Touko woke up to see the fire burnt completely out and Bianca already up, fully dressed, and ready to leave. "Morning, sleepy head."
"Morning, Bianca," Touko said with a yawn. She looked around; the place was so quiet, it was nearly eerie. "How long have you been up?"
Bianca shrugged. "Not too long, I think." She looked around. "Retto woke me."
Touko looked over at her Samurott, who was standing next to the burnt-out fire. She smiled and stood up to join her pokemon and friend. She stroked Retto's head and sighed; her heart hurt. They were missing a member of their group and Touko feared for his safety. She had not even noticed that her smile had faded.
Bianca put a hand on Touko's shoulder. "I'm sure N is alright."
"Yeah…" was all Touko could mutter. She looked at Bianca. "We should finish this trip; maybe he is already there," She added hopefully.
Bianca smiled and nodded. "Yeah, let's go."
Touko returned Retto to his Pokéball and called on Batgirl. The two climbed onto the Swobat's back and they were soon in the air again. The final leg of the journey was not nearly as long as the first two parts. By a little before ten they were able to see the southern edge of Opelucid City. As they drew closer, Touko spotted Iris and her grandfather Drayden waving from in front of the Pokémon Center. They landed and ran over to the pair of gym leaders.
"Where's N?" Iris asked.
Touko looked away, pain in her face. "We got separated in Nimbasa."
Iris's eyes grew large. "Oh dear Arceus. How did that happen?"
Touko and Bianca quickly explained what had happened in Nimbasa and the group entered the Pokémon Center. Despite the fact that Opelucid was the closest city to the Plasma Castle, there were many trainers wandering inside the Center and no grunts to be seen around. Touko guessed that was because there were two very powerful gym leaders in town and no grunt would risk battling them.
The group sat down at a table while they waited for Touko's and Bianca's Pokémon to be healed. Drayden was stroking his beard and staring at the three girls. "Well, despite this setback we still have a job to do. All the gym leaders are here waiting and ready to fight."
Touko and Bianca exchanged looks. "I…" Touko did not want to go back into the castle without N. A sudden wave of terror reminded her why she had left the place in such a rush. But Cheren and Alder were there, trapped, and waiting to be rescued. She could not let them down. "I…"
Suddenly, the front door of the Pokémon Center burst open and a shaggy-looking N came into the building.
"N!" Touko cried, jumping to her feet and running to him.
N shook his head. "Not N," Touko heard him say. Then before her eyes, N turned back into a Zoroark. "He had me transform to throw the triad and other grunts off your trail. I don't know where he is."
Touko almost wailed in frustration. The Triad was on N's tail no doubt. There was now no way of being sure he would make it to the castle. She looked over at the others standing behind her. Bianca looked concerned, both Iris and Drayden looked uneasy. Touko took a deep breath; they were still waiting for her answer.
Finally, Touko stood. "We stick to the plan. We can't sit around here and wait, we need to act, now."
Iris smiled and Bianca let out a small cheer. Drayden stroked his beard and smiled confidently. It was about to begin.
Touko stood in front of the Gym leaders, Bianca and N's Zoroark at her side. She felt uncomfortable with all their eyes on her, but she had no choice. They were waiting for her to speak. "So, we are all here?" That was a stupid question and she quickly chastised herself for even asking it. "Right, so we all know the plan. Zoroark will lead us into the castle's blind zone and then we split up into our teams. Bianca and her team of Cilan, Chili, and Cress will head straight for the dungeons, while the other gym leaders with Zoroark and me will head towards the throne room. Everyone remembers who they're teamed up with if you have to break off for battles?" Everyone nodded and several murmured their understanding. "Great." She looked at Zoroark. "I guess this means we are ready to go, Zoroark."
The pokemon nodded and grunted. "Fine then, follow me."
They had all been inside the Opelucid gym for this little meeting. It had been the only place in the entire city that had been truly secured, despite the fact that Drayden and Iris still ran the town.
Touko gathered her things from Bianca and made her way towards the back exit of the gym along with everyone else. Zoroark led them out up route 10 towards Victory road. Everyone was tense and no one spoke. They all knew there could be eyes and ears everywhere.
As they made it to the base of the mountain, Touko almost stopped. She turned, sure her eyes playing tricks on her. "Touko," Bianca said, moving in close to her friend as the Gym leaders walked past. "What is it?"
Touko looked over at Bianca. "I just… I thought I saw something."
Bianca looked alarmed. "What kind of something?"
Touko shook her head, a faint smile crossing her face "It's nothing. It had to have been a Pokémon."
Bianca took a deep breath and gave Touko a hard look. "Don't scare me like that."
Touko rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry. It was just something that had caught my eye, I did not mean to scare you."
The two girls joined up with the gym leaders and Zoroark at the entrance of the caves. All eyes were on them for a moment, mostly filled with curiosity, until Zoroark spoke. "The paths we will be following are very dangerous; don't get distracted or you will fall."
And with that, the shape-changing pokemon charged into the caves.
Touko remembered her route through Victory Road up to the Pokémon League and the Elite four; she remembered it being hard, but it was nothing like this. The path Zoroark was leading them on was narrow and steep. No wonder no one had ever found the Plasma Castle before it was lifted out over the mountain. Touko had not even been sure where they had snuck into to get into the secret path. And everything was incredibly dark. The only light they had came from Bianca's Chandelure and Touko's Lampent; Zoroark had warned against flashlights, too obvious, can't fight… So the two girls were now at opposite ends of the parade of gym leaders while Zoroark climbed the walls.
At last the party slowed. Zoroark had run on ahead and was now returning. "Four grunts are guarding this entrance."
"My Cinccino knows Sing," Lenora said. "I'll just put those boys to sleep."
Zoroark nodded. "Good idea."
Lenora quickly squeezed past the rest of the group and ran on ahead. As soon as the distant sound of music could be heard, everyone else followed. By the time they all got there, the four grunts were fast asleep and Lenora was returning her Cinccino to its Pokéball.
Touko smiled. "Well, that was not too bad." She looked around the cavern. It was huge and brightly lit. Old-fashioned lampposts stood all around and the sounds of the waterfall next to them were quite soothing. Even the underground part of the castle was finely decorated, pale marble and stone but no windows. The bridge they had all crossed was wooden and surprisingly stable. Touko guessed that this place would often be swarming with grunts getting ready for missions back when they were in hiding, but now this place was just extra space.
Zoroark turned to the group, its eyes fixed and hard. "Nothing is going easy after this. Stay on your guard."
The group nodded and followed Zoroark to the doors. Even they were surprisingly grand. Touko stopped again, remaining at the back of the group. She was sure she felt a pair of eyes on her back, but she didn't want to look. Fear kept her attention straight ahead. Now she needed to focus on saving Cheren and Adler, not worrying about whatever might be following her. She shook her head and ran towards the others, all of her Pokémon safely at her side.
The first corridor they traveled through was dark and empty. It surprised Touko that no grunts were down here. Zoroark quickly explained that this level served little purpose now that the castle was mostly above ground. Once they reached a staircase that led further down as well as up, the group stopped.
Bianca and her team turned toward the others. She smiled. "The next time you see us we will all be out of this crazy place with Cheren and Adler, having a snack at the Pokémon Center."
Touko had to smile. "Yeah, sounds good. See you when this is over."
Bianca nodded, and she and the gym leader triplets ran down the stairs, each one of them had a hand on a Pokéball on their belts.
Touko and Zoroark turned towards one another then turned towards the remaining Gym leaders. With nothing more than a nod they all started racing up the stairs. It did not take long for the battles to start.