Chapter 40: The Raid

Lance's P.O.V.

Mahogany Airspace

In the airspace above Mahogany Town and the Lake of Rage, Lance bolted across the sky like a madman on his Dragonite, hoping he could make it in time to help quell the situation going down at the lake. Cedric had told him that he'd send a couple of agents over to the lake to render assistance, but he also mentioned being understaffed, which made the dragon master extremely nervous.

There's no telling who he sent over, and they might be in trouble, he thought. Screw the League, this comes first.

Lance was broken out of his thoughts when he noticed that there was no longer a storm, in fact, the Gyarados were dropping one by one. Lance halted his Dragonite and hovered in place, trying to get a good look at just what the hell was going on. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a lone person who was wielding a sword and riding on a shimmering blue Pokémon was dashing around, cutting the rampaging Pokémon down and expelling some murky black energy from them.

"Hold on…is that…?!" Lance said under his breath.

"Yes…that must be the one that just joined the Legend Keepers," Dragonite mused. "I must admit, the child has some courage."

"Even still, that's pretty reckless of him," Lance pointed out. "Let's get down there and get the people to safety."


Roku's P.O.V.

Lake of Rage, 5 minutes ago

"You got something in mind?"

Suicune nodded. "You need someone to purify the water and I need someone to help those Pokémon return to their normal selves. We could work together and kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes."

I chuckled and nodded, tapping the sword on my back. "Yeah, I could see why you'd come to me for help. Makes my job a lot easier with you here."

"You catch on quick, my dear," Suicune said with a sly smile. "So, shall we do this?"

"You got it. Let's clean this place up," I replied with a smile of my own.

"We'll go make sure there isn't anyone hanging around the lake," Latias said before taking Reia onto her back and flying off. Suicune and I looked at each other.

"You have some good friends, Roku," Suicune mused.

"Yeah…I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them," I said as I looked on at them.

"Well then, I believe we too have a job to do," said the legend as she faced away from me. "Mount me, human."

"Now you're just TRYING to be dirty," I replied with a smirk. I hopped onto Suicune's back and pulled my sword from its sheath, ready to finish this once and for all. I felt a small energy ripple travel across her back before Suicune bolted, dashing back towards the main body of the lake. While her powers went to work, she got me as close as she could to each of the Gyarados, and I cut into each one with a furious slash, drawing all of the essence in and releasing it in bursts. Let me tell you, this was NOT easy. Sure, the sword was light enough for me to not feel its weight as I swung it, but the force of the Shadow essence and the constant swinging motions were tiring me out, and there were way too many Gyarados.

"Suicune…!" I shouted, grunting as I struggled to keep a firm grip on my sword. "My arm's getting tired…!"

"Switch to the other one!" she shouted back with an evident deadpan.

Yeah, that probably lost me a little of Suicune's respect.

We were finished about three minutes later. Most of the Gyarados were collapsed in the lake, but some of them had finally come back to their senses. Much to our dismay, though, the people that were standing around the lakeshore were adamantly refusing to leave. I mean, they were busy cheering us on, so I guess it wasn't all bad.

Suicune and I finally landed on the shore and I hopped off of her back, rolling my shoulders and wincing a little. My arms burned like I'd just got done climbing Mt. Silver.

"That appears to have done the trick," Suicune mused, looking back at the lake and the retreating figures of the Gyarados. "With our combined efforts, the Lake of Rage is back to normal."

"All thanks to you, my lovely legend," I said with a wink. "Without you, there would have been no way to effectively purify and protect these Gyarados. We definitely owe you one."

Suicune smiled and stepped up to me, lightly tapping her nose on my chest. "All in a day's work, Legend Keeper. Just make sure our efforts weren't in vain. You can do that, yes?"

"What part of PLEASE DISPERSE don't you get?!" I heard Reia shout from above. Which made me realize that all eyes were now on both me and Suicune.

"You should probably hightail it before the Poké Balls start flying," I warned her. Suicune nodded and nudged my chest once more before blasting off, leaving an awestruck audience in her wake. I sheathed my weapon and guided Reia and Latias down, making sure that the crowd knew that Latias was also taken before turning my attention to the large Dragonite that landed next to us shortly after.

"Looks like we've got company," Reia pointed out as a tall and imposing man hopped down from the dragon Pokémon. I recognized him right away from all the videos I've seen online. Crimson red hair with a royal blue suit that looked almost like a suit of armor, and a powerful cape trimmed in red that flowed menacingly behind him.

And he was approaching us.

"You must be Roku Kimura," the man said as he finally reached us, his Dragonite close behind. "Cedric's told me a lot about you."

"Y-You're Lance…the Indigo League Champion," I stammered, barely able to contain my excitement. It wasn't every day that you got to meet the Johto and Kanto region's strongest trainer.

"I am, but more importantly…" Lance said, pulling out a familiar silver badge. "I'm just like you."

"Cedric told me you were taking care of League business," Reia spoke up. "Hence why he sent us."

"I deemed this mission far more important than what the League wanted me to handle," Lance replied. "In fact, I'm actually pretty sure the two missions coincide with each other."

"That so?" said Latias. "In that case, I propose we work together. Having Johto's strongest trainer on our side could give us a major advantage if things get messy."

"Yeah, and Lance can help out too," I quipped, earning a punch to the arm from Reia and a chuckle from Lance.

"I'm fine with teaming up for this," he said with a nod. "As for what we're doing, I've received reports of strange individuals in grey jumpsuits entering and leaving the small general store at the town's center. The person who called it in feared that it was Team Rocket making another resurgence, but I think you and I both know that's not the case."

"Team Prime," I growled. "So they were behind this mess."

"What else were you expecting?" said the dragon tamer. "And by the looks of it, they're making major headway into the Shadow Project."

"Closing the hearts of Pokémon through scientific means…" Reia said, looking down at the Poké Ball that held her new partner. "It's a miracle that we can even purify them."

"Just because they're opting for a fast-acting serum instead of manipulating the Pokémon's aura doesn't mean the Shadow essence can't be dispelled," I replied, tapping my sword. "After all, we have this."

Lance nodded and looked at his P*DA. "We're wasting time. We need to go back to Mahogany Town and take a look at that general store."

Reia and I nodded and hopped up onto Latias, following Lance up and out of the lake. I could feel my nerves starting to tingle. It had been way too long since I'd taken on a member of Team Prime, and I was ready to stop whatever scheme they had cooked up.

"Reia, you gonna be OK?" I asked, turning to look at my friend.

"Yeah…I'll be fine," she replied, adjusting her hat. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this."

I nodded in understanding. Team Prime had taken the lives of her Pokémon back in the Kalos region, so she was just as eager to cut them down and take revenge for her fallen partners.

Perhaps that's her motive for travelling with me…

No, that wouldn't be it. Reia already got her feelings hurt the first time I questioned her friendship towards me, and we've already come this far. Best not ruin what we have by questioning her true motives.

I shook my head and looked forward again. This isn't the time to get distracted.

It was payback time.


Team Prime Research Facility

Mahogany Town

Deep underneath Mahogany Town, the sounds of diligent researchers and powerful machines hard at work echoed throughout the research facility. Both humans and Pokémon were present, some as research partners, some as test subjects, all of them serious about the tasks they were presented with. In a room close to the center of it all, a red-haired woman with the physique of a model stood in front of a large wooden desk, which had an older man with an ominous disposition sitting behind it. In the corner next to his desk was a black Pokémon with a wispy and tattered body, but a large red protrusion that looked like jaws, and white hair that covered one of its icy-blue eyes.

"Aria…please tell me that this reading I'm seeing on my screen isn't real," said the man in a rather grim and growly tone. Aria stepped back a little upon hearing her boss speak, but she bowed her head slightly and stood firm.

"I'm afraid it is real, sir," she spoke quietly. "The pump system for the latest batch of essence has been destroyed. And our army of Gyarados is no more."

Zareis sighed deeply and pinched his eyebrows. "How hard is it to defeat a couple of children? I placed you as one of my Commanders for a reason, and not only have you failed me, but so has Jay, Gordon AND Michael."

The boss twirled around in his large executive-style chair to face the woman, his eyes seething with anger.

"Is it my fault?" he continued. "Am I just being too lenient on you? I've given you four some of the strongest Dragon-type Pokémon in the world, not to mention a very powerful and crucial Legendary Pokémon. And yet NONE OF YOU CAN SEEM TO TAKE OUT TWO SNOT-NOSED BRATS!"

Zareis had stood up and was roaring at this point, causing Aria to nearly cower in fear. There was a reason everyone was scared of the boss; if he was displeased even in the slightest, his rage would be enough to force a wild Tyranitar to its knees.

Zareis sat back down and sighed again. "I have half a mind to send you to the void for your incompetence, but I'm going to give you a chance to redeem yourself. Chances are, those two Legend Keepers are making their way here right now to try and stop us. I'm tasking you with defending the innermost chamber where all of our research is. Buy time if you have to."

Aria looked her boss in the eye, puzzled. "Why? I was under the impression that I was leading the charge to the Radio Tower. We were going to run our frequency experiment there, weren't we?"

Zareis chuckled. "The idea was to keep you out of the loop for that mission's true purpose, but since you've been taken off of that mission, I should tell you that we were never planning to use the frequency experiment."

Aria flinched. "What?! But my team and I worked really hard on that…!"

"That experiment does nothing more than make Pokémon go out of control," Zareis explained. "Whereas the Shadow Project lets us control the Pokémon we're affecting. In reality, the Radio Tower was meant to be a diversion for Roku and his partner while we prepared the real project: the XD001."

"You mean…!" Aria gasped.

"Yes…Shadow Lugia has been reborn," Zareis replied with a crooked smile. "And we're going to use her power to make a Shadow Storm so large that it will engulf the entirety of Johto and Kanto."

"The ensuing darkness will amplify my power as well as those of the rest of the Pokémon needed for the Dark Covenant ritual," Darkrai added. "We will be able to summon the true Lord of Shadows back to the mortal plane from his prison in the void."

"I-I see…" Aria stuttered. "So, I am to delay the Legend Keepers long enough for you to get the XD001 to the Whirl Islands…is that correct?"

"Finally, you get something right," Zareis said harshly, causing Aria to wince some more. "In fact, I don't believe I'll be needing help from any of you for that part of the plan. Darkrai should be all the help I need."

The shadowy black Pokémon nodded his head. "My powers should be enough to force Lugia's true potential to surface. We will release our master from his prison, that much I am certain."

"However, that does not give you the right to fail again," Zareis continued, staring Aria dead in the eye. "If those Legend Keepers find their way to us without so much as a scratch on them, I'm going to personally dispatch all four of you from this plane of existence. Do I make myself clear?"

"C-Crystal, sir…" Aria answered weakly.

"For your sake, I hope you're right," Zareis growled as he stood up, grabbing the 6 Poké Balls he kept in his desk and walking towards his partner. Darkrai's eyes lit up for a second before the both of them disappeared into a murky black portal.

Aria fell to her knees. That little conversation with the boss was certain to add a few more gray hairs. She felt like he had taken at least ten years of her life away from her, and being in the presence of the prince of nightmares certainly didn't help. Aria was snapped out of her trance, though, when she heard an explosion ring out from a few floors above her.

"Dammit…! They're already here!"


Mahogany General Store

WHAM!

Lance's Dragonite slammed the door open with a quick jab of his arm, revealing two dudes who looked scared out of their minds. As all of us stepped inside, Lance took a look around the small hole-in-the-wall general store and then straight at the very ornate golden wardrobe that seemed very out of place.

"Open the way to your hideout, now," he growled at the man behind the counter, who merely whimpered and shook his head. Lance let out a sigh and stepped back a little.

"Dragonite, Hyper Beam."

My jaw dropped as Dragonite started charging the same attack that nearly killed Reia's Pidgeot, except the energy density of this attack was even more powerful than that of Gyarados', hell, I almost couldn't breathe.

"Dude, you're gonna carve a trench to the Lake of Rage and flood this place if you do that!" I shouted, trying very hard to stay on my feet.

"OK OK OK! Chill, dude, I just work here!" the man behind the counter screamed frantically, fumbling for something under the countertop. Soon enough, the wardrobe slid out of the way to reveal a staircase leading underneath the store.

"There, was that so difficult?" said Lance before nodding to his Dragonite, who focused the beam down to nearly an eighth of the size and belted the guy in the chest with it. The attack didn't outright kill him, but it hit hard enough that he was launched into the wall and knocked out cold. Then the other guy tried to make a break for it.

"Latias, Mist Ball!" I ordered, stepping aside to let my friend transform back into a Pokémon and blast the other grunt in the face with a wispy ball of air. With both grunts out of the way, we could freely enter the secret underground lair.

"OK, you two ready for this?" Lance said, turning to face us. "We might end up being here for a while, it's fine if you want to let me handle this."

"And let you have all the fun? Guess again, Dragon Tamer," I said confidently.

"Though…I'm worried about Pidgeot…" Reia said quietly, pulling the bird's Poké Ball from her bag. "He took a pretty bad hit from my Gyarados when it wasn't mine yet…"

Right, nearly forgot about that. Honestly, after seeing Pidgeot's smoking body after the attack ended, I was convinced that he would never be the same again.

"We'll take Pidgeot to the Pokémon Center and get him into the nurses' hands, you go on ahead and make some of the work easier on us," I told Lance. Before the Champion could get a word in edgewise, I grabbed Reia's hand and pulled her out of the store, and the both of us made a break for the Pokémon Center. It wasn't even five minutes before Pidgeot was safe with the center staff.

"Hey, Roku…?" Reia said softly.

"What's up?"

"You, uh…you can let go of my hand now."

I looked down and noticed that I'd pretty much forgotten about dragging her to the Pokémon Center. I let go and rubbed the back of my head sheepishly, looking away.

"Sorry…guess I was too focused to notice," I replied.

"It's OK," she said with a giggle. "I didn't really mind. Your hands are surprisingly soft."

I quickly whipped myself around to face away from Reia as I felt my face get warmer. "Well, uh…I guess I'm still too green of a Pokémon Trainer? I mean, I've only been on this journey for, like, a month or so."

"Oh please, don't give me that," Reia said as she stepped in front of me and took my hand in hers. "I'm a Kalos Champion and my hands are hella soft. What does that say about me, huh?"

"I dunno, that you moisturize?" I quipped. "You Kalosians seem pretty hellbent on looking your best any time, all the time."

That earned a light jab in the shoulder from Reia, but she did giggle. At least she liked my jokes.

"We should probably go find Lance," I said, looking at my P*DA. "He's probably stealing all the fun out from under our noses."

"OK, let's go then!" Reia replied with a confident smile. She took my hand in hers this time and we ran out of the center, ready to take the fight to Team Prime once again.


Team Prime Research Facility

Mahogany Town

Lance's Dragonite blasted out a massive Dragon Pulse that ripped through the small group of Team Prime Grunts, leaving them and their Pokémon battered and broken on the ground. The Dragon Tamer was ready to proceed until he heard a voice.

"And just who the hell do you think you are?"

Lance turned to see a boy in his late teens with long scarlet red hair and a scowl on his face approaching him. The Champion looked to his waist and saw six Poké Balls attached to his belt.

"Get out of here, kid," Lance warned. "You shouldn't be here."

"I don't think you of all people should be telling me what to do," the boy scoffed before pulling a Poké Ball from his belt. "Unless you think you can take me on and convince me otherwise."

Lance groaned internally. The last thing he needed right now was some uppity little twunk thinking he could take on the Indigo League Champion while he was on the job.

"Fine, kid, if you want to throw down, I'm more than happy to put you in your place," the Dragon Tamer challenged, thrusting an arm forward and letting his prized Dragonite lead the charge. The teen threw the ball in his hand, letting out a Sneasel.

"Dragonite, use Outrage," Lance said calmly. Dragonite's body began to glow a bright orange before he let out a vicious roar, the energy exploding outwards and slamming into the Sneasel. The Dark-type Pokémon streaked past the boy's head before slamming into the wall, falling unconscious.

"No way…" the boy whispered in disbelief.

"Is that all? Because I'm rather busy here," Lance sighed. The boy growled and sent out another Pokémon, this time a Haunter. However, this one was also felled by the sheer force of Dragonite's Outrage. The boy looked like he was ready to explode.

"Dammit! Lucario, get him!" he roared, throwing his next ball out to reveal the blue jackal Pokémon. Lance narrowed his eyes at the sight of this Pokémon, who was assuming a battle stance.

A Trainer like him managed to raise a Lucario? thought the Champion. Hm…maybe this won't be a waste of time after all.

"Go, use Force Palm!" the boy barked. The Lucario did as he was told and blasted off at impressive speeds, his paws charged with aura.

"Dragonite, stop him before he can hit you," Lance said firmly. Dragonite still had at least one more Outrage in him before the fatigue set in, so he charged up as much energy as he could before letting it loose in a furious storm, slamming into the Lucario with immense force. However, this was not enough to stop the Fighting-type, as he continued forward and slammed a paw into Dragonite's chest. The attack itself didn't hurt very much, but the aura pulsing out afterwards was enough to force Dragonite back a few feet.

"Well done, you actually managed to land a hit," Lance commended the boy. "Not a lot of people can say they managed to tank their way through my Dragonite's Outrage."

"I'm not here for you to brag, I'm here to beat your ass and destroy this lab!" the boy shouted. "Lucario, Dragon Pulse!"

Lance choked.

Shit.

Lucario's paws were now charged with draconic energy as he dashed at the dazed and confused Dragonite, planting both paws on his belly before letting rip with one of the stronger Dragon-type moves in the world. Dragonite cried out and stumbled backwards, the energy ripping through him and setting his muscles on fire.

"Dragonite! Retaliate with Hyper Beam!" Lance shouted, thrusting his arm out. Dragonite managed to pull itself together long enough to charge the powerful beam of light and blast it at the Lucario who successfully managed to piss him off. Lucario reacted very quickly though, thrusting his paws out and letting the attack slam into him, the Endure technique popping at just the right moment. Both Pokémon were now breathing very heavily, as were the Trainers who were engaged in the battle.

"You're strong, I'll give you that," Lance called out. "But my Dragonite won't go down so easily."

Before the boy could say anything, a grunt from Dragonite distracted him as the dragon Pokémon kicked a piece of rubble that had fallen during the operation, pegging the Lucario in the head with it. The Lucario yelped out before falling to the ground, knocked out cold.

"What the…?!" the boy said with more disbelief. Dragonite shouldn't have been able to move at that point due to Hyper Beam. Was this Dragon Tamer that strong?

"How…how did I lose like that…?" the boy whispered, falling to his knees.

"For one, you neglect to treat your Pokémon fairly," Lance replied, using a Full Restore on his partner. "If you don't treat your partners with love and respect, you're never going to win against someone like me."

The boy gritted his teeth. This idiot was just as bad as that one prick he kept losing to. Trying to tell him how to raise his Pokémon?

"Who the hell asked you?" the boy scoffed, rising to his feet and returning his Pokémon. "I don't have to listen to a bleeding heart like you."

"Well, for your information, this 'bleeding heart' is also the Indigo League Champion," Lance shot back, causing the boy to step back a little.

"You're Lance…" he whispered.

"Before you go any further, maybe you should think less about yourself and start thinking more about how your Pokémon feel," Lance continued, spinning on his heel and continuing further into the base.


Author's Note: It's been a long time coming, but here we are, delving deep into the heart of Mahogany Town. Hope y'all are ready for this shit, cuz it's gonna have nuts in it.

As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave a review.

Strato Abyss signing out.