Shiloh spent her next few days in the most rigorous training of her life. She trained like she was about to challenge the Elite 4 all over again, except this time it was her own effort she spent.
Her chance of successful escape, and reaching any human rescue, hung significantly on securing Aspen's help. The shaymin demanded she was able to fly—so she would fly.
She had never had to teach any of her Pokémon to use their most basic abilities before. Sometimes they learned new powers naturally as they got more experience in battle. Other times she had to purchase TMs or HMs, or send them to spend a few hours with a tutor.
She did not have that luxury for herself. Even if she knew where Lane had stashed all her old equipment, she wasn't sure she liked the idea of trying to use an HM on herself.
Shiloh might not know the process Lane had used to transform her, and she didn't know what her odds were of being successfully returned.
Even so, it made sense that the more "Pokémon" she acted, the harder it would be to get back into her proper shape. Learning an HM had to be right up there with going into a Pokeball in terms of how drastically it would affect her mind.
What if someone captured me? she thought, more than once. Would I be able to fight back? Would a ball work on me?
She could only work as hard as possible, so that particular eventuality would never be explored. Shiloh would escape.
The nursery wasn't the worst prison she could be stuck in, really. The legendaries always had food her body wanted her to eat, and her small size meant a tiny building felt spacious.
She practiced with Goh, she practiced with Miya—she even practiced on her own. When she ran out of energy to float herself with, she floated whatever she could find.
Nothing could keep Shiloh from victory. Once she had a goal, she would do anything, pay any price to achieve it. That wild mew had no idea who she had pissed off. If only she'd left Shiloh alone, his search for the legendary Mew would probably have turned to something easier to find. He would've caught a shaymin, eventually, and accepted that as the best he could manage.
Not anymore. Someday, somehow, she would finish what she started. She'd be grinning on all the broadcast screens, standing in the winner's circle. She'd be Pokémon champion.
She avoided watching the news when she could. Days passed, and nothing she saw was good. Orre was in more trouble the more time passed. The number of cities holding out against Pokémon attack continued to fall, along with the number of successful evacuation ships.
But that was a problem for the mew to solve. While Lane was away figuring out that particular nightmare, Shiloh practiced.
It would all go just the way she imagined. She would wake up, say goodbye to the kittens for the morning, then wait for them to travel away from the nursery. When they'd been gone for a few hours, they would fly to freedom, and catch a train or helicopter before the gardevoir knew anything had happened.
What she didn't expect was waking to an explosion in the middle of the night, startling her to violent alertness. It wasn't large, but her ears were far too sensitive to stop it from waking her. She sat up abruptly, awash with the smell of burning powder. A security-alarm blared, so loud that she just wanted to curl up and hide. Whatever was happening—it was bigger than her. She couldn't do anything to change it.
Shiloh banished those thoughts, and forced herself to the edge of her bedroom to look. Whatever was happening outside couldn't be good. I'm the fire-type here. I should be the one exploding.
Across the hall, the front door sat smoking on the floor. A second later, and something metallic rolled in through the opening, then exploded with a flash of smoke. The fog filled the kitchen and living area, drifting into the bedroom.
Then she heard boots on carpet, several figures stomping through with military coordination. Did they find me? Maybe the Kanto Defence Force are here to save me?
"What's happening out there?" The speaker came as a voice, but not with any sound. Goh spoke directly into her mind, and probably to everyone else in the building too. "What do we do?"
"Hide," came the response, swift and direct. It was the first time Shiloh had ever felt the Gardevoir's mind directly. Yet she spoke now with authority, even as she commanded far greater Pokémon than herself. "Stay out of sight. I'll protect you."
Thoughts might be good for communicating across a building, but they were quite bad when you wanted to lie. Even Shiloh could sense the fear just under those words, and the feeling of total defeat. Gardovoir didn't think she was strong enough for whatever they were facing.
I need to find Briar, Shiloh thought. We can't get separated, or we're even more screwed than we already are.
Barking echoed from the other room, several loud canine Pokémon Shiloh couldn't place. She saw only flashes of fur through the smoke. At least until a houndoom went flying through the air, smashing into the wall of the bedroom and falling still.
There were more shouts, Pokémon and human alike. Shiloh felt their anger growing as the fight went on. This was supposed to be a battle they easily won. They knew the Nursery was here, and undefended.
"I'm coming, Akiko!" Miya yelled, before zipping through the air, vanishing into the fog.
"Not without me!" Goh joined her seconds later. Light flashed from the bedroom. Glass shattered, furniture fell over. Electricity cracked through the air.
It was an intense battle, every bit as dangerous as anything she had fought in the league. What was she supposed to do about it now?
Shiloh didn't have her team anymore. She should be able to stop some little raid attacking this place, whoever they were. Instead, her body shook with fear, paws rooted to the soft carpet. With every passing second, she felt increasingly pathetic. This had been her domain, once.
As quickly as it began, the fighting stopped. Slow footfalls emerged from the wreckage, and the smoke began to clear. She saw several human figures take shape, wearing strange white uniforms. She had seen those before, albeit never in person.
Team Plasma. How are they still mobilizing troops? She had never had the misfortune of actually battling them. But there was a connection—hadn't the base under Orre belonged to them?
"They're both here," grunted a voice—an older, human male. "One pink, one blue. Hell of a fight for such little things. Sure we can hold them?"
"That's for R&D to worry about," said someone else. A woman this time. "Store them along with these other Pokémon, then sweep the place for anything else we can find. Whoever set this up knows more about legendary Pokémon than we do—R&D will want every inch scanned and recorded. We need to know what they used to pacify these Pokémon."
Oh crap. Shiloh retreated into her cubby, searching for anything she could use to hide. She pushed a few pillows towards the entrance, covering it up as best she could. She wasn't thinking rationally anymore—she just needed to hide.
These Plasma soldiers had known there were mew here, and had some method to neutralize them. They must've beaten Gardevoir too, because the battle was over and she hadn't kept fighting.
"Get these casualties onto the ornithopter," that same woman commanded. "We have a long flight to the nearest hospital. They need the medics."
The noise outside resumed, though it was a very different kind. Instead of a two-sided fight for survival, she heard boots stomping through the room, saw many flashes she suspected were cameras. Just as they'd been ordered, they were taking the place apart.
Alright Lane, anytime you wanna get here! This didn't change her resentment—one day that mew would get what she deserved. But her kittens shouldn't get kidnapped, or have their home destroyed. If there was any time for a dramatic entrance, it was now.
I should really get out of here, find Briar. She had heard so many canine voices during the battle, was one of them his?
She forced herself forward again, right as a set of boots came stomping upto her bedroom. She could point to exactly where they stood in the room, even though the entrance curtains were drawn and pillows blocked the way.
A single human stood out there, adrenaline still rushing through him. She couldn't read his thoughts, though there was something there. If she focused, she could almost pick out whispers...
"Is someone there?" he asked, turning directly for her bedroom.
He felt it.
With limited exception, humans had no psychic powers, or other Pokémon-like abilities for that matter. But Shiloh barely had them either. If Goh and Miya had been beaten, what hope did she have?
She stopped probing, retreating into the tiniest, most insignificant little ball she could. There was so much noise, so much anger—how could anyone stand it? Maybe she belonged in the nursery after all.
The stranger stopped just outside her bedroom, then drew back the curtains.
Shiloh saw the harsh glare of flashlights shining through the cracks in her makeshift wall, blinding white.
Don't look don't look don't look don't look—
The cushions flew back a second later. A human soldier in a white uniform, face almost completely covered, stared back at her through the opening. She couldn't make out any of his features, not with a searing flashlight in one hand.
A flash came seconds later from the camera in his other hand. He stumbled backward a step, glancing back down the hall. "Lieutenant, there's another Pokémon here."
"They found a few more in the basement too," came the response, over the radio seconds later. Meanwhile Shiloh pressed herself against the back of the bedroom, curling up into the smallest, shape her spine would allow.
Maybe they would forget about her. Maybe they weren't looking for her. Maybe this would all go away...
"Get a capture team to help you contain," she said. "What is it?"
He leaned in closer, sticking the flashlight into her bedroom with her. His hand was so huge, even the flashlight was half the size of her whole body.
Get away from me! Heat built in her chest, growing in an incredible wave. In a second, the flashlight was only the second-brightest thing in her bedroom. The carpet around her began to smoke, but she barely noticed. She just wanted him to get away!
"I've never—" He went flying backward, crashing over the table to land groaning on the floor.
His radio barked, harsh questions that the soldier didn't answer. "Where's that capture team?"
"Garden!" came the reply. "Something's out here—Shaymin. Fighting like hell!"
"Out of the basement!" came the reply. "Find Rogers, then get out to the garden. You know what Command would say about letting another legendary slip away. Not this time."
Shiloh's bedroom was on fire. Smoke curled from around her, filling the little room. The flames licked up around her body without effect—but the air turned foul, threatening to suffocate her. She couldn't keep floating here forever.
Shaymin in the garden. She seized on that thought. If she could reach Aspen, and fight together—that would be double their chances of escaping this.
First Aspen, then Briar.
She flew from her bedroom, blasting through the smoke with greater speed than she'd ever managed. Her fear remained, but hardened into focus. They wouldn't let her hide—she would have to fight instead.
The garden was as much a mess as the building within—glass furniture shattered, with a heavy metal ladder descending the cliffside. This was how they'd entered, then.
Many of the plants were burned or trampled, including where Aspen fought.
She hovered just above the ground, a fox several times Shiloh's size.
She faced six Pokémon at once, along with half as many armed humans. They already had her backed against the wall, closing in a circle.
She saw her, as Shiloh felt her thoughts, dripping with terror and desperation. "What do we do, Victini?"
The victini didn't know. But maybe the champion did.