Author's Note:
Here it is, the chapter number everyone has been waiting for (insert Duskull making a sixty-nine joke here). Since Aqua seems to be in the right place ready for the big climax, this is the final touches for our second villainous team. Expect some high action as we see two of the admins in magma work. I like to consider this the magma equivalent to the weather institute but onto the chapter. We get to know more about the new additions to the team and meet the gym leaders. It's also the intro to our Mossdeep gym leaders. I want to take a moment to say I have heard rumours about this site and yes, I've backed up this series in case the worst situation does happen. Don't forget to vote in the poll and with that, let's begin
Chapter Sixty-Nine: Robbery at the Mossdeep Space Centre
Serena sighed as she leaned against Milotic's head. The lights of the island for their destination still far away but they couldn't stop now. They knew it would be late when they arrived, but they all agreed to just push on and just finish off their journey to the next major location.
Her eyes drifted off to the side where Lapras was surfing alongside them, Ash, May, and Max on her shell with Snorunt sat on her head. From the brief mind links, she set up, she figured the transport Pokémon was telling the newest member stories from their previous adventures. While Max seemed to be asleep on the back, curled up with his Treecko and May was struggling to stay awake herself. She even had to switch spots with Brock on Milotic as she kept nodding off.
"How are you holding up?" she asked the passenger behind.
"I'm good," Brock replied, "just ready to hit land. This is the latest I've stayed up in a while."
"I know what you mean." She nodded. "I think we'll be sleeping in a little tomorrow."
"So... wanna talk?" he asked.
"What about?" she asked.
"You and Ash," he replied, "I've noticed some... distance recently. I spoke to him but now I wanna hear your point."
"I... don't know what to say." She sighed. "I thought we were fine but then he started being distant. Purposely keeping distance. Avoiding time alone. It's like after the body swap thing, he saw what I was like inside and decided he doesn't-"
As the words escaped her trembling lips, she felt tears escape through her eyes. The world became blurry as he breaths uneven. Using her ESP to retrieve a handkerchief from her bag, she cleared herself up as a reassuring hand landed on her shoulder.
"I wouldn't jump to conclusions like that, Serena," Brock muttered, "like I said, I spoke to him too-"
"So, what's going on?" she asked with a slight voice crack.
"It wouldn't be right for me to just tell you and interfere but you both need to speak and be honest," he replied, "if you can't then I'll step in to help. Deal?"
"Fine." She shook her head, letting out another sigh with a slouch in her posture.
As the island closed in, she moved her water type closer to their friends. As they got closer, she set up a mind link between them all as a flash of light on her belt shot off. Her newly caught Froslass emerged floating around them and moved down to both of the other ice types.
"What are you still doing up?" she asked her son. "I thought you was asleep in your Pokéball."
"I'm fine, mum, we're just chatting," Snorunt groaned, "stop embarrassing me."
"Since when is a mother worrying about her child's well-being embarrassing?" she asked with crossed arms, moving more to be eye to eye with Lapras. "And you, young lady. Just what are your intentions with my son?"
"Excuse me?" Lapras asked.
"I know what it's like to be a young lady when a strapping young ice type comes along and-"
"Mum!" Snorunt cried.
She couldn't quite believe the turn of events, or the implications being made. Seeing a fight about to break out between the three, she quickly snatched the device off her belt and recalled her ice ghost type as Ash did the same with Snorunt.
Reaching the island known as Mossdeep and the sky had completely been covered over by the dark starry sky. The beach was empty, but it certainly seemed like a nice place to waste the day with several life-guard towers standing all the way down. While she loves getting to spend time with her Milotic out on the open water, she can't deny the relief of being back on her own two feet. With the others fully waking up from the disruptions and the Pokémon being recalled.
"Oh wow!" Max's gleeful squeal caused her to turn to him. His eyes were wide and seemed to sparkle beneath his glasses. His lips spread out in a wide grin which dimpled his cheeks, pushing the glasses on his face slightly. She turned to see what had him so excited.
Off to the side of the island was a series of large building which stood high over the rest of the island and even some red-and-white metal pillars joined in. She also saw a round dome-like building which while not as large as the tall skyscrapers wasn't small by any means either. Several satellite dishes were scattered around, decorating the sectioned off ground and backdrop-mountain behind them. Bright lights helped illuminate the entire complex.
"What is that place?" Ash asked.
"It's the Mossdeep Space-Centre!" Max exclaimed. "The biggest and most successful institute for space exploration in the world! They've launched all sorts of things into the great unknown such as the Sunflora-Weather Satellite which is what the weather institute works with to track global weather patterns! The Ho-Oh three Rocket which was the first manned rocket landing on the moon for our exploration and most recently the Talonflame-Two! Everything we know about the space outside of our world currently came from within there!"
"I guess this means you wanna visit that place whilst were here?" May asked with pinched lips covered by a mocking grin.
"Who wouldn't?!" Her brother asked, not even noticing her rhetorical-contempt.
"How are we even related?" she sighed in almost a whisper.
"Well, we can visit there for sure," Brock stepped between them. "But for now, let's get moving. It's already late so we should get to the centre for tonight."
Everyone agreed with his thought, and they set off through the silent city streets. Some lights illuminated the mostly dirt paths. She noticed the buildings looking like mostly small, single floor houses with a lot of greenery around and many solar panels making up the roof tops.
It didn't take long to reach the centre which wasn't massive but still bigger than most of the rest of the buildings nearby. Making it inside, they found a Chimecho holding down the main counter with some Chansey nearby. The lobby was pretty vacant despite them being nearby.
"Welcome to our Pokémon centre," Chimecho greeted with telepathy. "We ask you be quiet due to the time and others sleeping. How can I be off assistance?"
"We'd like three rooms to sleep in please," she explained as Ash took a Pokéball off his belt.
"And we surfed her on some Pokémon," he asked, as she unclipped Milotic's Pokéball, "could you give them an over-night check-up?"
"Certainly." She smiled.
One of the Chansey's came over and took them both off the desk as the psychic type used her telekinesis to levitate the room keys over which she split between herself, May, and Brock. Bidding each other goodnight, they each set off for their respective rooms. Upon entering, she realised it wasn't anything special, but she was just thankful for the chance to sleep. Grabbing her night-wear, she took up the bathroom to change into them.
As she brushed her teeth in the sink, she heard some sort of commotion from the main room. Finishing up quickly, she made her way back into the room to find Snorunt bouncing on their bed whilst shooting out his ice beams... even if they weren't fully formed. A beam shot out of her backpack.
Froslass materialised and floated over to her son. Grabbing him and floating him across the room, she decided to leave them be, not wanting to get involved with the family affair especially when so tired. Shivering slightly as she entered the room, she noticed Ash mostly ready too. She gently grabbed his hand and lead him over to the bed. Making him lie down first, she climbed in next to him, cuddling up to his side. Resting her head on his shoulder, she glanced up.
Frowning. Her lips rolled into her mouth. Glancing down since he didn't really respond to her affection. Narrowing her browl, she caught sight of his pure ice type disappearing into his Pokéball. Settling in her resolve, she subtly moved her arms around his body and shuffled slightly to peck his cheek.
"Huh?" He blinked, turning to face her.
Not giving him chance to move again. She pushed forward and lightly pecked his lips. Only lightly as her eyes lightly fluttered shut and she shuffled into a more comfortable position. She only stopped when a shadow formed over her eyes, causing her to look up to see Froslass floating over them.
"What are you two up two?" she asked in a stern tone, crossing her wavey-arms over her hallow body.
"Going to sleep," she replied, her browl flurrying at the motherly inquiry.
"Not like that you're not," she replied, "your both two young and he doesn't even have a shirt on-"
"Whoa, slow down Froslass," she replied, "we've been comfortable like this for a while. A-and Ash doesn't have a shirt because of how warm Hoenn can get. We are both completely comfortable and-and you can't just interject to-"
"Do you think I'd allow that sort of behaviour between my son and that Lapras... or really any Pokémon trying to grab his attention?!" She asked, "I'm just trying to protect you. it's evident you need a mother's view to keep on the straight and narrow and I couldn't have joined a moment sooner."
"B-but-" She stuttered, feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she stared towards the ice ghost type. "Look Froslass, it's late and this isn't anything new for us. If you want to discuss it, then we can tomorrow when we're not all tired, but we just need to get to sleep."
"I'm just trying to keep you safe," she replied in a softer tone before floating over to her Pokéball to rest.
Seeing her disappear in a red light, she sighed and relaxed back down into Ash's embrace. She glanced up to see a frown over his face with his brow pulled together, causing wrinkles on her forehead. When their eyes met, he attempted to give her a smile, but it ended up lopsided before closing his eyes to fall asleep. Shuffling into a comfortable position, she rested her head over his heart, letting the rhythm draw her into dreamland.
She longed for his arm to wrap around her shoulder and for him to either fiddle with a strand of hair or draw on her shoulder with his finger. While not massive, it's a little comfort she's gotten use to but for whatever reason... he's growing more and more distant since the ship.
Serena frowned as she glanced over the options for her breakfast from the centre's cafeteria. Resting her tray on the side, she placed a hand on her stomach, the thought that Ash's recent distance could be because he doesn't like her shape. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head to try and get the voice out of her head. He's never cared much for looks or anything before and it's not like she's drastically changed recently.
She bite down on her lip as she admitted to herself it must be from the boat... and specifically the body swap. Maybe he saw something or experienced something whilst they were switched... maybe he saw something he didn't like but can't quite remember what, hence his hesitation.
"How can I help you today?" the server asked, snapping her back into reality.
Giving her answer, she quickly received her chosen breakfast plate and paid before carrying it across the canteen. Taking a seat on the edge of her the table where her friends sat, she glanced around the others. Max was excitedly talking about the space centre with Brock seeming to take interest in all his information seemingly off the top of his head. While Ash chowed down on his own breakfast with great gusto and not a care in the world.
She relaxed and stared down to her own, more modest sized plate. Picking up her knife and fork she cut into her omelette and began eating. Her eye wondered off to the side where their Pokémon were split into different groups. The largest group by far had Sableye at the front, performing some of his stand up. While his sense of human wasn't exactly for her, she could appreciate how some of the others responded to his antics. Closing her eyes, she let out a weak pulse.
"-you've all heard the saying one mon's trash is another's treasure, right?" Sableye asked, to which those around nodded. "It's a wonderful saying... but a terrible way to get told your adopted."
While she didn't find the joke very funny by itself, she smiled at the reactions from the likes of Crawdaunt and Duskull to Electrike and Vibrava. Seeing them all enjoy the darker sense of humour was
"Okay, okay, I got one. What's the difference between a pickpocket and a peeping tom?" Duskull asked with a wide grin. "One of them snatches your watch while the other watches your-"
Her eyes widened as a white beam shot across the room. Striking the pure ghost type, she gulped finishing off the joke in her head. None other than Froslass seemed to be the source, having cut the inappropriate joke in Duskull's tracks.
Having broken her mental link to the group, she could only watch as Froslass went off on the group of rowdy Pokémon. She felt her mouth drop at the scene of a pending fight. She didn't need to understand them directly to know this was a mother berating children... it reminded her of Grace going on over Rhyhorn racing before she put a stop to it. While she wanted to intervene, some invisible force seemed to hold her in place as others jumped up.
"Calm down everyone!" Brock declared, moving in front of his ghost dark type, "there's no reason to fight. We're all friends here!"
"Right!" Ash added. "Froslass, I know your upset over the joke, but this isn't a reason to start a fight."
"Fros Froslass."
"Bag Bagon!"
She closed her eyes to reactivate the mental link "-a young lady like yourself shouldn't be so-so-"
"So what?" Bagon asked with attitude. "Snowflake?"
"Brodish," Froslass replied, crossing her arms, "if you wish to make yourself a family then-"
"Who said I did?!" She asked, "if having one turns me into some uptight wench with a stick up her-"
"Stop it both of you!" She forced her them both to turn to her with a wave of ESP. "We are in public and causing a scene. We can discuss this later but right now you both need to be quite and finish breakfast. Got it."
While neither responded directly to her, they did turn to their meals. Feeling the eyes of everyone on them, she quietly sat back down at the table with the awkward silence almost deafening her. Staring down at her own breakfast plate, she wondered how far her mental screech echoed and who heard as well.
Once finished with their morning meal, the group packed up and made their exit out of the centre. Setting off she smiled at the sight of the bustling city streets, trying to push the mornings events out of her head. While not a lively city, there was a decent sized population of both people and Pokémon around the residence. It felt quite homely, like a bigger, tropical Pallet Town. Whilst the residence even greeted them each in a friendly manner.
Off to the side, she noticed Ash walking with his Metang out. Snorunt was riding on the steel psychic types head and they seemed to be in a conversation.
Frowning slightly as she remembered his recent distance, she glanced down to her feet before an idea popped in her head. Taking a device off her own belt, she held it out and let the newest member of her group. The argument running through her head. She already knew Froslass wanted what was best and was taking on a motherly role... not to different to Kangashkan but that doesn't mean her actions we're right. She can understand not appreciating the humour and not wishing to hear it but attack Duskull during breakfast was wrong and the way she berated Bagon-
Sighing. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Moving to the side slightly to have some privacy from the others, she pressed the centre button. A red light shot out and her newest team member materialised right next to her. "Froslass?"
The ice ghost type refused to turn towards her. Floating alongside, she purposely faced away. Biting down on her inner cheek, she sent out a pulse of ESP.
"Can we talk, please?" she asked.
"Now you want to talk?" she asked, "after letting those... those thugs get away with such vulgar?"
"I know your upset over Sableye's and Duskull's jokes, but they didn't mean any offence," she replied, "and I'll speak to both Brock and Ash. Get them to speak to each of them to ensure they don't force their humour on those who don't... but likewise, just because you don't like it doesn't mean others can't."
"How anyone could like that filth-"
"Is just as confusing to you as the reverse is to them." She cut her ice ghost type off. "And you really need to apologise to Bagon directly."
"I will not apologise for trying to better her and turn her from the street-residence into a proper young lady." She declared.
"Except she doesn't want to be your definition of 'better'," she replied, "look Froslass. I get it. You want to mother everyone and help them reach their full potential but that's not entirely what you're doing. If you want to help them then you need to accept, they need to reach their own goals... not your ideals."
Continuing to make their way across the island, she let her ice ghost type mull over the conversation in her Pokéball. Focusing ahead the next gym came into view and once again... it was unlike any she's seen. A massive glass dome, resembling the ones from the space-centre stood wide on its own with multiple solar-dishes surrounding. A massive rocket towered out of the top of the building, making it stand tall like one of the skyscrapers from Lilycove. Upon reaching the glass doors however... a note hung for them to read.
'We're sorry to inform you that the Mossdeep gym is currently closed due to the landing of Lunatone-Shuttle-Station. Should you wish to schedule a battle, the leaders are currently helping out at the space centre. Feel free to come and visit and we can come to some arrangement. Sorry for any inconvenience'
"Aww man," Ash grumbled.
"Well, we were going to the space centre anyway, right?" Max asked, "so what are we waiting for?"
She chuckled slightly as the young boy shot off with his team with him. Following with the rest of the group, she gave Ash a brief glance before closing her eyes to let the disappoint wash over her. Maybe if she just peaked into his head, she could figure out why-
What is she even thinking? Just because she can connect thoughts or explore other minds, doing it without expressed permission is just wrong and if he put up resistance, he powers could do irreversible damage to him. There's a reason law enforcement are prevented from using psychic Pokémon to mentally violate anyone they think might be guilty. Letting out a low sigh, she glanced up to see a small cottage high upon a cliff side.
"I wonder who lives there?" she wondered aloud, imagining the view they must get from high on the island.
"According to Hoenn's tour-guidebook, it's the official residence of Steven Stone," Brock mentioned, "although he also has an apartment in Ever Grande City which is where the Hoenn league is held and it's unknown how often he actually uses his holiday home."
"I can't imagine my address just being public knowledge for anyone to see," Serena muttered.
"Well, his Ever Grande apartment isn't," he replied, glancing back into his guidebook, "and it seems he let this become public to help the island with tourism since the space centre usually only drew a niche audience and they were suffering from lack of trade."
She shrugged at the explanation, guessing it wasn't exactly weird given the reasons. A red light shot off her belt and her Absol stood in front of her, cause her to stop... as well as the others. Closing her eyes, she connected her mind to his, "what's wrong?"
"There's... something that's gonna happen at the space centre," he muttered, "we need to be on guard. And I wish to keep out. The more context I can pick up, the better chance of working it out before it's too late."
"Of course," she nodded. He turned and they set off once more.
Giving the others an explanation of what her dark type said, they recalled most of their Pokémon and ran to catch up with Max. She couldn't help but let her mind wonder who or what was going on. Her instant thought was J but she steals Pokémon so a space centre isn't exactly her target... then their's aqua but they just got Manaphy so surely, they'd keep quiet for at least a little bit... just what could possibly be going on now?
"It sure seems busy," Serena muttered as she stared ahead to approaching centre.
A giant white building with numerous people walking in and out stood with the dishes and other equipment they saw from last night behind giant metal fences. Some of the people were clearly tourists from their clothes but there was also those dressed as security and some in lab coats.
Making their way into the building, she glanced around until she noticed a sign for the tour guide. Getting everyone's attention, they made their way over to the section of the lobby and found a middle-aged women with dark-blue hair dressed in a smart, turquoise sleeveless shirt and white trousers which went down three-quarters of her legs. Looking closely at the name badge, she noticed it read: Rachel.
"Hi!" The women beamed with a wide smile. "Welcome to the Mossdeep space centre! My name is Rachel and how many will be joining us for the tour?"
"Five," Brock explained, "plus our Pokémon."
"That's fine." She smiled turning to the side, "if you'd like to follow me, we can begin."
Walking across the lobby, her eyes darted around at everyone, but she soon settled on her dark type. He seemed more vigilant as he studied everyone around. If she were to guess, he was seeing who, if anyone set off his warning senses.
"As our first stop on the tour today, we have the Mossdeep Space-centre history exhibition," Rachel explained as they stepped into the room. Looking around, she couldn't help but feel nostalgic, like her visit to the oceanic museum in Slateport. Along the far wall were posters hung up of several Pokémon.
"Staryu and Starmie... Solrock... Lunatone..." she muttered as she walked along, reading the names under the images. "Elgyem and Beheeyem?"
"I'm not surprised those two-sound weird," Rachel smiled as she approached. All the others seemed to be investigating other exhibits on display. "They're mostly found in the Unova region but our colleagues over in the Lacunose research facility have been studying them."
"But what about Clefairy and it's evolutionary line?" she asked, "I thought they were said to be from space."
"That is common misconception," she replied, "you see. Those old folk stories came from Clefairy's rarity and often building homes around asteroid sites, giving off the illusion of being passengers from another world but the likelihood they'd survive such an impact from the heart is ridiculous."
"So, what about the stories of them worshipping the moon and wishing to return to their original home?" she asked.
"There's no evidence to prove they came from any other planet than our own," she replied, "in fact, researchers are now subscribing to the theory that while they worship the moon, it's more out of a desire to visit than a longing to return. Tell me, what do you notice about all these species?"
"They're all... psychic type?" she asked, going of the ones which she knew from her own travels.
"Exactly," she beamed. "I personally believe that psychic type energy has the complexities to help the users survive in the vacuum of space. Hence why the only species we can verify as extra-terrestrial are those who share the typing. Then, of course, we have the original space travelling Pokémon."
"The original?" she asked.
"I'm talking about Deoxys," she explained, turning to point over to a statue in the middle of the room. "about fifth-three years ago there was a massive race between regions of the world to be the first to conquer space travel. Here in Hoenn, we worked to genetically build a Pokémon for the expressed purpose. Which was called Deoxys. I was just a little girl back then but seeing the launch on television is what got me into the science of space."
Walking over to the statue, she noticed it was actually four marble forms each facing in different directions. All four shared a resemblance of being a humanoid Pokémon with a dominantly red colour, according to the photos pinned to each statues chest, a light blue face, and three light blue dots on the back arranged in a triangle. Circular eyes were set inside rectangular sockets.
The first form she studied was noted as the 'normal' forme. Which had tapering legs with a segmented, vertical, blue stripe on the upper portion. The abdomen had vertical lines. With arms which were capable of taking different forms, usually a pair of tentacles coiled in a double helix. Alternately, the other arm seemed to be more humanoid with a five-fingered hand. A blunt protrusion with a single blue stripe on either side of the head with a stubby tail.
Next came the attack for me, which had the legs remain tapered. However, the blue stripes were no-longer segmented and ran the entire length of the leg and there was a large spike on the knees. Two pairs of whip-like tentacles with pointed tips replaced its previous coiled, blunted tentacles. The protrusions on the head were now triangular with an additional one extending from the top of the head. Most of the skin receded, revealing a striated chest and abdomen. The tail was also longer and more pointed.
She frowned slightly as she came to the most different of the formes, which was bulky, with wide legs that were somewhat flat at the end with a spot on each knee. It retained two pairs of red and blue tentacles, but they were now flat and broad. The head had fused with the body and all the protrusions were gone, causing it to resemble a helmet. With the thick reddish-orange skin now covering the entire body. With no visible tail on this forme.
Serena finally took in the final statue which had a sleek body with a thin station. The only parts with the more armored skin being the head, hip joints and the area around the crystal. Only one tentacle was on each side of the body. Protrusions on the head were now pointed upward and the back of their head now formed a long spike. A long, thick blue stripe ran down the centre of the longer protrusion. With more stripes appearing on the hip joint and legs.
"Specifically designed to survive in space, each forme has a unique purpose with advanced thought processing to handle any situation they came across and the ability to transform at will," Rachel explained, "I believe Deoxys is still the highest achievement we've made in making genetically built Pokémon. Of course, Porygon are common place in labs to help as tech support and Castform revolutionised weather reporting but Deoxys is just... special. I would love to meet them some day."
"Meet them?" she asked.
"While we sent the original one over fifty years ago, Mossdeep have sent at least six others in total to help explore our very solar system. Each with a protocol to return home to us so we can make a record of their memory chips for further research."
"For a tour guide you sure know a lot." Max chimed in as he walked over.
"Don't be so rude," she hissed before turning to the women.
"It's quite alright but you should know I'm more than just a tour guide," she replied, "my official role is historic-scientific-advisor. Basically, I specialise it the history of the space program and past projects to influence our current missions."
"This is so cool!" Max beamed.
"Now I'll be glad to continue discussing the missions we've launched from here, but we need to get moving," she explained, "you see, I'm not the only tour guide and I'm sure the next one will be here soon. We don't want to interrupt the other groups tour either."
Nodding in understanding, they regrouped and started walking through the opposing corridor. Rachel continued her talks, specifically talking about the current mission which they were preparing to have the return rocket from. Keeping quiet as they walked, she couldn't help but notice Ash. Given his recent distance, how would he feel if she were to close the gap? Grab his hand? Normally she wouldn't think anything of it but-
"And so here we have our astronaut training room." Rachel presented the open room which had several different machines lying around. Slowly stepping in, her eyes focused on two people in the middle of the room. Both shared a striking resemblance, being around the seventeen or eighteen with long, dark blue hair, held up in a bow. Dressed in blue and white robes, the only difference being the coloured stars pinned on. "And these two are my lovely children who'll help you test out any of our equipment here. Who knows, you might have what it takes to be the next generation astronauts."
"Hi there, I'm Tate-" The boy introduced himself with a bow, mimicked by his twin.
"And I'm Liza." The girl finished as the bow finished. "We'd like to welcome you to the Mossdeep space centre."
"Tate and Liza..." Ash muttered, "you two wouldn't happen to be the gym leaders, would you?"
"We are." They both smiled in unison. "And we accept your challenge!"
"Wait wha-" He paused. "You two... didn't read my mind, did you?"
"Hehehe, no." Tate laughed. "Even if our previous mentor was a psychic, we aren't."
"But the only reason someone would bring up our gym is if they wanted a battle," Liza added, "so it was an easy guess. Although it's interesting you seem to jump to us being actual psychics. Not many people have knowledge of such humans."
"Well yeah, Serena-"
She flinched at his brash response, especially given their overzealous reaction. She shot her boyfriend a glare for dropping her in it as the twins started asking her to demonstrate her powers. Sighing as her friends moved off to investigate the different machines used for training. Narrowing her eyes, she flicked her wrist and used her powers to pick Ash up before dropping him on his behind.
Tate went off to help them strap into the machines as she stood to the side with Liza. She seemed to focus on Absol imparticular with a frown, "I've never known a psychic to have a dark type. I mean, our mentor most specialised in psychics but-"
"I won't lie, it was difficult since I couldn't connect our minds like I could the rest of my team, but Absol wasn't my first dark type." She smiled, stroking his fur. "But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love all my Pokémon regardless of their type."
"I'm sure you do," she replied, "it's just... our mentor taught us so much and... it made me wish that I could've been psychic as well."
"Tell me about her," she encouraged.
"Her name's Anabel and as I said, she was a psychic master," she explained, "when we turned sixteen, she got a spot in Hoenn's elite four!"
"But that could be more than two years ago and I though Hoenn's elite four were Phoebe, Glacia, Drake and Sidney," she replied.
"They are." Liza nodded. "She barely lasted a year in the position before Sidney replaced her. She got another job offer in Kanto and took it."
"You miss her?" she asked.
"Yeah." Liza sighed. "It was tough replacing her. Both myself and Tate seemed to flounder given the prowess of challengers who came given her reputation. I just felt like even the two of us combined couldn't truly replace her or-"
"Sol!"
Her attention snapped down to the dark type, who jumped into an offensive position. Seconds later, bright red lights shone around the room with a loud syrones echoing throughout the building. The sound of footsteps storming all around them helped with the alarm, to emphasis the panic.
"Trouble!" Liza declared.
Her pure dark took off towards one of the exits. Without missing a beat, she followed him out into the corridor with the others following shortly behind.
Serena panted slightly as her disaster Pokémon burst through a couple of metal doors, using night slash to loosen the hinges. Charging outside onto the tarmac field, similar to an airport, she quickly took in the sight which set off the alarm.
Across the landing zone was jeeps of magma grunts driving towards them. Her dark type turned and ran off, as if knowing what their final target was. She didn't waste time in following, glancing around to try and see what could possibly be the target here. If it were some info something inside, then surely breaking the restricted zone wouldn't have been their approach. Her eyes widened as she noticed the tankers of fuel which they were all heading for.
Swinging his horn, Absol launched a razor wind. While it caused them to swerve around them, it didn't stop the jeeps completely.
"I think they want the fuel!" she shouted.
"Go Lunatone!" "Solrock!" "Lapras and Crawdaunt!" "Ludicolo and Vibrava!" "Combusken and Mightyena!" "Geico! Ozone! Shade!"
Taking out a Pokéball of her own, she already saw numerous fire types like Numel, Houndour, and Torkoal, as well as Golbat's swarming overhead. Knowing the extreme heat could set off an explosion with the fuel, she tossed her device. "Froslass, try to keep the temp down and support everyone around!"
Brock, May, and Max's Pokémon all took off to intercept the grunts Pokémon. Her attention focused on two familiar faces.
"Tabitha and Courtney," she hissed.
"Heh, always glad to meet a fan," Tabitha smirked. "Magmortar! Swellow! Weezing!"
Before she could respond as the three Pokémon emerged, she noticed the Solrock and Ash's two duel water types drawing his attention. A power battle between his Lapras and Magmortar started, as the Solrock took off to chase Swellow. His Crawdaunt left to face the pure poison type.
Seeing one of the admins being dealt with, she focused the purple haired girl. Liza and her Lunatone floating up beside her Absol.
"Analysing... complete... battle formation!" The young girl tossed two Pokéballs and materialised her Ninetales and Flygon. "You're going to meddle in Team Magma's affairs? You're either absolutely fearless, simply ignorant, or both! You're so cute, you're disgusting! I'll put you kiddo's down!"
Her eyes locked on her as her lips tightened. Lunatone took off, firing an ice beam at the ground dragon type. Both Pokémon took off into the air.
"Absol, fall back and support. Try to keep your senses up in case anything changes!" She instructed, taking out another device. "Go Bagon!"
Leaping out of the way of a flamethrower from the fire fox, he took off into the mess of the surrounding battles. Tossing her own Pokéball forward, her pure dragon type emerged. Keeping her head down, she landed on the tarmac and charged straight into the small of wall of fire.
She jumped and landed right where the pure fire type once stood. A shadow ball came down from above, knocking her back.
Sliding back on her two feet, she extended both hands. Dark blue flame-claws grew, and she charged forward through the stream of flames.
"As anticipated. Unanticipated. You!" Serena couldn't help but frown. While not exactly what she'd consider normal, Courtney seemed to be on a completely new level from their last encounter. Closing her eyes, she trusted her dragon to handle the battle as she connected their minds. Maybe she could see what they were after or what caused this girl to act this way. "Target lock...completed. Commencing...experiment!"
Stepping back, she blinked as she took in the world once more. Her dragon smashed into Ninetales' side and the two went rolling.
Bagon ended up straddling her opponent and started stomping around. A blue flame of dragon type energy surround her body as the fire fox cried out.
Glancing around, her eyes caught sight of Tabitha. Sending out another pulse of ESP, this time to connect his mind. She tried to find out why they were attacking the fueling station... robbery or something more sinister? Unfortunately, that hardly seemed to work as the large man genuinely didn't know what the end goals were. They were there to steal fuel, for certain but as to what end, he wouldn't be much use.
"Bag Bagon!"
Her attention snapped back to the battle, and she gasped. Flygon skimmed over the two Pokémon snatching her own dragon from her battle.
Lunatone, who had been pursuing the dragon ground type, ended up crashing into Ninetales. Knocking the fire type out, who disappeared in a red light.
A second flash emerged and a large Claydol materialised, covering her vision from the rest of the battle. She took an instinctive step back from the large, colossal Pokémon. Liza's rock psychic type appeared orbiting around, shooting out a strong ice beam onto the ground psychic type.
The large arms pointed towards the meteorite Pokémon and out a single beam of solar energy. Striking Liza's partner, knocking them down to the ground.
Floating over to the downed Pokémon, the clay doll Pokémon smashed down on them. Crushing the partner Pokémon under their pure weight.
As the large black Pokémon raised back up, Liza's Pokémon was revealed knocked out. A red light engulfed the rock psychic type as a loud roar echoed from above. Turning to the sky, she noticed a burning dark-blue ball of dragon type energy diving straight down.
Crashing into the ground psychic type, it knocked the large opponent back. Flygon flopped to the side, landing unconscious on the floor.
Bagon lept off the downed dragon, having turning her opponent into a larger dragon rush. Landing on clay doll Pokémon with two sharp dragon claws.
She scratched away and climbed to get a better footing. A red light engulfed the dragon ground type as a Starmie materialised in front of her.
"Help Bagon with keeping Claydol at bay!" Liza shouted.
The water psychic type lept and spun in the air. A massive get of water shot out of the centre jewel. Striking the large opponent, it helped knock them back further away from the fuel tankers behind them. Her rock head Pokémon delivering an outrage from the top of their head.
Her pure dark type came in and fired off another night slash. Cutting the hydro pump in half before landing in front of her.
"Serena!" Absol's mental voice yelled. "We need to pull back!"
"W-we can't!" she stuttered slightly. "We're backed up to the wall! If we retreat inside, then they'll-"
"I know, they'll get the fuel," he replied, "but we can't win! The chances we'll defeat Claydol without them exploding is minimum and even if we do... there's another Pokémon, a Rotom, hidden. They'll spark the fuel and cause the same explosion. Either they defeat us or-"
"They blow up the entire centre..." She muttered with a cold sweat forming on her forehead. "B-but they'd-"
Sending out another pulse of ESP, she connected with the minds of the magma grunts. Most of them seemed focused on their individual battles but digging deeper showed no-sign of the endgame Absol mentioned. Frowning, she focused her mind on the large man as he recalled his Weezing. Once again, no indication from his memory that he was planning such an outcome.
"I can only tell you what I've seen and those are our only possible outcomes," Absol replied, "and no... you couldn't withstand the blast with your powers. If you tried to contain the explosion in your ESP, nothing would change. I'm sorry but we don't have another option here."
With a deep breath, she sent out a pulse to connect with the purple haired girl. Courtney's mind seemed to run like a computer rather than any other mind she seen before. As calculations formulated based on the current battle, she found what she was looking for... the image of the fire-electric type diving into the fuel tankers and the blast which would engulf them all... and the entire space centre.
Feeling her mouth go dry, as her vision returned to the ongoing battle. While her friends seemed to be doing better in their individual endeavours, the problem was the large Claydol in front of them... and the hidden Rotom who'd blow this place up before they could react. Closing her eyes, she sent out another pulse and connected her mind with all of her friends and their Pokémon, "everyone, we need to back up! Recall everyone and run inside!"
Despite hearing numerous objections, most started following her lead as her team returned to their Pokéballs. The twins were the two holding out though.
"We can still do this!" Liza shouted.
"No!" She unleashed a massive wave of ESP to push them and their Pokémon back towards the doors to the building. Running after them, with her friends following suit, she turned to catch a glimpse of Claydol picking up the tanks of fuel with psychic, placing them on the jeeps.
Her eyes focused on the young magma girl. They're very similar in age but... what could drive her to the point where she'd risk her life and everyone else's?
As they started driving away with the fuel tanks, she made her way inside the building. Blocking off the doors with her body as her friends and the gym leaders stood in front of her. The robotic memory of the young girl's head echoed in her mind, causing a tear to escape down her cheek.
"What was you think!" Tate shouted, "we were winning! We could've-"
"Hang on." Ash stepped forward. "I'm sure Serena had a good reason for-"
"For letting them get away! With our fuel which was meant to refuel our father's rocket upon his return?!" Liza asked, "even if we couldn't defeat Claydol, the cops were-"
"That's why I had to stop it," she muttered. Looking up, her eyes stung as she stared the twins down, "I read their minds. Absol saw the future. If at any point it seemed like we would win... they-d-"
Ash's hand landed on her shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves at the thought.
"They'd have blown themselves, us and this centre up... using the fuel to add to the chaos," she uttered, glancing down to her feet, "either Claydol itself would've exploded... or they had a Rotom hidden. Ready to ignite the fuel and take us all with them."
"B-but they'd die too-" Tate uttered.
"Why would they do that?" Liza asked.
"I don't think all of them knew the plan... only Courtney. She was the only one I could see with information of the end game," she muttered, "either we let them get away with the fuel... or everyone died. The centre would be gone, and your father wouldn't have anywhere to land."
A solemn silence echoed around them as the weight of the possible outcome settled. The twins hostility fade as she dropped to the floor. Footsteps echoed as workers, Rachel and police officers came storming down the corridor with Manectric leading the charge.
The image of the purple hair girl fixed on her mind... what happened to break her into an emotionless robot, willing to kill or die for magma's cause?
Serena sighed as she stood outside of the space centre. The twins were finishing up with the officer Jenny leading the witness statements and the evening orange sky seemed calming overhead. She glanced around to the others but couldn't really focus. Brock and Max were sat with his team of three, seeming to be discussing potential battle strategies. Her attention turned back as both the gym leaders ended up walking towards them, with Ash moving ahead.
"What did they say?" he asked.
"Officer Jenny is giving permission for everyone to go," Liza explained, "but she's handing the incident over to the task force so they might be in contact."
"That's fine," she replied, "we'll be happy to help."
"So, what about my gym battle?" Ash asked.
"We need to help with restoring the landing field before our father's landing so earliest would be three days from today," Liza explained.
"We're also closing down the space centre to visitors until further notice," Tate added, "but just so you know, your challenge will be four on four in a double battle format. We'll each use two and you get to use four. Typical gym rules beyond that."
"Thanks." He nodded. "I'll look forward to the challenge."
Bidding them goodbye once more, the small group set back off across the island. May walked off to the side with her Mightyena by her side, while Brock stuck by Max's side, continuing their discussion. As she walked beside Ash, she felt her heart pull at the thought of when he defended her for forcing the gym leaders away from the conflict. While it filled her with hope, he still wasn't exactly his old affectionate self... after something like this-
"What'cha thinking about?" She found herself asking.
"Huh?" He blinked, turning to face her. "Nothing really. Just running through the next few days. Gotta get ready for the gym battle."
"Of course." She sighed, slumping slightly.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"W-well-" She paused. How should she say it? She doesn't want to sound like a whinny girl wanting all his attention. It's just that the change was so-
"Your concerned about magma?" he asked, "don't worry. I am too but not much we can do."
Inwardly relaxing in relief at being given the excuse, she pinched her lips together. The two teams operating in Hoenn being front of her mind.
"But... aqua got Manaphy and now magma has the fuel," she explained, "whatever they're planning-"
"I know, it's close," he replied, running his hand down his face. Turning to look up to the sky, "it's like Rocket taking over the radio tower."
"Exactly." She shot her eyes open. "But this time there's two teams... and we got no clue what either side wants."
"Maybe but we can't let it worry us now," he replied, "if we just stress, then when it's time to act, we'll be in no position to be ready."
Nodding in agreement, the remaining journey back to the centre was done in silence. Leaving most of their Pokémon with Nurse Joy after the battle earlier, they split up to clean themselves up. Well, that's what the others did. Serena took her one remaining Pokéball and headed around the back of the centre. She held the device out and released her ice ghost type, setting up a mind-link with her.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"I'm fine, considering-" She crossed her arms in defiance.
"Considering what?" she asked.
"The complete lack of caution on you and your friends part," she replied, "do you have any idea what could've happened today?"
"We didn't have a choice-"
"There is always a choice!" Froslass cut her off. "Absol... he informed you something was going to go down well before we even reached the centre. You had every opportunity to stop and turn away, but you didn't! Anyone of us could-"
"If we didn't go then we wouldn't have been involved," she replied, "the centre staff... Tate and Liza might've kept fighting until the end which-"
"Since when is their well-being your responsibility?" she asked.
"We all live on this planet together! We have to look out for each other!" She raised her voice. "If you're not willing to look out for others then how can you expect someone to have your back when the time calls? When you can make a difference and don't, then bad stuff happens... it happens because of you."
She took a deep breath. Closing her eyes to calm herself down.
"Look Froslass... I get your concerns, I really do." She continued. "Heh, I'm usually the one to preach caution when Ash runs in. I know your just trying to keep everyone safe but turning our backs isn't the answer. So how about we make a compromise?"
"What sort of compromise?" Froslass asked.
"We continue to help out where we can," she replied, "but we also take your concerns to heart. Even if we're helping out, doesn't mean we need to be reckless or anything." The ice ghost type nodded. "Good... but it does also bring me to another point."
"Which is?" she asked.
"You can't keep mothering everyone," she replied, "like this morning with Bagon-"
"I was just-"
"I know... you wanted to help her out," she interjected, "but being a mother isn't about paving out a path for easy travelling."
"What would you know about being a mother?" she asked.
"Not much." She admitted. "But I know what it's like to have a mother. Once upon a time she tried to force me to undertake the same career path that she took. Rhyhorn racing. While I knew she loved me, it didn't stop the pain either."
"I fail to see how this relates to me." Froslass declared.
"Because she refused to let me make my own decisions... my own mistakes," she replied, "I wouldn't see many things through to an end so she made the decision I would see this one. But if I'm not allowed to fall down, how would I learn to pick myself back up?"
"I... suppose." She grumbled.
"I'll speak to Bagon too since she could've handled the morning situation better." She sighed. "Just know that we do appreciate having someone looking out for us, but sometimes we need to be let to make our own mistakes."
"I'll try," Froslass replied. Smiling at the ice ghost type, she reached out and embraced her in a hug.
"That's all we can ask for," she replied, "well that... and for you to not try what you did last night."
"You mean interrupting between yourself and Ash?" she asked, "because I still don't approve of your... canoodling."
"We both know where the line is and are comfortable around each other," she sighed. "Or well... we were."
"Do you need some help?" she asked.
"Thanks, Froslass but no thanks," she replied, "it's something I need to speak to Ash about."
Recalling the ice ghost type, she set her way back into the building. Leaving Froslass for a check-up as well, she made her way up to the room. Part of her running through options for handling Ash's situation but another part focused on today's events. Given what Courtney was planning, just what could magma's endgame be? And what would drive a girl around that age to such extremes?
Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. Don't forget to vote in the polls. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time...