but even Alicia's Reflect and Light Screen weren't enough protection for Boreas. With one last hurrah, the Sealeo shot a Water Pulse at the Hypno, shooting three rings of water through the air. The attack was weaker than normal, and was slowed by the Shadow Storm's energy. The rings splashed over the Psychic type, doing a little damage, and even dazing him into a state of confusion.

"Alright, great work Boreas, now come back and rest up. Don't worry, we won't lose this," Michael said reassuringly as he sent out Erebus once more. The Houndoom was still tired, but he had regained some of his energy. "Erebus, I know you're tired, but I know you can hold on a little longer."

The Houndoom growled his support, puffing some smoke to intimidate the Shadow Pokémon and Gorigan. The Cipher executive just looked unfazed as he looked at yet another Pokémon he'd tortured into submission. Michael just began to program another snag, trusting his team to fight effectively.

As soon as Michael finished his encouragement, Erebus shot a ball of flames at Hypno. The attack hit with just enough force to make the Hypno fall to his knee. "Great work, Erebus!" Michael said as took his stance once again. "Now, to finish this!" He threw another Ultra Ball at the Hypno, watching as the energy hand grabbed the Hypnosis Pokémon, pulling him inside. Gorigan just watched, still not reacting in the slightest when the Ultra Ball snapped shut.

Michael clenched his fists happily. "We did it! You guys were amazing!" he cheered, going onto the field, embracing both Alicia and Erebus together. Both of them, while exhausted, reciprocated the affection in their own way. Liz slowly approached from behind them, kissing Michael on the cheek.

"Great battle," she said, though her voice sounded like she was disappointed about something. Michael knew her well enough to guess the problem. He gave Erebus a pet along his neck, then recalled the Houndoom to rest.

That was when Gorigan began to growl angrily, getting Michael's attention. "God damn it. You and your hussy have ruined Cipher's facilities and plans too many times. This time I'll kill you myself." He approached Michael with a snarl and clenched fists, but stopped when Alicia's expression turned borderline homicidal as she silently dared him to take one more step. He then smirked, pulling what looked like a holoscreen from his pocket. "Fine, I may have failed to stop you in a battle, but I will still eliminate you and your little girlfriend. I'll just detonate this whole facility, and everybody inside it!" Gorigan seemed to touch a few commands on the screen only for a look of frustration to cross his face. "Graaahh, fuck this system. Blocking my access?" he shouted as he threw the projector at the wall, causing the projection to stop.

"Gorigan, stop your childish behavior, and accept that you have lost," a strangely familiar, dark voice said over the office speakers. "Or are you just that dedicated to deceiving these two into thinking they've actually harmed Cipher?" The screen behind Gorigan's desk turned on, and Mr. Verich appeared, sitting on a hovering metal chair in a dark, metal room big enough to be placed at the center of a regional league's stadium.

"M-master Greevil? What are you doing calling now?" Gorigan asked, dropping to his knees in fealty. "I thought you wanted to conceal your identity from these two."

Mr. Verich cackled. "Call it a whim. Either way, you know quite well the triviality of the mainland bases. Most are mere remnants of the branch that went rogue before Shadow Pokémon were ready, anyway. Let them crumble to ruin for all I care. Just bring any Shadow Pokémon remaining there to the Isle," he said with an evil grin.

Michael exchanged worried looks with Liz and Alicia. These weren't their real bases? Alicia softly.

Greevil looked in their direction. Even though his eyelids seemed to be closed, his gaze seemed to drill into them. "So, now you know my true nature," he said with a taunting tone. "I suppose you're questioning what I just said, so let me ask you something. Did you not find it strange that you were able to so easily overpower the leaders of Cipher?"

Michael almost felt his heart skip a beat at the implications. "You were letting us win," he said breathlessly.

Greevil cackled. "Of course, stupid brats. The mainland operations were simply to find skilled grunts and gather intel on any potential threats to our operation. We've gathered video of every one of your battles in our bases, and analyzed every aspect of your battling technique. All the grunts you battled till now were mere sacrificial pawns, as were the Shadow Pokémon you've snagged so far."

Liz looked at the screen with determination. "What makes you so certain that we won't stop you?" she asked. "We've heard a lot of posturing like that from your subordinates."

Greevil smirked. "You're Pokémon are currently all below level 45 according to the data from your battles with Gorigan. Am I correct?" He looked at them as their expressions changed, chortling at their reactions. "Don't bother answering, I can tell I'm correct. Well, then I've got news for you. Not a single Pokémon in our main base is below level 90. If that doesn't make you give up, then I'll give you a little intel. Our base is on Citadark Isle. If you think you can even get to our base, then you're welcome to try. I'll be watching. To be generous, I'll give you a month before Cipher takes Orre's government by force. Do whatever you want in that time. Even if you miraculously manage to reach our level, you will still never reach us." With a cackle, Greevil ended the transmission.

"A month?" Michael asked. "We've been fighting them for a month already. I know that we can win."

"Yeah, that's probably more time than we need," Liz said, almost sounding relieved.

Gorigan stayed on his knee for a moment, listening to the reactions. As soon as Liz finished, he starting to laugh with sadistic amusement. "Oh, you fools don't realize how screwed you are if you go to Citadark," he said. "You don't even seem aware that it's impossible to get to Citadark unless your crew and vessel are capable of surviving hurricane-force storms on the sea. Then, even if you somehow manage that, the island is an active volcano with rivers of lava flowing through the ground. Then, there's the fact that every healing machine is locked by a code, along with retinal, fingerprint, and heartbeat scans." He smirked. "If you try to take the fight to us, we will wear you down until you can't fight back, then you'll find the one-way trip into a pit of lava." Then he looked at Alicia directly. "And you, Little Miss Hoenn, will be turned back into a Shadow Pokémon. From there, we'll even be kind enough to take you back to Hoenn, and let your dear mother see you," he said evilly, striding out of the room, dropping his belt of Pokéballs on the way. He then stopped at a wall panel beside the door, typing in a ten-digit code, and causing the wall to open, revealing a belt with six more Pokéballs. "Hell, we might just kill the Champions of every region and turn their ace Pokémon into Shadows."

Alicia seemed to recoil as soon as Gorigan's new set of Pokéballs came out of the wall. No…there's no way…they're so strong! she said with fear in her voice. Michael looked at Alicia with worry. They're all on par with an Elite Four member's team. They might even be stronger…

Michael looked at Alicia with scared disbelief. "Seriously?" he asked.

Yes. Turn on your Shadow Monitors, I can sense the aura through the Pokéballs, Alicia said.

Liz turned on her visor, and saw the black, red, and violet aura swirling around the Pokéballs on each end of Gorigan's belt. "We can't beat them…" she said quietly, terror evident in her voice.

"Later, weaklings. Next time we meet," Gorigan turned toward them, his glaring eyes visible through his tinted goggles. "I will kill you." With that, he left. Liz just fell to her knees as the tension of the situation faded. Michael caught her, but she still eased herself to the ground.

Before Michael could ask, Liz broke into tears. "I…was worse than useless," she said, crying into her hands. "I couldn't even beat one of his Pokémon, and that was his throw-away team." Michael hugged Liz closely.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm still here for you," he said.

"That's just it!" Liz said, letting her hands fall away from her face. "I'm never the one protecting you. In Phenac, I got knocked out and wasn't able to even help you when you got so badly burned that I almost lost you. And just now, I was almost choked to death because I was too ambitious. If you hadn't gotten here when you did, I would be dead now. Even though I trained so hard at the Pre-Gym, I still couldn't contribute beyond beating a few grunts!"

Michael hugged Liz tighter. "Hey, you've snagged and saved half the Shadow Pokémon we've come across. You are the kindest, most courageous person I've ever met," he kissed her forehead. "So, please don't give up."

"I…I don't know if I'll be of any help…" Liz said, getting pleasantly surprised by Alicia crouching beside them.

You know…if it weren't for you and Michael, I would still be a prisoner in my own body, Alicia said. It was both of you together that reminded me of my family and my home. You guys have both made more of a difference for the Pokémon that you purified than you know.

Liz looked at both of them, smiling through her slowly drying tears. "Th-thanks guys. I promise, I won't be dead weight anymore."

"Don't worry. Those arrogant dicks gave us a month to prepare. It took us about that long to get here, and that was with a two week break in Phenac," Michael said. "If you're okay with it, we'll battle everywhere we can to train. I don't care if it's the the Pyrite Colosseum, Mt. Battle, or if I have to climb down into The Pyrite Under and reopen the Deep Colosseum."

Liz laughed at Michael's enthusiasm. "Okay, you win. I'll join you for training every day. We might even go to the Pre-Gym for a little bit," she said. "Though two weeks there didn't do too much for me."

Alicia stood up, seeing that Liz would be fine, and walked over to the holoscreen Gorigan had left behind. She picked it up and looked for any damage. Surprisingly, she noticed that there was no damage to the device, so she pressed the power button and found that the device still worked.

Hey, guys, look at this! We have an intel source, Alicia said, walking over to them. The screen was lit up, showing different data files ready to be opened.

"Let me see that," Liz said, taking the device. She looked at the screen, scrolling through the file folders. "We're in luck. The data is all stored on this device, so we don't need to waste time on downloading any…" she paused. "There's a spreadsheet titled Shadow Pokémon Production and Status." With a tap, Liz opened the document and her eyes widened as she showed Michael the list.

Michael looked over it. "It's a list of every Shadow Pokémon they've made. Let's see…" The first fifty-one on the list were those from the Shadow Crisis ten years ago, and all of them were sorted by production order, then labeled with their levels when they were produced, their current holder, whether they were still Shadow Pokémon, and their last known location. The first 51 were all labeled as purified, and that they were almost all held by Wes. Once they got past the Scizor, they began to recognize the Pokémon they'd snagged, all the way up to the Hypno and Primeape Michael just snagged. Then came the spike in levels. "The next Shadow Pokémon we'd encounter is…level 85!" He scrolled down further, getting to the 90s, where they saw Lovrina, Snattle, and Gorigan all had level 90 Shadow Pokémon as well. However, beyond them, the rest were listed with codes instead of names, with blanks to the other sections. "Damn it…their strongest Shadow Pokémon are all hidden."

"Then there's this one," Liz said, pointing at the second-to-last entry: XD001. "That codename has come up a couple times, so I get the feeling that this is their strongest Shadow Pokémon so far."

Alicia noticed the final entry on the list was the only one not blanked out. They turned Wyatt? He's a Dragonite who was on the Libra. He was probably the strongest Pokémon on the ship. If they turned him, then they could probably turn stronger Pokémon than him."

"Wait…it says Wyatt is still being held in the factory," Michael said. "We can save him and get an edge against Cipher."

Liz nodded. "Let's go down to the basement. He might be down there."

Plus, there may be other Pokémon down there who haven't been turned yet, Alicia said, her voice sounding more desperate than logical.

"Come on, let's go see it we can do anything for them downstairs," Michael said, helping Liz to her feet, leading the way out of the office.

Gorigan made it to the secret back entrance of the Key Lair, getting into a hovercar, driving out of the area quickly and silently. Once he was away from the base, he made a call to Greevil.

"Excellent work, Gorigan. I'm sure we crushed their spirits today," Greevil said.

"Thank you, Grand Master. Forgive me for this, but why did you really give them a month to prepare?" Gorigan asked. "Could we not just take Orre now?"

Greevil was silent for a moment. "The XD001 Project is still being finished. We need a month to perfect the purification resistance. Besides, it's been some time since I had a thrill of battling a competent enemy. I merely want to enjoy watching Orison and Hanz struggle in vain before they fall to our overwhelming power."

"I see. So, in the meantime, we could recruit more powerful trainers just to wear them down faster," Gorigan said as he made his way out of the mountains.

Greevil chuckled shortly. "That's a good plan. Even if they reach our level, they won't be able to overcome fatigue without healing their teams."

Unbeknownst to either of them, Eldes was just a floor below Greevil, a recording device planted in the room. "Grand Master…I can't keep letting you go down this evil path," he said, preparing to start gathering intel for himself. The red-haired man started hacking into all P-DA registrations, looking for the numbers of Cipher's two biggest enemies. "This is all for your own good."

Thank you all for your patience. Turns out life as an adult is pretty busy, and time for writing is negligible at best.

Next chapter will be preparation for the Citadark Raid, along with some surprise twists.

As usual, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter, and where you think I can improve. I really appreciate the feedback.

Until next time ~ jmoul18