Pokémon Police Force Chapter 6: The Black Market

Over a week of traveling since the badge incident and a few Mystery Dungeons later and I finally made it to the entrance of the Black Market. The entrance to the cave was blocked up with a solid concrete wall with an opening in the center to act as a choke point. Pokémon of all stripes were going in and out of the cave. Several different rough customers were acting as guards at the doorway.

(I had expected the law to be here ahead of me.)

I readjusted my stolen bag and proceeded to the opening in the wall.

"Hold it."

A Bisharp held me back from entering.

"Password," ordered Bisharp.

"Burning Black Buneary."

"Miltank's password, eh? Proceed."

Bisharp released me, and then basically tackled a Murkrow trying to sneak in.

"Oof!"

"Password?"

I decided to hurry in before the air got more... feathery. The cave really opened up on the inside. You could fit a whole city in there! Which, they did. Buildings filled up every pit and crevasse in the cave as well as every cavern wall. Natural rock bridges formed streets through the maze of buildings. Near the entrance of the city was a plaza with a great stone fountain in the midst. All around the plaza, merchants set up stalls, hawking their wares.

(Most of that is... illegal. Most likely.)

"Hey, you."

It was a Scraggy that spoke.

"Can I help you?"

"Someone in town is looking for you."

"Who?"

"I don't know, squirt! I was just sent to come get you."

Wordlessly, Scraggy began walking away and I decided to follow him. It was a silent but short walk, but eventually Scraggy led me to a small wooden shack with a tattered curtain acting as a door.

"Inside here. You will not be harmed."

I pushed aside the curtain and ducked inside.

"I'm telling you, Danté! If we don't do anything now our window will close!"

"I don't disagree, Pyra. You know we can't do anything without-"

"Miss me?" I said, interrupting their argument.

"Who do you think you are interrupting our-?"

The Houndoom stopped short when she figured out who I was.

"Argyle! Finally decided to show up!"

Pyra huffed.

"You haven't changed," I replied.

"Don't worry about her," Danté said, "you took a little longer than expected."

Danté was an Incineroar. He's quite intimidating at first, but as you get to know him, you find he's quite the loyal friend.

"Happens when you're popular with all the right people," I said winking.

"So, did you do it?" Asked Pyra.

"Sure did," I said, placing the Exploration Team Bag on the table, "20,000 Poké."

"Nice."

"How did things go on your end?"

"Perfectly," replied Danté, "we located the Crown and cased the resting place, memorized guard patrols, formed a plan, everything."

"Where is the Crown at?"

"That is the hard part," said Pyra, "Ironwell Stronghold."

"That place is supposed to be impenetrable," said Danté.

"'Supposed to be'," I reminded them, "I can get inside."

"We know you can," said Danté, "but in order to pull this off, we need all our skills and every single piece of Poké you brought."

"Let's go over the plan," I said.

The next several days, we poured over the plan, making sure everyone knew their tasks and when to perform them. I made sure to offer my input and help iron out all the rough patches. We made sure to practice the plan until we were able to do it in our sleep.

Then the day of the heist arrived.

The night was overcast, nary a star to be seen in the sky. The clouds carried with them the scent of rain. Even if it did rain, the plan would remain unchanged. The three of us decided to approach the stronghold from three different angles, so I was alone on my approach.

I crested a hill and beheld Ironwell Stronghold. It was as imposing as its name sounded. Large walls of solid stone, guard towers, cannons and guards everywhere you looked. The place was a literal fortress. Only someone incredibly stupid would try to assault it head-on.

I was going to use the back door.

I found some thick foliage and hid under it. It's a good thing I still had my mask on, if it was off-

The minutes stretched on. What is taking Danté so long? Then, I heard it, a hollow ring. One of the tower bells has been struck suddenly. That's my signal.

All nearby guards left to check the bell. Time to get to work.

Slipping out of my cover, I slinked silently to the imposing stone wall. It was over 70 yards high. Sharp as my claws were, they wouldn't help me scale the wall. Fortunately, that wasn't the plan.

Stealing around the wall, I found my in, a small grate in the base. The grate prevented all entry into a small waterway expressly made for disposing of waste water.

"Sewers again. Ironic," I whispered to myself.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a handful of Blast Seeds. Using some light cord, I bound the Blast Seeds to the grate bars, leaving only one unbound. Blast Seed in hand, I walked several feet away and drew back my arm.

With a heave, I threw the Blast Seed. It hit one of the other Blast Seeds. Then, with a loud bang and a few metallic thuds, the grate was destroyed.

"And we eat those things!? I-I should go! Someone would have heard that."

The passage behind the grate was small and narrow, just big enough for the waste water and barely big enough for me to slip in. Even then, I had to crawl to squeeze through.

(Good thing I'm a small Pokémon, otherwise this would be impossible.)

I had no clue as to the passing of time as I squeezed my way through the drainage tunnel. As I crawled, I could do nothing to keep my fur from getting wet with the waste water.

(I'm going to need a bath after this one.)

Slowly I crawled inch by inch in near total darkness. Though I had darkvision, it doesn't quite help when the passage only goes one way. Eventually, I began seeing light up ahead.

(The exit!)

Strength renewed, I gained speed and eventually emerged from the drain and into... a shower?

I emerged in an alcove in a military bathroom. I stepped out of a small waterfall and right into the presence of a bewildered Lucario.

"Um, hi?"

Lucario stares at me for a bit and then screams a rather feminine scream.

"Pervert!" She says before slapping me.

"Peeping Tom!"

She punches me square in the jaw.

"Come to oogle my goods, huh?"

"What goods? Pokémon aren't drawn with genitals or breasts. Well, except Jynx and Nidoqueen, but they're weird."

Lucario stared at me for a while before shrieking.

"ARE YOU SAYING I DON'T COMPARE WITH NIDOQUEEN!?"

"Uh, no?"

"Pervert!"

I dodged another punch.

(Only one chance to save myself!)

I wrapped my arm around Lucario and pulled her down into a kiss. Lucario grew silent.

"PERVERT!"

I dodged a sudden kick.

"That worked on that Mienshao!" I yelled as I dodged another blow.

"DISGUSTING! HANDSY! PERVERT!" Lucario yelled as she punctuated each word with another punch.

"You're crazy, woman!"

I dodged my way out of the bathroom and decided to run and hide before she could find me.

A sudden explosion, followed by the sounds of battle and cursing brought me back to reality.

(Pyra! Pyra's misdirection has begun! I'm behind schedule!)

Some guards ran past my hiding spot, oblivious to my presence. One ran into the bathroom I just vacated.

"Commander Lucario! We-"

"PERVERTS! PERVERTS AND PEEPING TOMS EVERYWHERE!"

"Ow! Why are you punching me!?"

(Enough of that! I need to get to the vault!)

The stronghold was in chaos. So much so, that even the guards I was sure had seen me ignored me. I could've just walked to the vault! I made my way up to the ramparts at the top of the outside walls. Looking out, I beheld the fruit of our plan. The walls were empty, everyone was apparently preoccupied with the distraction. A large fire was spreading throughout a massive hole in the south wall.

"That... wasn't a part of the plan."

(If Pyra stuck with the plan, she should be leading the guards into the dungeon. Something's not right.)

I gazed up into the sky. No flare had been launched.

(If there's no emergency or abort flare and there is a major incident like this then...)

"Pyra is dead."

I looked out over the east wall, back toward home.

(Time for plan ß)

Navigating the walls, I found my way to the center tower. Strangely, they put the vault on the roof. I made my way to the vault door and examined the lock. It was a retrograde ZK Mark-2683X lock with carbine repeating release and LockTex anti-tampering measures. This was literally the best lock on the market.

(This is going to take all my skills to crack. First, the anti-tampering device. Luckily the lock's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness.)

The LockTex device operates by jamming the lock if anyone so much as thinks of picking it. When that happens, it would take an entire team of Machamp to break it open. For all its strengths, the LockTex device is very susceptible to frost.

(Luckily for me, I am an Ice Type.)

I pressed my lips to the lock and quietly spoke.

"Icy Wind!"

A cool blast erupted from my body, which I directed as best I could directly onto the lock. Soon, I heard the familiar sound of ice cracking. For several minutes, I kept up the arctic blast. Then I stopped and stepped back to admire my handiwork.

"That should do it."

The lock quickly grew white with all the frost contained within. The frost then spread wider, encompassing almost half the door.

I walked over to the door, pulled the handle and then broke the lock, pulling the door open.

(That was way too easy. A simple Icy Wind shouldn't have been able to do that. It should've only affected the anti-tampering device.)

I stepped inside the vault. It was loaded with a king's ransom of gold and jewels. In the middle, on a pedestal, rested an unusual-looking crown. The crown was comprised of three green orbs arrayed in a triangular pattern, separated by three white spear-like appendages. It didn't look very impressive, but if the stories about the crown are true, this crown is worth more than all the gold and jewels combined. I picked up the crown and placed it on my head. Surprisingly, it fit rather snugly.

I looked back at the gold and jewels. Greed took over.

I began taking all the valuables I could fit in my stolen bag, overloading it.

"Well, well, well. Once a thief, always a thief."

I whipped around and found someone I never thought I'd see again. A Zangoose was here, along with a Scyther and a Sandslash.

"Team Razor Face!"

"It's Team Razor Wind, you moron!" Yelled Scyther.

"How did you find me here?" I asked.

"We're working with the police," said Sandslash.

"Emerald! And that Mienshao whose name I cannot pronounce!"

"I thought Emerald was the Mienshao's name," said Sandslash.

"Actually, her name is Sheriashuu or something," said Scyther.

"That's not important! Give me the bag!" Said Zangoose.

"You trail me into a heavily guarded fortress just for a bag? How did you know I'd be here anyway?"

"You were betrayed," said Zangoose, "someone in the Black Market ratted you out."

"So, what do you plan on doing to me if I decide to give you the bag?"

"You get arrested and we get paid," said Sandslash.

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"We beat you up," said Scyther.

"See, I don't see that happening."

They didn't notice me reaching into the bag.

"Let me open your eyes!" Yelled Zangoose.

Before he could reach me, I pulled out a gun, aiming it between Zangoose's eyes, causing him to stop abruptly.

"Woah! Woah! Easy there!" Said Zangoose, putting his hands up defensively.

I smirked and then loaded the gun with a blue canister. Aiming the gun into the sky, I fired a blue flare. All at once, explosions and heightened sounds of battle happened all around, almost drowning out the sound of Zangoose's voice.

"What did you do!?" Asked Zangoose.

"A signal to my team," I said, "the mission has been completed, but complications have arisen."

"And the explosions?" Asked Scyther.

"That would be my team letting loose," I said, "I don't know who tipped you off, but I should warn you, my team doesn't take complications... calmly."

"Well, we still have a prisoner," said Sandslash.

"What prisoner?"

I took another smoke bomb out my mask, threw it down and then made my escape. Exiting back through the bathroom drain, I emerged out the other side.

(I can't go back to the Black Market. Time to visit my old stomping grounds. The one place I never thought I'd ever go back to. The Narrows.)