Chapter 45: Enemy Territory

As I laid on my back in the inhumanely small, uncomfortable jail cell somewhere deep in the confines of Team Anonymous' base, replaying the conversation I'd just had with my older brother over the loudspeaker plugged into the wall, my mind couldn't help but whirl like a wild film reel on a projector spinning far too fast, causing the picture being played to be fuzzy, incomprehensible, and a headache to focus on. That's pretty much exactly how the inside of my head felt at that moment what with the lack of a solid night's sleep and with so many pokemon battles and deadly encounters over the past 24 hours wearing me the fuck out.

Evan had claimed that he was currently the leader of the biggest criminal syndicate on the entire island. Did Mom and Dad know about this? How much time would Evan give me until I made a decision? What even was my decision? I mean, there was no way I'd genuinely say yes to joining Anonymous as his right-hand man, or at all, but if my alternative option is to rot away in this cell, then that leaves me stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I found my mind wandering to thoughts of my pokemon members being in captivity somewhere else in this building. Dear Arceus, please let them all be alright, don't be letting these psycho Anonymous members or my crazy brother be poking at any of my guys with pins and needles.

In an attempt to keep my thoughts away from the idea of my team getting dissected, I went over in my head my brother's own pokemon team - his longest standing partner, the monstrous steel snake that was Mega Steelix, still the only one of its kind I'd ever seen in person. Then his forever-aggressive, nimble flying type that outsped most of the mons on the island with ease - Dodrio. There was also another favorite of Evan's, his psychic/fairy type Mr. Mime that had overpowered and scrambled the minds of so many pokemon and humans alike with its powerful grasp on its mental abilities from the stories Evan had shared around the dinner table many a nights. It then occurred to me that I'd never even wondered about Evan's other 3 mons he carried around on his belt. For the most part, it seemed like Evan only really needed his main three since they could get the job done on their own. I knew over the years Evan had caught an array of pokemon such as Skarmory, Avalugg, Azumarill, and too many more for me keep track, but he was the type that caught them just to update his pokedex and then keep them in his PC until he tossed them back into the wild. Who knew what his other 3 main mons were or what tricks they had up their sleeve? Even if I managed to escape out of here and somehow assemble all six of my mons together, which seemed an impossible feat from the broom closet sized room I was trapped in, did my team even stand a chance against the likes of Evan's powerhouses?

Gengar and Emolga had been drifting cautiously through the air as they wound their way down the tunnel leading to Team Anonymous' base. Gengar noticed the scratch marks and broken nails of what he assumed to be pokemon and people that had been dragged through these tunnels against their will to the deathtrap that was waiting below, and Gengar could only hope that Emolga wasn't paying as much attention as he was. But judging by her double takes at a rather large splotch of a long-dried reddish substance caked on one of the walls that looked like blood, Emolga knew exactly what she was getting into. Both pokemon ignored these clear warning signs to turn around and fought against the chills rising up their backs, both of them thinking of Adam, their teammates, and the greater good to push them forward.

At last, after several steep turns, the tunnel came to an end, where a thick steel door that was password-operated was the gateway between the underground tunnel and the enemy's base. Emolga felt compelled to strike the door with electricity to get it to override, something she had done many a times and something she liked to think she had mastered, but she remembered that she had committed to going off Gengar's lead, and so she waited for him to make the first move.

In under five seconds, Gengar had phased his intangible body through the metal doors like a knife through butter, spotted and pulled the opening lever from the inside of the base, and the steel locked doors suddenly snapped open, leaving both mons hovering in the air looking at each other with big grins on their faces over how easily they had just invaded the enemy's territory.

Emolga ushered forward with an approving wave from Gengar, and the two pokemon officially entered inside the base as the steel doors snapped shut behind them. The partners were now levitating in a wide, shockingly clean hallway that was bright chrome white after seeing nothing but the murky earth tones and brown and black rocks for such a long time. The blindingly white hallway stretched forward into a wall with a huge painting of the legendary dogs all tussling with each other atop a mountain hung, making this underground lair look like an art gallery. From the painting on the wall, one could either go down a new hallway turning left, or a new hallway turning right. There was no markings or maps along the wall to guide the mons, so they had little option but to move forward at random, hoping to find Adam with sheer luck and without having to bump into any Anonymous members along the way, but upon the two small pokemon approaching the left corner up ahead, Emolga flew headfirst right into the face of a startled Anonymous agent that had been turning from around the other corner with surprisingly quiet steps.

"Aghh, what the fuck!?" the Anonymous agent, an older trainer in at least his thirties, cried out in shock as his hands reached out to grab at Emolga's small body before she could fly away. But her reflexes were faster than his, and she darted away, though feeling very uncomfortable with how close he had gotten to wrapping his hands around her tail. "Ludicolo, Ice Beam this thing! How'd it get in here!?"

A squat, round pokemon with a bill for a mouth that had apparently been walking right behind the Anonymous member took a few steps to the side so that he could set his aim on the flying squirrel that was preoccupied with darting away from the Anonymous member. He raised both his hands as they both chilled to freezing cold temperatures while he harnessed the power to shoot out ice, but then Gengar revealed his presence, who had still managed to be hiding back around the corner out of the sight of the Anonymous members. With a single slash through the air with his hand, Gengar sent out a Sludge Wave that was so large and thick that it encompassed both the 30 year old Anonymous member and his Ludicolo, the momentum of the wave knocking the member back and cracking the back of his head against the corner of the sharp wall with a loud SNAP. The Ludicolo was instantly knocked out upon the nassty poison touching his grassy body, but if he didn't get medical attention soon to escape the pool of sludge his unconscious body was was lying in, he wouldn't last for much longer.

The two pokemon were quick to move, knowing that with these two lying so near the base's entrance, there was only so much time they had now before somebody strolled along and became aware they were being invaded. Gengar continued on down the left corridor, where the 30 year old and his Ludicolo had been coming from, and Emolga hurried after the ghost type as they moved down the second hallway. This hallway actually had doors lining both sides, all of them unmarked and identical, making it so that you would have to check inside every single one if you were trying to find something. Gengar gave a sigh of frustration but refused to be intimidated as their task seemed to get more and more dangerous by the minute. Gengar motioned for Emolga to scan her way down the right side of the hallways set of doors while Gengar would be scanning the left side. Obviously if there were to be Anonymous members on the other side, they were to fight for their life no holds barred. But maybe luck would be on their side and Adam was in one of these rooms.

Both pokemon quickly deciphered that these rooms were the sleeping quarters of the Anonymous agents. And since all the Anonymous members had been tasked to invade Naporia so that Sir could target the Champion, and with apparently only a select few making it back, the rooms were luckily empty. But no sign of Adam. The two pokemon, incentivized even further to find Adam, continued down the hallway until they reached a door unlike those designed for the Anonymous members rooms. This one resembled the high-tech, high clearance look of the entrance door to the base, and this one was actually labeled TESTING AREA.

A bullet-proof glass window separating the hallway the two mons were in from the Testing Area gave them a window to peek inside and see just what Anonymous scientists were testing on. The laboratory was currently void of people, but Emolga recognized the bright, blood red little balls of poison displayed all along one of the lab tables, beside a gigantic microscope. Emolga would forever be able to recognize the Rage Berries she had witnessed Evan ordering his pokemon to disperse all over Fuji Jungle with, the act that had gotten her to stalk him and had been the wheel that had set Emolga on a path to find Eliza.

While Emolga's gaze was locked on the fruits on one of the tables, Gengar had been far more focused on the set of cages pushed into the far back corner of the lab, furthest away from the two-way window separating the laboratory from the hallway. While most of the cages were positioned in a way so that no one could see what was inside from the view outside the Testing Area, but Gengar's curiosity took control and he found himself unwittingly drifting right through the glass using his ghostly intangibility so that he could take a look at what exactly was locked in the cages in the back, with a glint of hope that maybe Adam would be crouching in the very back of one. Gengar had to check and know for certain.

Gengar felt a sense of overwhelming dread descend upon him as he drifted closer and closer to the cages as Gengar realized that Adam wasn't in the cages afterall, but something far more sinister. Just as Gengar passed over a series of very high-tech, new computer systems and office chairs implemented against the far wall of the lab on his way to position himself in a spot where he could peek into the cages, a series of low, threatening growls made his ears perk up and his heart drop into his stomach in surprise.

"Gengar!" Emolga cried from behind the glass, smacking one of her tiny hands into the glass to get her partner's attention. Before Gengar could take a look at what was in the cages that gave off such a sense of darkness, he wheeled back around, silently upset with Emolga for daring to shout his name out like that in this unknown territory where enemies could be lurking around every corner. But as Gengar looked back outside of the laboratory's testing area, out through the reinforced glass where Emolga was flying frantically back and forth, almost pacing with nerves as Gengar spotted figures approaching her from down the hallway. Anonymous members. Four of them, all of them with looks of distress on their face that their base had been invaded, as they all spotted the terrified Emolga at the end of the hallway flying all around with nervous energy like a fly trying to escape a house after the owner has decided to swat it to death.

Gengar recognized two of the members approaching Emolga as the young men they had tracked and followed to the base in the first place, but they were now joined by two female Anonymous members also donning black jumpsuits and caps. The men had had flying types in Archeops and Togekiss out of the pokeballs and accompanying them each while the girls, who looked to be identical twins as they got closer, revealed to have an acrobatic Starmie bouncing off the walls and a bulky Crabominable rushing to keep up with its faster group members.

Gengar had to think quickly, being that Emolga was trapped on the other side of the glass with a small army of criminals having spotted her and approaching with their pokemon partners out. Gengar assumed they had spotted the knocked out Ludicolo and huge mess of sludge at the front lobby and had headed down this hallway ready to do battle since they all had their mons out - it had been silly to think they could evade detection for so long. Even as strong as Emolga was, Gengar wasn't certain she could take on four fully evolved, professionally trained pokemon.

Emolga was on the verge of having a panic attack, her heart was about to jump out of her own chest with how hard how it was pumping adrenaline - it was the fact that there was nowhere to run to. Emolga was a small, flighty, very speedy pokemon that was not used to being without anywhere to escape to as she was so used to her natural environment of forests and woods where there was always open air to fly away to. Not in this hallway.

"Is that an Alolan Raichu? I didn't bring my glasses, I can't tell, it's moving so fast!" the Anonymous owner of the Crabominable asked with slight concern in her voice as the group walked past the Sleeping Quarters area which took up a long stretch of the hallway. Emolga was only about 50 yards ahead of them.

"It's an Emolga, stupid," Justin, the owner of the Archeops, criticized. "And we should all be cautious approaching this thing, it took out Hank's Ludicolo, plus it's got type advantage over every single one of us so-"

Emolga, taking a few moments to try to focus her mind on fighting instead of fleeing, realized that she could use the long hallway's tight and narrow frame to her advantage. Since there was no open air for her to flee to - that meant the exact same thing for her opponents. With that in mind, and with the adrenaline rushing through her heart in fear of being captured like Adam and the rest of his mons, Emolga unleashed the most powerful Thunderbolt she could summon out of her small hands. And a mighty, powerful, golden bolt of lightning shot straight out from her arms and beelined straight down the hallways, sizzling electrical sparks and radiating smoke as it did.

All four Anonymous trainers were unable to dodge the bolt of lightning, and it shocked and electrocuted all four of them to the point that their clothes were smoking and their hair had all fried by the time Emolga let up, knocking out Justin, Bobby, and the two girls with them. Togekiss and Archeops had also been unable to avoid the sheer volume and threat of the massive Thunderbolt ricocheting down the hallway, and the two flying types were struck down instantly by one attack from Emolga. Crabominable hadn't been able to dodge the Thunderbolt any member than his comrades did, but he did have the sheer bulk to survive the hit. And Starmie, speedier than even Emolga, had somehow managed to completely avoid taking any damage at all from the attack.

After just using up a lot of energy, Emolga needed a brief break to collect herself. And in that brief moment, Starmie and Crabominable threw some attacks back. Starmie used the hallway in the same way Emolga did, but instead of filling the hallways with electricity, Starmie instead flooded the room with water as she fired out a massive Hydro Pump directly toward the plate glass window with Emolga an easy target right in front of it and nowhere to dodge. Crabominable, still much slower compared to all the other pokemon in the hallway, was trudging forward, ducking underneath the huge jets of water propelling out of Starmie's tipped ends as he approached the window personally.

Convinced this move was strong enough to knock her out, Emolga shut her eyes and held her hands above her face as she braced herself for the painful impact of a tidal wave slamming her into window and probably shattering it - 1, 2, 3...4...but still nothing happened. Emolga opened up her eyes slowly and found that she was now hovering in the center of the testing area in the laboratory, safely behind the reinforced glass that was currently being sprayed with so much water that absolutely nothing could be seen behind. Gengar had used his intangibility abilities to pull Emolga back just a few feet out of harm's way at the last second.

Emolga spun around and gave Gengar a true hug of appreciation, a quick but heartfelt one, which was cut short due to the shattering of the reinforced glass into a million tiny, jagged pieces by Crabominable pummeling through it with a Close Combat coming from his huge white-and-blue fists that were the size of his body. Gengar and Emolga had to admit there was a lot of strength coming from behind each of those fists, as one punch from them would likely OHKO either of them.

Starmie was quick to join Crabominable as the purple starfish pokemon came Rapid Spinning into the lab and landing on the desk beside the Rage Berries, immediately facing Emolga and Gengar and pointing three ends at them. Crabominable was picking himself up from the pile of glass he'd punched through and was looking around for his opponents as he had slightly dazed himself.

Gengar and Emolga separated from one another so that they wouldn't be an easy target acting like sitting Psyducks in the middle of the air, the two of them using their ability of flight to their advantage as they both utilized the high ground. Gengar hovered over toward the computers and expensive, living-room-TV-sized monitors as Starmie fired off a second Hydro Pump at the ghost type, three streams of water coming out of three ends of the starfish mon, with the streams coming together in the middle to form one massive water propulsion that shot at Gengar like a cannonball as he danced over the scientists machines. Gengar flew upward as fast as he could after Starmie unleashed its second Hydro Pump, with most of the damage being done to the computers and monitors, the excessive water and the sheer power of the move overloading the circuits and systems in place, causing all of the computers and monitor screens in the room to die and go black. Gengar's lower body was forced to take a hit from the edge of the Hydro Pump scraping along his body as he dodged it, but he'd survived worse, with it only causing a wince out of the tough mon.

Emolga found herself absentmindedly backing away from the approaching Crabominable as a way to put some distance between herself and the powerful Starmie that seemed out of even Emolga's league. Emolga figured once Crabominable got comfortably close enough for Emolga to land an Air Slash no problem, and once Emolga had backed away from the Starmie just 10 more feet, then Emolga could take care of this massive threat that was the Crabominable in the safest possible way.

A deadly close growl that made the hair on the back of Emolga's neck stand on end suddenly came from somewhere behind her. Emolga whipped around in fear, temporarily ignoring the Crabominable since it was so slow anyway, to see the origin of the noise she'd heard that made her skin crawl. It was in the cages in the corner. Emolga spotted three cages stacked on top of one another and with black tarps covering the tops and sides so one could only get a good look at what was pressed deep inside if one was right in front of it.

The sound of Crabominable jumping through the air stopped Emolga just as she was forgetting that she was in the middle of a fight due to the mystery of what was behind those metal bars. Emolga reflexively jolted hard to her left, knowing without looking behind her that Crabominable had leaped at her with his fists ready to throw out an attack similarly to how he'd pummeled his way through the glass protecting the Anonymous members from the Testing Area.

Crabominable, who had intended on landing an Ice Hammer punch right into Emolga's back as she was distracted by the cages, ended up sailing right through where she had previously been and ended up slamming both of his Ice Hammer attacks right into the front of the cages, the strength of his fists shattering through the metal front bars as easily as they'd shattered through reinforced glass. By the time the dust settled and Emolga realized what Crabominable unleashed from those cages by her sidestepping, it was too late.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Shorter chapter. Sorry it's taking so long, it's been a hectic winter. The end is nigh.