Chapter 9 – Windworks Rescue

Floroma town was considered by many to be one of the most peaceful and beautiful cities in all of Sinnoh. The entire town was nestled in a fertile valley and gave rise to such an array of flowers of varying species and colours, it boggled the mind. People here were naturally laid back and had the utmost appreciation for the beauty to be found in nature. Tourists would come to see the various flowers in bloom throughout the seasons. But with winter approaching, people were beginning to prepare for the coming spring.

One other interesting feature of Floroma was the valley it neighboured. It was here that the wind turbines had been installed. With a constant stream of wind coming from either the north or south, a huge supply of energy was always ready and being created. It allowed many of the residents in the area to live extremely eco-friendly.

The massive amounts of energy alas was the key reason as to why it was being taken over by Team Galactic. Mars was quick in her execution of her task. It had taken less than a day to have everything ready and in place. Then, all at once, the trap was sprung. Her modest team of grunts, specially trained by Saturn, quickly subdued the security at the station and took over the power plant. Mars' confidence was boosted with how smoothly the operation went down. The time consuming part was creating the necessary modifications to the systems to begin shipping power back to Galactic headquarters. Charon was on the phone constantly with the two techs who had come with Mars to install the needed components. Thus far everything had been flawless.

Jill was able to smell the town before she laid eyes on it. The breeze carried with it the multitude of smells, from honey to rose to lavender. It was so relaxing and made Jill feel happy to just be alive. And she knew she wasn't alone in that sentiment. Her Pokemon were also seemingly content with life at the moment. While the smells and the town itself were truly breathtaking, Jill wasn't really planning on spending serious time here. Most in the area weren't much interested in battling. Only the passing trainers battled here. Even the wild Pokemon were much more tame. Perhaps that's why the surrounding mountain and forest Pokemon always seemed so much more aggressive. Their counterparts never caused an issue.

Stopping at the Pokemon centre shattered this conjured image of perfection however. Bustling activity caused the young travelling trainer to pause upon entering the centre. People were rushing back and forth, injured crying out in pain. Police were here as well, seeming to plan out something. Jill navigated through the crowd up to the desk, behind which sat a nurse looking utterly exhausted.

"Excuse me, but what's going on here?" Jill asked the nurse who jolted alert at the sound of the young woman's voice.

"I'm sorry?" the nurse replied looking bleary eyed at the trainer standing before her.

"I was hoping to find out what's going on here" repeated Jill.

"Oh I'm so sorry. A group of people have attacked and taken over the valley windworks neighboring us here. So many people who have volunteered to help take it back have been injured. It's been a week now and we're dangerously low on power. I won't be able to help any Pokemon soon, let alone any humans." Jill was frowning and looking around. Who in their right mind would attack a power plant? This explained the police presence however, and the angry, hurt and tired look in everyone's eyes. The situation must be somewhat dire to have elicited this reaction.

Jill's attention was captured by a young girl sitting alone in the corner of the centre, tear streaks down her cheeks as she watched the goings on of the adults. Walking over, Jill sat down beside the youth.

"Hey there, what seems to be the problem?" Jill asked softly. The young girl looked down as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"My… my… my dad…" she choked out. Jill's heart skipped a beat. If this child had lost her father… "he's still there!" the young girl said much louder, sobbing. Shit Jill thought as she looked across the lobby. With so many people here, that meant that any chance of rescue wasn't forthcoming anytime soon.

"Don't worry alright? I'll see what I can do to help" the trainer said to the young girl.

"Really? You'll help save my father?" she asked. Jill smiled as confidently as she could.

"I'm going to try." She got up and walked over to where the police were discussing plans of some sort.

"I'm sorry miss but I'm going to have to ask you to step away" an officer said as Jill walked up.

"I'd like to help though" she said with strength and conviction. The officer looked her up and down.

"Trainer are you?" he asked. Jill nodded. "Normally we don't accept civilian help…" he trailed off. Jill was tempted to ask why the police hadn't yet been able to take the building back, but refrained. None of these officers seemed highly trained nor skilled. None had the look of people like Roark or Clay, or the stronger trainers Jill had seen pictures of. They all carried themselves with such confidence and power just seemed to pour off of them. These officers here had none of that.

Half an hour later, Jill was briefed on the situation at the Windworks. It seemed that once more, criminal activity was going on. Frowning as she repacked her bag, Jill wondered if this incident was connected in any way to the assault on Professor Rowan. The uniforms seemed to match up, but this sounded like a much more coordinated and planed operation than a simple mugging. It would have to be if one spared more than a seconds thought about it.

It would take her some time to make the trek, but Jill wasn't going to just sit by and do nothing. These people here needed help, and besides, this assault had Jill curious. What was going on, and why would people attack a power plant way out here? Thus far no one had been captured, so there was nothing to go off of. That simply meant she was going to have to track down those answers for herself.

"Please, by taking all those parts, the people here won't have access to the electricity they need!" the man called out. Finally having enough, Mars marched back over and delivered a vicious backhanded slap across his face. Glasses were knocked askew and blood sprung off the man's lips as they split. Shivering slightly, the bonds of the rope kept the man in the chair.

"What did I tell you idiots about shutting him up?!" Mars said loudly, glaring at the two incompetent grunts standing guard over the office.

"Sorry ma'am" they both replied looking down at the floor. The Purugly lounging on the floor purred loudly. Things were still moving along, but had slowed down somewhat at an organized resistance attempted to take back this plant. Police forces mostly, but due to the lack of criminal activity, they were quickly overrun and outmanned by Mars' crew. None were trained obviously to deal with this type of aggression and firepower.

"I don't care one whit about the people here" Mars said to no one in particular. "Our leaders goals are so far reaching and above the mundane lives of the pathetic people living here, that you're simply lucky this was all I was sent to do. Soon we will live in a world where there are only the strong, the people who actually deserve to live in the utopia he will usher in…" The images she conjured in her head were ones of perfection. Mars by Cyrus' side as he brought forth a new world. Saturn and Jupiter were simply in the background helping things run smoothly, but she… no she would be at the forefront of it all, her commander in chiefs most trusted disciple. This metal picture was shattered with the sounds of battle suddenly erupting somewhere else in the building. Perhaps those incompetent fools had finally managed to push further in. Turning back around, Mars addressed one of her guards.

"Go out there and get things back under control. I don't want things to get even more derailed!" The man nodded and quickly hurried out of the control room. Mars began switching monitors to see where the action was taking place. Looking at the screens, the young commander was stunned to find a young woman walking through the building, Pokemon out and taking on her grunts… and winning.

Jill was tired already, but her Pokemon were raring. The grunts who had been brought along were not all that strong. She was taking them down quickly and without problem. However, the young woman couldn't help but feel something was off. There was no way that a group of people like this, with Pokemon who wouldn't stand up to even a gym leader could never orchestrate something like this. No there was a brain behind this somewhere, but where was the question.

The complex was not very big, and in Jill's wake grunts were running scared. She was a terror to them, but she didn't understand why. She didn't understand a lot of things about this and the first and foremost was how come the authorities were having so much trouble with this gang of thugs. Sounds of running feet stopped. Silence settled in putting her entire team and Jill on edge.

"What's going on?" Jill asked.

"I can still smell some people here" Chase replied. The small electric type was pointed towards an office-like room. Jill frowned. Perhaps there she would find the actual people in charge. Adrenaline was coursing through her body, mixing with her fear. Something was wrong here and she needed to fix it, but going it with only herself and her team…

"We'll be alright" Cal said quietly, so only Jill could hear. The young woman looked down at her starter and nodded. Walking forward Jill stood in front of the door and opened it.

Mars turned as the young woman opened the door. She was rather unimpressed at this trainer. Not at all what she was at least hoping for. A nice looking young man would have at least been fun to play with. This little wench would just be boring. Her beautiful cat could just use this girls Pokemon as scratch toys. And Mars would simply have to dispose of this nuisance. She could not possibly allow any other competition among the ranks. Or worse, allow people to think that there were other trainers out there who might be considered beautiful and skilled.

"Now, now, what do we have here?" Mars taunted. "Quite the brave one coming in here and challenging all of us from Team Galactic."

"I don't even know what team galactic is" the girl responded.

"You don't know? What a shame…"

Jill was frowning at the woman across from her. The room was small and wouldn't give much space for movement, and she just knew that there would be a battle. Taking stock, Jill noticed a man tied to a chair, bleeding from a split lip. He was looking much worse for wear and Jill suddenly realized that she was facing someone much more brutal then anyone she would likely ever meet. Barely constrained fury hid behind this other woman's eyes.

"Team Galactic is the future for this world. Our vision of perfection will bring about a utopia that people such as you would never be able to understand!"

"What do you mean a new world?" Jill asked. Mars smile was feral.

"A new world, our vision of perfection. I told you, you wouldn't understand. What we seek is so far above you. Now run away little girl before I have to crush you under my heel like the cockroach you are." Jill frowned and stood her ground. This woman was certainly a loose cannon but there was no way Jill was just going to let her have her way.

"I'm not going anywhere" Jill said just loud enough to be heard. Mars' feral smile turned even meaner and more excited as she readied herself for battle. Perhaps she would be able to have some fun after all. Both women grabbed Pokeballs and released them at the same time. Mars sent out a Zubat which was an extremely lucky break for Jill who sent out Chase. The electric type was grinning at his opponent as his pupils narrowed, giving the blue Pokemon a hunters look.

"Let's start this off with a most wonderful attack: Zubat, use toxic!" Mars commanded. Her voice was harsh, but her Pokemon responded immediately swooping in to attack. Jill however was fully aware of what that particular attack meant.

"Chase don't let it bite you! Use spark to keep it away!" Jill called out. Her small friend jumped away from the first dive and brought his fur on end with electricity. The tiny bat circled around and closed for another strike. High pitched shrieks were bouncing around the walls, helping the Zubat find its target. Chase didn't wait to respond to another attack however. He ran across the tile jumping up at the bat as they closed in on one another. The resulting collision saw multiple bolts of electricity zap the part flying type which would have normally caused a shriek of pain but it was too busy biting down and poisoning Chase who cried out.

"A hit! Now your pathetic blue runt gets to feel true pain!" Mars yelled. Jill's eyes were filled with worry while Chase's were angry. The poison wasn't too strong at the moment as this Zubat wasn't all that strong, but that didn't make it any less dangerous.

"Not just yet! Chase use spark once more!" Jill called out. Chase bounded forward striking the tiny bat hard and sending it down.

"NO! You bitch! You'll pay for that!" Mars shrieked. Glaring behind her, Jill finally noticed another shape. A rather disgusting looking cat sauntered forward, not at all perturbed. Chase winced, more than enough indication for Jill to return her friend. At least in the Pokeball, the poison would hold its progress because it seemed to put Pokemon into a stasis-like state. Then the young woman pulled out her Pokedex to look up whatever Pokemon it was that this insane woman was sending out next.

"Purugly, the tiger cat Pokemon and the evolved form of Glameow. It binds its body with its tails to make itself look bigger. If it locks eyes, it will glare ceaselessly." Well Jill couldn't disagree with its name. The large cat was softly purring in a rather menacing way, something that Jill found rather chilling. Jill knew that this Pokemon here was the real powerhouse for her opponent. That just meant this would take more of her team to bring it down. With that knowledge, Jill sent in Star.

"Oh look sweety, the bitch there sent you out a snack! Knock it out of the air with scratch!" Both Jill and Star were stunned at the speed at which the cat moved. Purugly was almost level with Star before the avian could react, receiving a rather nasty blow which grounded the starling.

"No Star! Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine" the flying type responded, leaping back into the air.

"In that case then counter with wing attack!" Jill called out. Star circled gathering speed then dove down, avoiding the claws and cracking the side of Purugly's head with her wing.

"Don't take that my sweet! Take it down with scratch!" Mars commanded. Star kept a much closer eye on her opponent avoiding the next two attacks while landing one of her own. But Jill could tell her friend was tiring. The flying in confined space made maneuvering even more tiring as Star was on full alert. To top it off, she wasn't as strong as this opponent. Grabbing Star's Pokeball, Jill returned the flying type, causing Mars to glare at her. Jill stared right back as she released her starter into the office.

"What in the world is that?" Cal immediately asked taking stock of the situation.

"That is the person we need to take down, and quickly" Jill said under her breath.

"Done and done" the grass type said sending out a razor leaf attack at the charging feline. The cat staggered upon getting struck, opening up enough for Caladan to hit home with a tackle attack. Mars was screaming commands, but neither Pokemon was interested in what she had to say. The smaller Turtwig was dishing and receiving strong hits, enough to wear him to exhaustion's point. His stamina held however as finally the large cat toppled over. Mars was stunned into silence as were the grunts behind her.

"Well that was an interesting turn of events" a voice said from behind Jill. Whirling around, Jill saw a portly, balding man wearing a lab coat.

"Charon! What are you doing here?" Mars demanded. She was shaking, but the arrival of another commander in the organization had forced her to pause her attack on the offensive bitch who had just bested her.

"I came to inform you that we have the power we need now."

"You had to come in person did you?" Mars sneered.

"Well I do need one more thing which will only require a second to obtain." Moving through the room as though nothing was amiss Jill watched the older man pull up some files on the computer and move them to a thumbdrive before turning back around. "Losing to a meer child Mars? That is most surprising and alarming. However it is of no matter to me, we may leave now. I have everything I need" he said looking down at the drive in his hand.

"Oh you can fuck right off old man. Only the boss tells me what to do! You're just a newcomer so don't go thinking you're important!"

"That temper is what will be the downfall of you my dear" the man said. His gaze turned to Jill who was frowning still not sure what to do, before he took his leave.

"UGH!" Mars yelled in frustration. She knew she needed to follow the old man much as she wanted to stay and attack the ugly bitch who had defeated her. "Consider yourself lucky this time you bitch. But this won't be the last time you see me!" The grunt behind Mars quickly followed his commander out of the powerplant. Jill was torn. As much as she wanted to prevent these criminals from leaving, she needed to make sure the man tied to the chair was alright. Making her decision, she rushed towards the hostage.

"Thank you again my dear."

"I'm really sorry I couldn't stop them from stealing more stuff…" Jill began but she was cut off.

"You stopped them from doing something much worse and for that you have my gratitude. Do not worry yourself with anything else." Jill nodded. The people of Floaroma were all hailing Jillian as a saviour, but Jill was just glad nothing more serious had happened. The man who had been held hostage looked rather beat up still and Jill was worried about what these criminals were willing to do. However, she couldn't worry overmuch as she had no inkling as to what they're plans may or may not be. Instead she resolved to continue on with her journey and simply keep an eye out for those horrible people. Saying her goodbyes, the young trainer began back down the path towards Eterna forest.

Cyrus stood looking out the window over the city below. People rushed back and forth without a thought to anything. Couples held hands and children danced ahead. The autumn sun looked down upon the world with a golden touch. This was enough to make anyone sick. These people simply went along with all the corruption around them. The beings they called friends or pets or whatever went with their masters blissfully unaware. And those with malicious thoughts were out prowling.

Mars fidgeted in her chair behind her boss. He was unhappy with her loss she knew. However she had accomplished her mission right? What had that buffoon Charon told this most amazing man? He who held himself with such regal composure…

"You lost to child?" the deep stoic voice asked. Mars clenched her fists.

"I'm sorry sir but yes. She was quick and had more Pokemon than I…" He held up a hand stopping her, but still not turning around. His cold blue eyes focused upon the reflection of the younger woman in the window.

"I did not ask for excuses. This child, what did she look like?"

"I don't think she is a child sir. More like she's a bit younger than myself. She had longer brown hair with blue streaks, medium height, small breasts and green eyes. Pretty ugly if you ask me." Cyrus shook his head at her pettiness. He should have known better than to ask this venomous woman for a description of another girl. He would simply have to wait for her to show herself again before he would have a more accurate account of what the young woman looked like.

"You may leave. But as punishment, I'm putting you under Charon's command for the next week. He needs assistance with the apparatus he needs built. You will assist in this."

"But sir!" Mars said before she could stop herself. She couldn't submit herself to the newcomer! It was completely unacceptable! She had been a loyal commander first!

"I will broker no argument in this Mars" Cyrus said turning to face the young woman. While she had completed the mission, he had no patience for her loss to the hands of a relatively new trainer.

"Y… Yes sir…" Mars replied with her head lowered looking at the floor. She felt awful for failing her boss, her mentor, her hero. Never again.

"Dismissed."

Jillian's Pokemon:
Caladan (Turtwig) - level 16, ability: Overgrow, nature: Bashful
Chase (Shinx) - level 14, ability: Intimidate, nature: Impish
Star (Starly) - level 13, ability: Keen Eye, nature: Lax
Epona (Ponyta) - level 8, ability: Run Away, nature: Naughty

Close call with Chase and it did take me both Star and Cal to bring Mars down. That Purugly is one strong brute. Got lucky however with a couple of missed attacks and a critical hit from Cal. I didn't feel like going into detail with every grunt battle or little side thing required. Next chapter will be out soon and should be interesting! Stay tuned and please do let me know what you think!