An: Okay first off sorry for the wait my work schedule and personal light have been completely crazy. Literally anytime I thought I was going to have free time to type something else came up. This chapter ended up being written in half-hour burst every few days when I could find even a little bit of time to type. That being said it will most likely have plenty of grammatic errors, and seem a bit choppy which I apologize for on the bright said it is nearly 9,000 words and over 30 pages long so yeah enjoy.
Chapter 10
Marcus and Sabrina tore down route 110, while their motorbikes were designed more towards off-roading, and exploration they were still capable of reaching respectable top speeds on flat ground. The bikes themselves ran off an electric motor that could last for up a week before needing to be recharged, which it could be at any Pokémon Center, charging station, or via an electric type Pokémon, or attack. They resembled lightweight sports bikes with dirt bike suspension and tires. There was an area behind the seat with various tie-downs they used to mount their packs as well as a decent sized water tight container on each side. The color scheme for both bikes was quite simple Marcus's was mostly gray with black accents and red spokes, while Sabrina's was mid-night purple, with slightly lighter purple accents and black spokes. Marcus had a pair of plain black glasses with an ordinary gray bandana around his mouth to protect himself from dirt, rocks, and small bugs that could be annoying at the speed they were traveling. Sabrina also wore a pair of black glasses and a scarf to protect herself.
They had been driving almost non-stop for the past 8 hours and they were only a few hours away from Slateport. Tech had been giving Marcus constant updates on any changes that had gone on, which he had relayed to Sabrina. So far, the Police had the ship surrounded and reporters were saying that it was only a matter of time before the Team Magma members surrendered. Under normal circumstances Marcus and Sabrina would've been fine letting the authorities handle things, but Marcus refused to back down until he knew if Kairas was okay or not, and they both agreed that while Team Magma had some idiots in their midst, they couldn't be dumb enough to get trapped on a ship for no reason.
"This doesn't feel right to me, until now both Team Aqua and Magma have only been known for at worse breaking into labs, or artifact excavation sites. Their usually in and out quickly though so why hold up in show random ship." Marcus yelled over the sound of their bikes engines.
"I'm not sure but it can't be good, Slateport is right up ahead let's stop at the Pokémon Center to let our bikes charge. After that we'll head straight to the port." Sabrina suggested.
"Alright sounds good" Marcus nodded.
X
"Welcome to the Slateport Pokémon Center, I'll be happy to heal your Pokémon if need be" Nurse Joy smiled as the duo entered.
"Not right now Nurse Joy we're just wondering where the motorbike charging stations are" Marcus asked as they neared the counter.
"They're located out back near the training field you can't miss them" Nurse Joy answered.
"Thanks." Marcus nodded, and he and Sabrina quickly drove around the building and set their bikes to charge before heading over to the port which was just a five-minute jog away.
They found a large crowd of people surrounding a taped off perimeter with Police Officers doing their best to assure the masses that they had everything under control and answer questions from various media outlets to the best of their abilities. Marcus and Sabrina walked over to the nearest Officer, a gruff looking man in his 40's with an impressive handlebar mustache. Which was made even more impressive by the fact that he was probably the baldest man the two had ever seen. Sabrina forgetting that she wasn't in Kanto and not every officer would recognize her on the spot, tried to simply stroll past him to get the whoever was in charge.
"Where do you two runts think you're going" The man moved to block their path.
Sabrina raised an eyebrow not used to being talked down to and resisted the urge to throw the man out of their way and into the nearest trash can with her psychic powers. "Please move aside I wish to see the officer in charge" Sabrina said with calm authority.
"And people and hell want ice water, I've got reports breathing down my neck along with half the city trying to figure out what's going on. I don't have time to entertain some bratty teen.
Marcus quickly stepped in as she noticed Sabrina's hair start to swirl around her and her eyes started to glow slightly. "Excuse me sir but I'm Marcus Kale a certified Junior Professor under Professor Birch, specializing in Anthro studies, and this fetching thing on my right is Kanto's Lavender Town Gym Leader Sabrina. You can check our I.D's if you'd like but we believe we may be able to assist you in this situation." Marcus explained.
The man looked skeptical at first as they handed over their Pokedex with their certifications, his face quickly began to pale as he realized that Marcus was indeed telling the truth.
"S-Sorry about that, Y-you'll find officer Jenny in a large black van near the edge of the docks" The man stuttered quickly allowing them to pass.
"I'm surprised you didn't trash that guy" Marcus laughed.
"I'd take another look if I were you" Sabrina huffed. Marcus heard the crowd gasp and a chorus of laughter rang through the air. Turning around Marcus saw the man that had his pants and underwear around his ankles and was struggling to cover himself up as cameras flashed.
"I like your style" Marcus grinned.
"Trust me baby, I know" Sabrina gave him a devious wink.
It didn't take them long to get to find the black swat style van where Officer Jenny was hard at work trying to figure out if it was better to storm the boat and try to capture the Team Magma members and risk her men getting injured or wait it out for their surrender and risk them harming the Pokémon on board as ransom for escape. Frustrated as both options were equally unappealing she slammed her fist on the metal table. "If you're having that much trouble maybe we can help" Marcus said announcing their presence.
"What the heck…who the hell let civilians on my site" She faced palmed.
"We're not exactly civilians" Marcus quickly introduced himself and Sabrina.
"Oh wow, well I don't know how I could refuse help from a Junior Professor and a Gym Leader" Officer Jenny sighed in relief. "But what makes you two so eager to help, we've requested help from Wattson and Brawly and have yet to receive a reply"
"Well Wattson was out of town until recently and is probably being boughed down by a weeks' worth of challengers and Brawly rarely ever checks his Gym Leaders email account." Marcus sighed.
"Seriously we could use some more help if we're going to storm the boat according to our surveillance there are over a dozen Team Magma members including a handful of some of their more powerful members, who could even give a Gym Leader a run for their money." Jenny frowned.
"This could be more troublesome than we thought" Sabrina placed her hand under her chin. While she didn't have her most powerful Pokémon team she was confident that the team she had would be able to hold their own against even a Gym Leader caliber trainer. Marcus was another story though, while in time she was sure he would be able to take on even the strongest champions right now he was at a disadvantage. Absol and Goodra would've put her mind at ease but Goodra didn't want to battle and Absol was too unstable and dangerous. That left him with Bella as his strongest Pokémon and while she was powerful she was still fairly inexperienced, as was Marcus.
"Give me a sec I might be able to call in some favors" Marcus held up his hand.
"Yo Brawly it's Marcus have you checked you Gym Leaders Email account" Marcus asked as his call was answered.
"Not since last week what's up man" Brawly asked.
"There's a situation in Slateport could use your help, check you email and you'll see what I mean" Marcus replied.
"…Seriously damn I need to check this thing more, I'll be on the next flight there give me a few hours" Brawly answered before hanging up.
"You have Brawly's personal number" Jenny said shocked.
"Yup I don't have Wattson's though, but I might have someone else that could handle this in a flash" Marcus scrolled down to a different number and called. He was surprised when the person he was trying to get in touch with instead requested a video call. After accepting it Marcus blushed bright red, as it showed the Sinnoh Champion lounging in what appeared to be a large tub, complete with bubbles and rose petals with water line barely coming up high enough to cover her large breast.
"Well if it isn't my favorite up and coming trainer." Cynthia smiled. "To what do I owe the pleasure, it's not like you ever call me, even though I went through the trouble of putting my number in your phone" She said with slightly pouty cheeks.
Marcus rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry I just kind of always assume you're going to be busy. You know with being a Champion and all"
"You wouldn't be wrong, but I do get a few minutes every now and then" Cynthia said with a wink.
Sabrina cleared her throat loudly reminding Marcus of his reason for calling, "Hey you wouldn't happen to still be in Hoenn would you" Marcus asked.
"Sorry I'm actually flying back to Sinnoh as we speak, I assume this is about the incident at the Slateport docks" Cynthia said taking a serious tone. "Sorry to say this, but Hoenn is in Stevens hands. Champions don't really interfere with issues in another reason unless asked to help by the local champion or the Pokémon League. For me to take action without either or those things, would show that I have no faith in Steven or the league to handle these types of issues." Cynthia explained. "I've known Steven for a while, he's usually more interested in researching rare stones than anything else and I know he puts a lot of faith in Hoenn's police force. If he thinks they can handle-
"They've already requested help from the local Gym Leaders" Marcus cut off Cynthia making her narrow her eyes at his harsh tone. "Look I know your hands are tied, thanks for answering." Marcus said a bit more calmly.
"Marcus, I know that look don't do anything stupid, leave it be I don't want you getting hurt" Cynthia frowned.
"Don't worry, if I can't help out with something like this, I have no right to be going after the Championship anyway" Marcus grinned.
"It's not like he'll be alone anyway, I'll have him covered" Sabrina said stepping into the camera so Cynthia could see her.
"Your…I see I guess I can rest easy knowing that. Marcus you get more interesting every time we talk. Don't forget that bet we made" Cynthia smirked before hanging up.
"Geez he even attracts women from other regions" Cynthia thought we a heavy sigh. If only he had started his journey a few years early perhaps they could've met before she became a Champion. It would've definitely been fun to travel together, oh well she guesses she will just have to wait until her next vacation to tease him some more.
"Alright Brawly is on his way, that gives us at least some back up" Marcus sighed before slamming his right fist into his left palm as he switched gears.
"That still leaves us with my earlier two options" Jenny sighed.
"Not necessarily do you have any intel on what's been going on inside or any blueprints for the ship." Marcus asked.
"No, we've only been able to get aerial surveillance of the ship." Jenny answered.
"That's no good we can't even plan to storm the ship without knowing what they've been up to. For all we know they could've rigged explosives on the main entrances and be waiting for an assault. We need to get inside some way quietly, maybe send in a small team to do some surveillance and at least make sure nothing extreme is going on before sending in the main force" Marcus brainstormed out loud. Both Sabrina and Jenny looked at him wide-eyed.
"That could work but we'd still need a way in" Jenny put her hand under her chin.
"Tech can you pull up the blue prints for that ship" Marcus asked.
'Of course because the ship is a registered research vessel with the Pokémon League, I should easily be able to access it's files' Tech appeared in the middle of the steel table.
"What in Arceus name" Jenny jumped.
"Sorry this is my research A.I she helps to catalogue all my findings" Marcus explained.
"I see" Jenny watched in awe as Tech began to glow.
'Accessing archives…pulling files…displaying blueprints' Tech announced as her form changed into a 3D model of the ship. 'As you can see the main entrances for a siege would be here, here, and here' Tech highlight three entrances in orange. 'These are likely heavily guarded and fortified. The entrances here could be breach via repel by helicopter, but that would be a worst case scenario.' Once again several window along the ship were highlighted in red. 'What recommend is trying to enter though here, this is a sub bay for a small seat exploration vehicle. It would likely be unguarded if it is known about at all. It is also where I detected the signal you asked me to trace earlier' Tech informed.
"That's where we need to go in, Officer Jenny do you have any dive equipment" Marcus asked.
"You're not planning on going in there are you…while I'll admit that your plan is better than anything we've come up with so far, I think it would be better to send in my own men" Jenny frowned.
"Yeah but do any of your men have an A.I that can constantly stream live feeds and information back to this command center" Marcus didn't back down. Tech said that Kairas signal was last detected in that sub room, and he'd be damned if he wasn't able to see if his friend was okay.
"Are you sure about this" Jenny sighed.
"It's fine we can handle anything we come across and in the worst case scenario we can send you a distress signal, and you storm the boat" Sabrina shrugged.
"Fine…Simons get them suited up" Jenny ordered another officer who nodded and started shouting at other officers to gather equipment.
X
"You ready for this once we get in there there's no turning back" Sabrina asked Marcus. They were no dressed in normal dive suites with a small rebreather instead of a large scuba tank so they wouldn't have to worry about hiding the bulky equipment.
"I should be asking you that…you've never even met Kairas, are you sure you want to do this." Marcus countered.
"If he means enough to for you to take this risk than he look forward to meeting him" Sabrina smiled.
"Thank you" Marcus said seriously before he put the rebreather in his mouth and jumped into the water.
"That idiot will do anything for a friend…oh well he's gonna pay me back for this later" Sabrina thought slyly. She hopped into the water after him using her psychic powers to shield her eyes from the salt water while Marcus did a similar technique with his Aura.
Their eyes glowed as they slowly made there way to the underside of the haul. The research vessel was somewhat large so it took them a bit to actually find a split in the metal near the middle of the ship which let them know they were in the right spot. Marcus looked at Sabrina who nodded letting him know she was ready. Marcus took out his Pokedex and press it against the panel which slid open as Tech input the access code. Slowly he and Sabrina surfaced using the docked sub as cover to observe to see if the coast was clear. "It looks clear to me" Marcus whispered removing his rebreather.
"Same here let's go" Sabrina nodded as they swam to a nearby ladder and climbed out of the water. Once they found a shadowed corner they quickly went about changing out of the dive suites back into their normal trainer attire which Sabrina had sealed in a water proof bag. Marcus also threw on a black hoodie and wrapped his bandana back around his mouth. Sabrina did the same using a dark purple turtleneck to cover the lower half of her face and sun glasses to help obscure her identity. Once they were changed they slowly crept out of the shadows, neither of them aware of a figure peeking at them from behind a large equipment case.
As they started working their way towards the door Sabrina suddenly grabbed Marcus and pulled him close. "I sense there's someone close by" She whispered.
"It could be one of the Team Magma goons, we could probably get some information out of them if we can subdue them" Marcus whispered back.
"Should I bind them with my psychic power" Sabrina asked.
Marcus shook his head "On the off chance that they manage to warn the anyone else I'd rather keep your psychic powers and my Aura abilities a secret. We could always use them as our Ace in the hole if things go south. I'm confident in my martial arts skills, I should be able to handle one person no problem" Marcus pulled his gloves a little tighter.
"Okay whoever they are, their hiding behind the container that's behind us to our right" Sabrina revealed. Marcus nodded and turned to face the said container, taking a deep calming breath his raised his voice so it echoed around the empty sub bay.
"Whoever you are we know you're hiding back there" Marcus expected for whoever was hiding to reveal themselves, he however wasn't expecting for a cloaked figure to vault over the container and rush him head on.
Marcus was barely able to block a flying knee to his face, but quickly got over his shock and counter with a forearm shiver to his opponent's chest. The figure gripped it's chest in pain for a brief second before recovering and taking a fighting stance. Marcus rushed in throwing a quick series of punches, he was surprised when the figure deflected all his attacks to the side. The two fighters barely moved as they fought for dominance, Marcus found himself quickly going between offense and defense.
'Whoever this is they're skilled' Marcus thought as he blocked a roundhouse kick directed at his head before countering with a straight jab which missed its mark. 'That cloak isn't helping me out either, I can't really gauge what I'm hitting.' Marcus frown as he missed another punch as the figure spun causing the cloak to briefly obscure his vision.
Deciding that cloak needed to go Marcus rushed forwards taking a knee to the ribs as he lunged forward and managed to grab the cloak. That left him open to a hard-right hook to the cheek, but he shook it off and reared back and side kicked what he assumed where the figures ribs, he took care not to kick too hard as that could have deadly consequences. Marcus yanked the cloak towards him and ripped it away as his kick sent the now exposed attacker rolling away on the ground hissing in pain.
"Damn that hurt"
"Kairas is that you!?" Marcus said as he recognized the voice.
"Marcus!" Kairas turned to face Marcus as he removed his bandana and hood. "What the hell are you doing here and what the fuck are your legs made out of. Now I can see how you leveled Lurk with one kick."
"I came here to rescue you and or help you out of whatever mess you got yourself in. When I saw what was going on in Slateport I figured that if you were still in town, you'd have found someway to get involved." Marcus said with a slight smirk.
"Am I that easy to read, oh well I suppose it doesn't matter. More importantly I'm pretty sure I turned off my Pokenav it should have been impossible to figure out where I was. So how'd you even know I was here." Kairas asked.
"Oh that's pretty simple Tech was able to trace your Pokenav's last known location and I put two and two together." Marcus answered.
"Who's Tech" Kairas asked.
"Marcus I'm assuming this is the friend you were looking for" Sabrina interrupted before Marcus could answer Kairas question.
"Oh yeah sorry about that, I guess I should introduce you two" Marcus scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Sabrina this is Kairas Sinclair, Kairas this is Sabrina the Saffron City Gym leader from the Kanto region" Marcus introduced the two.
"Nice to meet you" Kairas offered his hand.
"Likewise" Sabrina took the offered hand, but flinched as soon as their skin touched. Being the powerful psychic she was she was able to sense an ominous aura lingering on Kairas.
"Alright now that greetings are out of the way, how'd you end up trapped in here anyway, and does anyone else know that you're in here" Marcus asked.
"Well after we went our separate ways, I headed to Slateport to do some deep sea exploring. I heard there had been sightings of rare Pokémon far off the coast, so I managed to rent a small boat and headed out to sea for a few days. Anyway long story short I didn't find what I was looking for but I did find something to make my time on the ocean worth it. After I made it back to shore I heard that a rumor that a research ship was having a public viewing of Anthro Pokémon from other regions as well as a few artifacts from recent digs. Anthro Pokémon are already rare and this was chance to see Pokémon native to other regions, so obviously I couldn't let an opportunity like that pass. I rushed over to the port and it was already packed seriously there was like a six hour wait, way to long for my taste" Kairas shook his head.
"So you snuck in" Sabrina said with her usual stoic expression.
"Guilty as charge, with a little help from her it was cake sneaking past the security team." Kairas said pointedly. Marcus quickly picked up on the hint that he wanted to keep Darkrai a secret and gave a slight nod. While Marcus didn't feel like it was necessary to keep Sabrina in the dark, it wasn't his secret to share. "Unfortunately not to long after I made it inside I got lost, this thing looks smaller from the outside. I think I was almost at the main viewing area when I heard shouting and people screaming. I managed to hide long enough to see Team Magma members were taking over the ship and forcing everyone but a few researchers to evacuate. I managed to get a glimpse at the guy I think their leader, he's got slicked back red hair, wears glasses and a team Magma overcoat." Kairas revealed.
"I see that'll be useful if we manage to get out of here" Marcus nodded for Kairas to continue.
"You know I'm all for a fight, but in this case I was heavily outnumbered I think I managed to count fifteen or twenty goons, it was kind of hard to keep track when they all dress the same. I originally planned to hide in an empty room or closet and try to take them out one by one. I hide in here and waited, but I didn't plan on those bastard using the scientist to activate the lockdown procedures, now this door will only open from the outside with an access card. I sent her to look around and see if she could acquire one, but that was a few hours ago and I'm starting to get worried. Even for her a ship full of these bastards would be able to overpower her with enough numbers" Kairas gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.
Sabrina frowned Kairas was obviously leaving something important out of what he was telling them. He kept referring to someone as 'her' and 'she' but never revealed who he was talking about. Looking over and seeing Marcus nod as Kairas explained things she figured that Marcus knew who he was referring too which meant Kairas didn't trust her. While under normal circumstances she could let his distrust slide, as they had just met. This was anything but normal circumstances and she needed to know she could trust him to watch their backs.
"Who is this 'Her' you keep referring to. Is she the reason you have such a chaotic aura surrounding you, I've been around Pokémon to know that only extremely powerful ones could leave such an impressive arura on their trainers" Sabrina said with a serious expression.
Marcus gave Kairas a look that let him know that Sabrina would not just drop the subject if asked.
"Marcus do you trust her" Kairas asked after a few seconds of tense silence.
"I trust her with my life, and that of my Pokémon" Marcus said without hesitation.
Kairas nodded he didn't like revealing Darkrai to anyone, Marcus was one of the few exceptions and that was because Kairas could see so many similarities between them. Darkrai who was also a fantastic judge of character 'According to herself', trusted Marcus as well. Kairas knew that Sabrina was dangerous from the moment they locked eyes, unlike Marcus who was an open book albeit with a few secrets, Sabrina was a wall of impassiveness. Kairas could tell that she seemed extremely loyal to Marcus and Marcus trusted her…so he would have to trust Marcus faith in her. If worse came to worse he could always have Darkrai wipe her memories once everything was over.
Kairas opened his mouth to speak but before any words came out the door to their right slide open, revealing Darkrai in all her Anthro glory with a frustrated look on her face.
"Kairas I want snacks, you wouldn't believe how hard it was to find this thing" Darkrai lazily floated over to her partner while casually tossing the access card. "Oh, hey Marcus nice to see you again" she waved while wrapping her arms around Kairas neck from behind.
"Sup" Marcus waved while doing his best not to burst out laughing at the look of Kairas face. He lost his bearing however when he glanced at Sabrina and saw her mouth hanging wide open.
"Close your mouth dear, unless you're trying to catch flies. You may be cute but I doubt anyone wants to see your uvula" Darkrai smirked while pulling out a bag of chips from Kairas backpack.
"Hahahaha, dear Arceus you two should see your faces" Marcus rolled on the floor laughing. He instantly regretted this action when Sabrina turned to him eyes pure red and hair swirling with her psychic powers.
Marcus gulped hard and quickly backed away trying to apologize, as Sabrina caused several small but heavy looking objects to float around her. "Come on now can't we talk about this like adults" Marcus pleaded.
Sabrina eyes turned back to normal for a brief second "Yeah we could, but I don't want to" She grinned evilly as her eyes turned red again and parts of her hair seemed to make demon horns.
"Arceus have mercy" Marcus cried out as he was assaulted.
X
"You totally deserved that" Kairas smirked.
"Whatever" Marcus frowned as Angel continued to take care of his new bruises with Heal Pulse.
"As entertaining as that was we still need a plan, we have a lot more information than we did before thanks to Kairas." Sabrina still had a slight smile from the beating she had given Marcus.
"Yeah, I already had Tech rely the information to Officer Jenny, I think it's safe to say that once we make sure the entrances aren't booby-trapped, and find a good breach point they should be clear to move in" Marcus cracked his neck.
"Oh yeah I forgot you never did tell me who this Tech person you keep referring to is" Kairas said.
"My bad I forgot I hadn't activated her while we were still traveling together" Marcus quickly went about explaining that Tech was he research A.I.
"Why don't you just go with Kairas original idea and take out the grunts one by one. You did something similar in the Petalburg Woods." Darkrai suggested.
"We had more space in the Petalburg Woods not to mention those Team Aqua goons were complete dumbasses that didn't even bring flashlights, everything about that tole road/rape trap they had going on felt half-assed" Marcus closed his eyes in thought. "These Team Magma members seem more organized, it's likely that they all have radios with check in times to make sure everyone is accounted for in case someone sneaks on boards and tries to take the ship back. Even if they don't if their Leader really is on board he likely brought members that he trust and you can definitely expect them to be strong trainers. We really can't handle fighting a couple dozen of them if they come looking for the guys we take out." Marcus sighed, he had spent so much time worrying about how they were going to make sure Kairas was alright, that he didn't think this far ahead.
"We should split up" Marcus finally said after almost ten minutes of silence. "Each of us will go around the ship via a different path and try to find a good entrance point for the cops to storm in. After that try to see if you can free any researchers you can, the less bargaining chips Team Magma has the better. Try to avoid capture by any means necessary and avoid battles unless you're confident you can end them quickly. I'll have Tech send each of us a different route to follow that should lead to likely breach point. After making sure it's clear send me a message and I'll rely to information to Jenny." Marcus proposed.
"Sounds like a plan to me" Kairas agreed.
"I'm curious about how you are so well versed in siege tactics, all of this information acquisition, and insertion strategies take serious military training. Exactly what were you studying besides Pokémon training material" Sabrina asked.
"Huh…oh well it's simple. My dad severed as a Pokémon ranger for a few years before he became a competition battler. He never told me exactly what he did while he was serving, but I don't think it was the normal protecting of Pokémon reserves and such. I used to overhear him talking with my mom about storming poaching operations, illegal and black market trading deals, and an Anthro sex slave operation." Marcus revealed.
Sabrina gasped while Pokémon Rangers usually had to deal with poachers, abusive trainers, and aggressive wild Pokémon. There was a division that was solely tasked with destroying entire poaching operations and other dangerous task. It was rumored that ever Ranger that was part of this division was on par with the strongest Gym Leaders and even some Elite Four members. She made a mental note that she wanted to meet Marcus Father whenever possible.
"Eventually I got curious about what exactly he was doing and asked him. After that he started teaching me a bit about situations like this and how to deal with them in case I was ever involved in one" Marcus finished.
"Just when I thought I was getting a good grasp on you, you throw another wrench into the works" Sabrina said amused.
"Got to keep you on your toes" Marcus grinned. "Alright let's get this started, the longer Team Magma has to do whatever they are doing the worse it is for us." Marcus said getting serious again.
"Alright I'll slip out first let's go Darkrai" Kairas said heading over to the door.
"What was that" Darkrai asked in sickly sweet voice.
"Let's go…Mistress" Kairas muttered doing his best to hide his slight blush.
"Much better, after you" Darkrai giggled before melding into Kairas shadow as he snuck out of the room.
"Alright I'll go next" Sabrina said looking out to make sure it was still clear. Marcus quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him trapping her in a searing kiss that quickly made her lightheaded.
"Stay safe" He breathed after he broke the kiss. Still being a bit light headed Sabrina just nodded and crept out the room.
"Alright now that all that's out of the way…You can come out of the sub now" Marcus eyes sharpened.
"Oh and here I thought since your psychic friend didn't sense me I was safe" a female voice giggled. Long blood red crimson hair was the first thing Marcus saw as a young woman about Cynthia's age lazily climbed from the half open hatch. She had an almond shape face with predatory, almost glowing greenish yellow eyes, a mischievous smirk plastered on her full lips. She wore a red Team Magma style bomber jacket over a red low cut t-shirt that showed off plenty of cleavage. Blood red skinny jeans with a black stubbed belt and black boots completed her outfit. She was quite a beauty, Marcus would admit that even knowing that she was his enemy.
"Oh well, I was planning on taking a nap before telling the boss all about your little plan" The woman yawned with one eye open.
"I just happened to notice the hatch on the sub was open…I could've sworn it was completely closed when we first surfaced" Marcus frowned.
"Ugh You must be the paranoid type, you guys always make the worst boyfriends" The woman shook her head.
"There's no way Sabrina wouldn't have been able to sense you if the hatch had been open she would've felt you. The only explanation is with the hatch being closed the thick steel protected you from her powers.
"Ah yes, the infamous Saffron City Gym Leader. She would've proven to be quite the challenge, even the Darkrai boy…Kairas I believe his name was, would've been a thorn in my side. Which begs the question why not let them know I was here" The woman's eyes sharpened.
"To be honest I'm a bit ashamed of myself, I only noticed the hatch after Kairas had already left and Sabrina was leaving. I sent out an Aura Pulse on a whim and low and behold I sensed you" Marcus frowned. His plan would fall apart if she made it back to her leader, he made up his mind to beat her here and now.
"Ohhh, an Aura user how rare this should be fun" The woman licked her lips reaching for a Pokeball on her belt.
"As long you find being beaten into submission fun…Bella let's end this quickly" Marcus yelled throwing Bella's ball into the air.
"Why can't things ever go smoothly for us" Bella barked getting into her fighting stances.
"Oh a Lucario and an anthro one at that, here I thought that was just a cliché…Flare time to play" The woman called.
Marcus swallowed hard as a anthro female Houndoom was revealed. At least a head taller than Bella and covered in lean muscle, Marcus could tell that she was a powerhouse. Embers even escaped her maw when she smacked her lips.
"This pup is all I have to play with, Ember can't I have something better." The Houndoom sighed.
"Now Flare I'm sure she's stronger than she looks, and how often do you get to battle another anthro" Ember answered.
"I'd rather go a few rounds with her trainer in the bedroom, he's a hottie" Flare smirked.
"I'm flattered" Marcus said plainly not being happy with not being treated seriously.
"What is it with Dark-Types and calling me pup" Bella growled as Flare started to remind her of Absol.
"Wait you can understand Flare" Ember said shocked. Marcus turned and revealed his translator.
"Ah well looks like we have at least one thing in common besides having an anthro" Ember pulled back her hair to reveal she had a translator as well.
"Are we going to talk all day or are we going to battle" Marcus growled.
"Oh he's feisty…I like that" Flare growled in a predatory seductive way that sent chills down Marcus spine.
"Paws off bitch" Bella growled.
"Looks like his Lucario has some fight in her to" Ember grinned. "Let's see if her bites as bad as her bark. Flare start things off with Flamethrower"
"Bella dodge with Extreme Speed and combo it with Close Combat" Marcus ordered.
"Trying to take advantage of your type advantage with a full on frontal assault…how amateur." Ember said with an unimpressed expression. She didn't tell Flare to guard or dodge even when Bella nearly vanished from sight.
"If you're not going to even defend yourself I'm going to end this in one-shot" Bella growled. Her right paw glowed in blue aura as she put as much power into it as she could muster. Whipping her arm forwards she slammed it into Flare's muzzle sending her skidding backwards until she impacted the wall making a decent sized dent in the metal.
"Looks like you can throw a pretty decent punch after all" Flare grinned despite her bruised cheek.
"Hmm let's see if she can take it as well as she can give it…Counter" Ember said simply.
Marcus and Bella's eye's widened as Flare streaked forward at speed nearly matching Bella's Extreme Speed.
"Bella, Iron Defense" Marcus quickly yelled.
Even as Bella crossed her arms and raised her defense she was hit by Flare's Counter. Marcus couldn't stop his eye's from widening nor the cold chill that ran down his spine as Bella was launched backward at frightening speeds before slamming into the steel wall hard enough to make a large crater in the metal. "Bella" Marcus yelled rushing to her side.
"I'm okay" Bella managed to hiss through clenched teeth. Her back and arms were covered in nasty bruises. Marcus was pretty sure her forearms were also fractured. Judging by the amount of wincing she was doing every time she moved them.
"No, you're not okay" Marcus frowned as Bella stood and tried to take her fighting stance, only to let out a low growl that sounded more like a pained whimper than anything else. "You can't keep fighting like this" Marcus said his voice full of concern.
"Master I don't have much of a choice, if we lose here she'll be free to tell her boss about your plan and Kairas and Sabrina will be in even more danger" Bella breathed out heavily. "Besides what was all of that restriction training for if not preparation for a real battle" Bella managed a slight smile.
Marcus watched as she adjusted her stance allowing her arms to fall limply by her side but keeping her gaze as sharp as ever.
Seeing the resolve in her eyes Marcus nodded before flaring his aura in a controlled manner his crimson and white aura spiraling around him. Bella did the same her dark blue aura covered her body, slowly but surely their auras began to visibly sync.
"Alright Bella let's try this again" Marcus yelled. "Aura Sphere"
"Eat this" Bella growled as she created a larger than average Aura Sphere.
"Good luck throwing that with those arms. I'm sure I felt something crack when I used Counter" Flare growled.
"Bella launch it using Blaze kick" Marcus smirk was mirrored by Bella as she reared back her right leg and ignited it, before swinging it forward and blasting the Aura sphere forwards faster than she could've ever thrown it.
"Flare counter it with Fire blast" Ember quickly order.
"You really just don't know when to quit" Flare growled releasing the power fire-type attack.
The two attacks clashed briefly trying to overpower each other before canceling each other out and exploding.
"Flare be careful she's stronger than she was before" Ember advised, though she still didn't seem to be taking Marcus and Bella completely seriously.
"It doesn't matter she's still out of her league" Flare barked confidently.
"At the very least this battle got more interesting, let's keep things going with Shadow Ball, keep firing them until she unable to battle" Ember casually flipped her hair.
"Bella use Extreme Speed and Iron Tail to send all those Shadow Balls back to sender" Marcus ordered. He knew that he and Bella couldn't win with pure power or speed. They'd have to trust each other's wits and abilities if they wanted to survive this battle.
"Now things are starting to get fun" Ember smirked as she saw the bombardment of Shadow Balls sent back her and Flare's way. "Cancel out those Shadow Balls with Flamethrower." Ember ordered. Throwing her arm in front of her as the battlefield was filled with smoke from the resulting explosion.
"Bella now attack with Dragon Pulse" Marcus growled. Seeing an opening Marcus didn't notice the effect that his and Bella's now synced Aura was having on him. His eyes were glowing and starting to shift as he began to view the match from Bella's perspective instead of his own. Bella quickly charged the sphere of Dragon-type energy inside her maw before letting it lose. Ember and Flare were caught off guard as the powerful attack burst through the smoke and hit Flare dead on sending her flying backwards.
"Damn that hurt" Flare groaned quickly getting to her feet a with a few bruises showing.
"I told you something different about those two now…must have something to do with him being an Aura user." Ember mused.
'Even with my injuries I barely feel any pain, and I feel like I'm exploding with energy. Once Master and my Aura completely synced it was almost like I was enveloped in his warmth, I can feel his determination and passion. I can do this I can beat her' Bella though confidently her Aura increasing even more.
As if sensing her thoughts Marcus smirk widened "We can do this together".
"Don't get cocky kid it's time to end this, Flare use Hyper Beam" Ember commanded.
"We're not going to lose here" Marcus declared. "Bella, Detect" Marcus yelled.
"we'll win this together" Bella snarled crossing her arms while raising her Aura even higher as the Hyper Beam impacted her.
"Now while she vulnerable during the recovery phase of her attack, let's finish this with Bone Rush" Marcus ordered.
Bella rushed forwards slamming her paws together they exploded with aura before she pulled them apart. Instead of the normal blue colored aura staff, Bella's had become a deep sparking purple.
"That's not good" Ember frowned looking worried for the first time since the match began.
"This is going to hurt" Flare almost whimpered before she was smashed in the gut by Bella's staff. The force of the attack sent her flying backwards making a dent in the steel wall nearly as big as the one she had made when she had launched Bella into the opposite wall.
"Geez…you're a lot stronger than I first expected. I've been around the block a few times and I don't even think I've seen Pokémon who've Mega Evolved receive such a drastic power boost. Aura user sure are something special…but it seems you've both reached your limits." Ember crossed her arms.
Marcus was now down on one knee panting and sweating profusely, his aura flickering as it returned to is normal color. He had been so caught up in the battle that he hadn't noticed the physical and mental strain his body had been under during his and Bella's continuous Aura sync. Bella was matching her masters poster having pushed herself well past her limits she was barely able to fight to keep herself conscious, a battle she lost a few seconds later collapsing onto the ground.
"I…I lost" Marcus panted eyes wide.
"If…it's any condolence you did well. I'm well above the skill level of most trainers and even a veteran Gym Leader would have trouble in an all-out battle against me" Ember brushed her hair aside with a slight flair. "Not to mention even if you had managed to back me into a corner I still had a trump card" Ember brushed her hair further back which caused the sleeve of her jacket to pull down enough to reveal a special bracelet, Marcus eye's widened even further as he recognized it as an item that trainers used to achieve Mega Evolution.
'She was holding back that much the entire time' Marcus began to grind his teeth in frustration as he returned Bella to her Pokeball.
"No need to look so pissed off, it's not like I said this was a one on one battle or anything. You have two Ultra balls on your belt so I'm assuming you have at least two Pokémon stronger than that Lucario I just battled." Ember shrugged. Raising an eyebrow when Marcus hesitated.
"Come on kid that last fight got me all hot and bothered, don't you know you should never leave a woman on the edge for too long" Flare growled.
'True Absol and Goodra are much more powerful than Bella…but there's no way Absol would battle for me even in a situation like this and even though Goodra has been training and helping everyone else to get stronger I have no idea if she would want to participate in a real battle especially under these circumstances' Marcus thought while clenching his fist. He didn't have a lot of options in this situation, Angel and Lilith wouldn't stand a chance against Flare his two strongest Pokémon were wild cards at best and he was too exhausted to try anything with his Aura.
"Tell me what are you guys planning to do with this ship and the Pokémon abroad it" Marcus asked doing his best to keep his composure.
"Huh…now you decide to ask that…oh well I know you're just stalling but I guess I can entertain you for a bit. Firstly, we really don't have any use for the Pokémon on this ship and we don't mean them or the scientist any harm we're just trying to locate a very special artifact" Ember answered.
"And what's your escape plan you should all know by now that you're surrounded there's no way for all of you to escape" Marcus frowned.
"True…but we never did plan for everyone to escape in the first place. The grunts will stay behind and distract the cops when they eventually breach in to save the day while the key members escape using the sub behind me." Ember smiled.
"So, you guys were planning to use that after all" Marcus didn't like where this was going at all.
"Why else would the boss leave Team Magma's third strongest member chilling in here otherwise" Ember smirked.
'This isn't good at all…even if I managed to beat her using Absol or Goodra, assuming her Houndoom is her strongest Pokémon I'd still have to battle two other trainers who are even stronger' Marcus thought with a scowl. He'd really gotten himself and his friends way in over their heads with this one. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to them because of his mistake.
"Now that you know everything…I really can't let you leave so I'll give you two options" Ember said holding up her pointer and middle fingers. "One you send out another Pokémon and we continue this battle…or two join us as a member of Team Magma. You're an extremely talented trainer, with the proper guidance you'll be a true force to be reckoned with. Plus I'll let you warm my bed at night, I'm sure Flare would love to join in as well." Ember licked her lips.
"Damn straight I would" Flare agreed clearly being affected by Marcus's pheromones, not that she knew that.
"There's no way I could ever agree with that…joining Team Magma that is, under any other circumstances I'd actually be quite interested in the second part" Marcus said reaching for one of the ultra-balls.
"Hmm maybe some other time than" Ember shrugged although she did look genuinely disappointed.
"Maybe" Marcus agreed, with the ultra-ball he had chosen clutched in his hand he prepared to throw it only for the other ultra-ball to open on it's own to reveal a rather pissed off Goodra.
"So, you even have an Anthro Pseudo-Legendary…now I'm even more interested in you" Ember's smirk returned.
"Back off" Goodra said in an uncharacteristically dark tone stomping her right foot making the ground shake slightly.
"Goodra are you okay" Marcus asked.
"Of course, I could sense everything from inside my ball. I want to battle by your side. I've known for a few days now…I want to know what it's like to battle side by side with a true trainer" Goodra smiled.
"Alright than…I really owe you one. I'll make sure you get a reward latter, but for now let's finish this" Marcus said missing the blush and small lewd smile that traced across Goodra's lips as she thought of a reward she'd like. "Goodra use Earthquake" Marcus ordered.
"Right" Goodra raised her right foot again only to stop mid attack as an Explosion rocked the ship and alarms went off everywhere.
"Oh geez looks like it's time to split…catch you later Marcus" Ember blew him a kiss before ordering Flare to fill the room with Smoke Screen.
Marcus was vaguely aware of the door to the room opening and the sound of a handful of other voices and the sound of hurry footsteps. He tried using his Aura to sense what was going on but that only resulted in a splitting headache. Blindly trying to get through the smoke proved to be to no avail as the sound of the sub hitting the water let him know that Team Magma or at least the core members that had been on board the ship had managed to escape.
"Damn…so much for my perfect plan" Marcus groaned collapsing to the floor.
"You did your best, that's all anyone could've ever expected"
Marcus looked up to see a slightly ruffled Sabrina rushing back into the room with a relieved look.
"Not to mention your plan did still work…even if it didn't go exactly how you planned" Kairas grinned before his smile faltered. "Hey man you okay…you're bleeding"
"What am I…ugh" Marcus felt blood dripping from his nose before he became extremely light headed and blacked out.
An: Okay what do you all think of this chapter huh, it wasn't what I had originally planned but I think it still works out pretty well. Next chapter with be a part two to this one from Kairas and Sabrina's Pov. I was really happy with some of the things that happened in this chapter such as Marcus fighting someone that just completely outclassed him. You also got to see some more of his aura abilities in action mainly his aura sync with Bella, not to mention the fact that he was about to use Absol against Ember was he just extremely desperate of has something been going on that I haven't explained yet…hmmm you'll just have to keep reading to find out. I promise I will continue to expand and explain things as this story progresses. On a side not I might take a brief break from this story and my others on here for two reason. One being I want to go back and fix as many mistakes as I can to improve the readability to all my stories and second is to work on a Highschool DxD fic that I just can't get out of my head. Neither of these should take very long depending on the free time I have as I can do multiple chapter in a day when it comes to editing. Anyway thanks to everyone the follows, favs and reviews your all awesome.