Chapter 76: Unbreakable Team
Team Cosmic had stolen Lucas' Pokemon. At the Lillycove docks the tattooed Trainer had caught up with and seemingly cornered his ex, and Cosmic commanding officer, Marcia. But it was a trap. Instead of taking down Cosmic, Marcia summoned a wave of grunts to attack her former boyfriend. Lucas had put up a hell of a fight, but he woke up in a hospital seriously injured and with his team gone. Now they had to pay.
Lucas had sneaked out of the hospital and gotten information from Hoenn journalist Gabby as to where Cosmic's final base may be. With his friends and the backup of the Pokemon League, the teen was ready for revenge. Using a sea lab in the mouth of his Wailord Blobby Bob as a makeshift submarine, he and his friends had journeyed to the straits southeast of Lillycove City to the underwater caverns where Cosmic was located, the abandoned headquarters of another evil organization Team Aqua's secret base. The Trainer had no idea how much time had passed, but even a second felt too long now that his team had been taken. Soon, however, the base appeared just before the group.
"I was right!" Gabby whispered. The mouth of the cavern had not just one, but several Team Cosmic marked submarines were docked at the mouth of a large underwater chamber. The cavern made an excellent spot because not only was it difficult to get to, but it was large and trapped a large bubble of air that allowed people to gather undisturbed.
"So how do we approach? We can't exactly use the front door," Morgan remarked as she watched the busy but not frantic behavior of Cosmic vehicles and personal moving about the docks.
"There's another smaller entrance just on the other side. They assume no one knows they're here so there's a good chance they didn't think to guard it," the reporter replied.
"So what's the plan?" Skyler turned to Lucas.
"You mean besides bust heads and get my Pokemon back?" Morgan glared at the Trainer with the Mohawk. Lucas rolled his eyes, "Of course there's more of a plan than that. If this is Cosmic's last stronghold that means they probably store a lot of their supplies here. Steven told me to stick to storage whenever we can to stay hidden, and report back to him whatever we see. And I intend to follow that. For the most part."
"What do you mean by that?" Ashley asked worriedly.
Lucas cracked his knuckles and his expression turned dark, "My first and last priority is to save my team. So I'm going to look for them wherever I can. And if I find Marcia, I'm going to rip every last hair out of her head,"
"Don't make me give you the same talk you gave me at Meteor Falls," Morgan warned.
Lucas took a breath and nodded, "You won't need to,"
As Gabby had described there was a second, smaller offshoot to the larger underground cavern. And as they had hoped, it was unguarded. Blobby Bob spat the sea lab carrying his Trainer and the others out and Lucas recalled his Pokemon. He kept the Pokevice close and described everything he saw to Steven at his base of operations back at Lillycove. The CEO and former Champion promised more League members would be showing up soon, and with their vast numbers, would be able to take Cosmic down once and for all.
As they had guessed, most of what they explored first was storage: vehicles, freeze dried food and medicine, and most worryingly of all, weapons. Weapons were a largely foreign thing in the Pokemon world. In a place where humans can wield animals that breathe fire, can slash metal with their claws or spit acid that melts mountainsides, a gun hardly seems like a necessary tool. But Team Cosmic didn't work like the other evil Pokemon organizations that had plagued their world in the past. They had rocket launchers, flamethrowers and crate after crate of guns of all calibers, and ammo. Though largely unguarded, there was still a light patrol that would pass by down the makeshift halls of the base. Lucas fought the temptation to pounce on every grunt he saw and knock them out. Instead, he let reason win and pressed against the walls and hid in the shadows every time they came by.
The group of Trainers continued to explore and search for their friend's Pokemon and found another storage area that seemed more promising. The next room held drawers full of stolen and poached Pokemon. Morgan was the first to notice that there was a sorting system set up for the Pokemon being processed. The categories included 'usable', 'useless' and a third that made the Trainers' stomachs knot: 'experimental.' Lucas searched frantically through the drawers for members of his team. And while he found creature after creature desperate to go home to its original Trainers, Diablo, Gizmo, Franky and the others were not among them.
They soon discovered though, that they were getting close. As all six people continued to search through the remaining drawers, Ashley gasped and gestured for her friends to come to where she was standing. At first they thought they heard another patrol coming, but as they listened to the conversation, they realized there was something going on in the next room.
"Hell, there's no way we're going to get this one to listen, we're better off just putting it down," the first voice griped as a deep, persistent snarling filled the background.
"Shame because it's a pretty vicious bastard. What a waste," said the other voice followed by the distinct sound of a gun being cocked.
Lucas burst into the room to find two grunts cornering a Mightyena that was foaming with rage. One had the Pokemon contained with a collar attached to a long pole, and the other aimed a rifle at its head. In spite of the danger, the dark type fought against its containment and attempted to bite and scratch at its captors. Only one Pokemon Lucas knew was that stubborn and vicious, and he wasn't about to see it get hurt, "Diablo!"
"What the hell?" both grunts turned away from their target to face the interruption, and the moment was all Diablo needed to react. He jerked the pole free from the grunt's hand and lunged at the man with the rifle. The grunt went down and screamed as the Pokemon tried to rip him apart.
"Haunter! Use Hypnosis!" Lucas threw a Pokeball out while the grunts were distracted and summoned the ghost type. The high level Pokemon instantly used her powers to cause both men to black out, even as Diablo kept mauling the man who threatened him with the gun. Satisfied with his revenge and seeing he was free, the Pokemon ran towards his Trainer and leapt on him. Lucas yelped in pain from his fractured ribs but it wasn't enough to stop his relief. He buried his fingers in Diablo's dark gray fur and embraced the vicious Mightyena for all that he was worth, "I was so worried I'd never see you again,"
"That was damn stupid, Rooster Boy! When are you going to learn that barging in half-cocked is what keeps getting your ass kicked!" Morgan snarled as she and the others came in after Lucas.
"I don't care, they wanted to kill Diablo," Lucas continued to hold his Pokemon.
Morgan paused in thought, "Oh, that's a different story. Carry on,"
"Diablo's Pokeball is over here but I don't see any of the others," Skyler bent down to Lucas' level to hand over the item. Diablo looked up from where he had his head pressed against his Trainer's chest and showed his teeth, but the Dragon Tamer ignored him, "What is this place, anyway?"
"Don't you recognize it? We've seen one like it before," Gabby stated as she looked around the room where they were attempting to control the Mightyena. Seeing Lucas and Skyler's confusion, she nodded to herself and explained, "No, you probably wouldn't. Both of you were feeling pretty awful, so I can't blame you for not remembering. This is a clean room. See those lab coats on the wall and that tray beneath them? This is where you go before entering a lab that you don't want contaminated. This setup is exactly like the lab we found in Granite Cave in Dewford,"
"Oh my god, you're right. That means the lab is on the other side of that door," Lucas got up from where he was holding his Pokemon and ran to the door where the now unconscious, and severely injured, grunts had collapsed in front of. The teen wrenched on the door as hard as he could, but it wouldn't budge, "Damn! Locked! And it's some kind of electronic keypad,"
"I got this," Ty, the largely silent cameraman shifted the continuously running camera on his shoulder to reach down and grab a Pokeball, "Go Magneton!"
The electric steel type sent a small charge of electricity into the keypad. It increased the power of the spark until the keypad popped and glowed, and the light on the side turned from red to green. Lucas wasted no time and pulled the door again. As Gabby had theorized, the lab was on the other side. Tables full of tools and sample tissue were laid out next to stacks of documents and meticulous notes. On the far side the lab was a glass wall. The contents were unseen as the room was unlit, but the more important issue was the other wall stacked with wire cages. A familiar 'vi, vi, vi' and frantic scratching on the wire was all the teen cared about in that moment, "Gizmo!"
The tiny Eevee ran in thrilled circles, even in the confines of the tiny cage. Ashley pulled Lucas away from the one cage and pointed to the rest of the wall, "Look! Stella and your Beautifly are here too!"
"Quick, help me get them out," the locks on the cages weren't electronic, so Lucas handed instruments to Ashley and Skyler as he used his own metal rod to pry open the door on Gizmo's cage. Like Diablo, the rescued Pokemon flocked to their Trainer, relieved in their safety and the knowledge that Lucas came for them. The moment of relief the Trainer felt dissipated, "Wait, where are Franky and Kazza?"
"Lucas, I know where your Kadabra is..." Morgan's tone was grim, even for her. The Trainer went to where his rival was standing, in front of the glass wall they had ignored earlier. It took a moment for his eyes to focus on the black shapes in the dark room, but when he realized what he was seeing, he felt like he was going to puke, or cry, or scream. Or possibly do all three.
The room behind the glass looked like an operating room, but as this lab was neither a Pokemon Center nor a hospital, the procedure being performed was entirely insidious. Kazza, the Kadabra Lucas had traded for in Oreburgh was strapped to an operating table, his eyes closed and a series of diodes attached to his head. From the outside Lucas couldn't see if his Pokemon was alive or dead, and he feared for the worst. Once again Ty's Magneton opened the lock and Lucas ran inside to check on his Pokemon. In addition to the wires coming out of his Pokemon's skull, there was an IV filed with a strange liquid being pumped into the psychic type's body. A monitor filled with information the teen couldn't understand was attached to the pump. All Lucas could understand was a timer slowly counting down. The teen reached to pull the wires and tubes out of his Kadabra's body when a voice called out to him, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you interrupt the procedure like that it will probably kill that Pokemon. Of course I don't care, I have plenty more specimens to work with, but as that appears to be one of your Pokemon, you probably don't want that to happen,"
Lucas looked up to see he was surrounded. Gabby had a hand over her mouth and gun to her head and many more grunts were also armed. The teen recognized the woman who spoke. She was the same devilish looking scientist he had seen in charge of the operation at the New Mauville power station. He, Ashley, Morgan and Skyler were so busy focusing on rescuing his Pokemon, they allowed themselves to get noticed by Team Cosmic. "I thought we knocked out those grunts and weren't seen by any patrols,"
"When the lab's locks get tampered with, an emergency signal sounds on my phone. You were caught the second you came in here," the scientist responded. She turned to her subordinates, "Return the specimens to their cages and take these people to see the Captain,"
"You. Are. Not. Taking. My. Pokemon. Again." Lucas seethed. His freed Pokemon surrounded him and he had his hands on the additional Pokeballs on his belt. Ashley, Skyler and Morgan also were ready for a fight, "Riddle me with bullets because you're not taking me down any other way,"
The scientist shrugged, "Ordinarily I would, but I have orders that if you appeared you were to be brought before the Captain. And keep the Pokemon if you like. I haven't started on any of those specimens yet and I have plenty others. However, I do suggest you cooperate. My orders extend only to you, I am under no obligation to keep these other people alive,"
Lucas motioned to his Pokemon to stand down, "Alright, if you have to, take us to see Marcia. I have unfinished business with her, anyway,"
"Marcia? Ah, I take it that's the Captain's real name. Very well," the scientist nodded and the Trainers all filed out of the room. Lucas took a final look back at his unfortunate Kadabra, cursing himself that he wasn't able to come before they started experimenting on Kazza, and praying the Pokemon might yet survive.
The scientist and grunts took the team to what appeared to be a war room. There was a large table with a map of the Hoenn region surrounded by chairs. At the head of the table sat Marcia with her feet propped up on the edge and her arms crossed, her face the cruelest and most smug that Lucas had ever seen her. It seemed like a different lifetime that they were together in the same gang, making out. What had ever attracted him to that monster in the first place? Or had they both changed just that much? All he knew now was that someone he had loved so passionately and had his heart utterly and totally broken by, was now his most hated enemy. He could easily see himself kill her without regret. And based off what she had done before and the look in her eyes now, she could very easily do the same, "I'm so glad to see you Lucas. After seeing you stand up to so many of my people in Lillycove I remembered why I liked you so much in the first place. Makes me very glad my hit didn't actually kill you,"
"You'll live to regret that. You'll wish that first hit killed me because you're never getting that chance again," Lucas responded.
"I actually wasn't trying to kill you. That would have been far too easy. I told you, I want to destroy you. Your little stunts almost cost me everything. You going to the Pokemon League every time, almost getting me captured. I was close to getting demoted because of you. The General doesn't take very kindly to failure," Marcia smirked, "See, you accuse me of being an uncaring whore, but that isn't even remotely true. I'm just ambitious. I see power and it turns me on. The ability to do whatever I want, how I want. If I didn't care, I wouldn't know the best way to tear you apart completely and totally. Only someone who truly loved you would know how to do that," She got up from her chair and approached Skyler, cupping his face in her hands and drawing it close to her face, "I know exactly what to take away from you to really hurt you. Just like you hurt me,"
"You betrayed me first you crazy bitch and you dare to act like you're some wronged woman?! If you do anything to Skyler you cannot even imagine the things I'll do to you-"
"Good. There's the stupid Lucas I knew and loved. I knew you didn't change that much, though it's far too late to have you crawl back to me. Don't me wrong, I'd totally get off on you begging for me, but it won't work. Not anymore. Not even the General is interested anymore," Marcia looked over Skyler's face carefully, tracing his cheekbones with her finger. The Dragon Tamer said nothing, defiance and challenge in his eyes, "Hurting your boy toy would piss you off, but it wouldn't destroy you. This would,"
The Comic commander reached into her bra and pulled out a Pokeball. Lucas kept a hand hovering over his own team, saying nothing and waiting for Marcia to make the next move.
"Team Cosmic is the strongest, smartest and most powerful criminal empire to ever come about in the history of this world. We are built from the ashes of previous teams whose stupidity, weakness and hubris brought about their downfall. We studied their mistakes and learned from them, and have absorbed their best and brightest. Many years ago Team Rocket used an ultrasonic device at the Lake of Rage. It made Pokemon super powerful, but it also made them super uncontrollable, and the effects were sadly temporary. We built upon their technology and for the past three years we've been working on perfecting it. To make it more effective, and to make the changes permanent," Marcia let go of Skyler and threw him back to the grunt who had held him before, "I had hoped I could redeem my failures by recruiting the former heads of Aqua and Magma, and failing that get the Orbs to try to track down the other Legendary Beasts of this Region. No one, even me, really thought it would work. Everyone thinks this Legendary Pokemon hunt is a huge waste of time. There is only one reason why the General would give me another chance after everything that happened: my team was finally successful at getting the device to work,"
Marcia threw the Pokeball in her hand and summoned the Pokemon inside. It was a Gyrados. Snarling, wild-eyed and obviously deadly. It was also one Lucas recognized immediately, "Franky..."
"Kill him." The Gyrados lunged at Lucas with a speed he had never seen before. Gizmo, Diablo and the others were blown out of the way by the sheer force of the Pokemon's movement, leaving Lucas almost entirely alone. Franky wove back and forth, looking for an opportunity to strike again. Lucas' mind reeled, not sure what move to make next. The Gyrados didn't give him a chance. It lunged once again, tearing the floor with his teeth the spot Lucas was just standing. If he hadn't moved in the last second, he was sure he'd be ripped to pieces.
"Lucas, don't just stand there, you moron! You still have your other team!" Morgan shrieked, pulling against her own captors with all her force. For as thin and bony as she was, she put up a hell of a fight against the muscular men holding her.
"Go ahead and try to fight him with your B team. I know that Pokemon was one of the strongest ones you had," Marcia laughed, "And it's only fitting that it's your own Pokemon who kills you. That's the way to truly destroy you,"
"You're even dumber than I thought if you think I have a 'B' team. All my Pokemon are first class and I believe in all of them. Which is why I'm not going to summon any of them. I don't care what you said you did to him, Franky is still Franky, and I'll find a way to get through to him," Skyler, Ashley and Morgan cried out in protest but Lucas held firm. He still trusted his Pokemon, "Franky, it's me, Lucas. You remember me! You remember the day I caught you outside Eterna City. It was my last Pokeball. I meant what I said, I wanted you to be my Pokemon because I like Magikarp! Everyone underestimates them, just like they underestimate me!"
Franky let out a roar and dove after his former Trainer again, slamming the teen with his powerful tail right in his injured ribs, sending Lucas flying across the room. He shuddered and coughed, a trickle of blood oozed from his mouth, and part of his vest started turning red. Skyler and Ashley screamed, "Lucas!"
The teen pushed himself to his knees and then to his feet. Franky continued to weave back and forth, preparing for another strike, "I thought you were awesome before you evolved. I never let you get hurt in battle and we always played with Gizmo and Hotrod. You remember Hotrod as a Charmander. We all cuddled together those first few weeks on the road in Sinnoh. And you were even cooler when you evolved. Everyone was always so shocked how sweet tempered you were, that no one had ever seen a Gyrados as happy and cheerful as you,"
Franky charged again. This time, Lucas charged towards the Gyrados as well, running with whatever power he had left. He missed the sea monster's snapping jaws and aimed for the Pokemon's underside. With all his might he clamped on with his arms and legs as Franky began to thrash. The teen risked freeing one hand and began furiously rubbing the Pokemon's stomach. The water type kept squirming, tearing up chairs and the floor before flinging the tattooed young man off and sending him skidding across the floor in a crumpled heap. This time Lucas didn't move.
Ashley, Morgan, Ty, Gabby and Skyler all fought back against their captors, even with weapons pointed at their heads and faces. Gizmo, Diablo, Stella and Beautifly all shrieked and snarled, trying to get to their mutilated and limp Trainer. Marcia stepped forward, laughing with a malevolence that bordered on psychotic, "This has been fun but I'm getting bored. Gyrados, finish this with Hyper Beam,"
Lucas' friends and Pokemon sobbed and screamed as the Gyrados rushed the Trainer's broken body a final time. It reared back and rushed its face towards Lucas...
...and in the last second gave the teen a gentle headbutt. Lucas stirred, gripping onto the Gyrado's face as the Pokemon helped pull his Trainer to his feet. All the cuts on Lucas' face had reopened, and he was trembling from pain and shock, but he was also smiling. He leaned on Franky for support, "You heard the lady. Hyper Beam, Franky,"
"What...how...?" Marcia stood in shock. And the grunts around her began to stir nervously.
"Franky...always...was a sucker...for...belly rubs," Lucas wheezed, barely able to speak with the blood he had been coughing up. The Pokemon obeyed his Trainer's command and shot a beam of pure energy just above Marcia. She dove to the ground and the wall behind her vaporized into ashes. Just then several other explosions went off at the same time.
"It's the Pokemon League!" a grunt screamed. Pure pandemonium broke out as Team Cosmic scattered. All the Trainers were freed and summoned their Pokemon. Lucas got onto Franky's back and rushed through the crowd to collect his friends and Pokemon. Morgan's Tyranitar Achilles, Skyler's Dragonair Celes, Ashley's Ninetails Whisp, Gabby's Exploud and Ty's Magneton and all of Lucas' current and stolen team joined in the fray. Steven on the back of his Metagross came charging like a tank, leading Hoenn's Gym Leaders and Elite Four into battle. Trainers, officers and first responders corralled the members of Team Cosmic and destroyed their equipment. In the chaos, Lucas refused to lose track of Marcia, who was desperately trying to get away. She scrambled through the crowds, pushing her subordinates behind her in hopes of creating obstacles for her pursuers. Lucas would not be detoured.
For everything that she had done, he would have his revenge. For her betrayals in Cherrygrove City, her attempts to hide her true purpose, for almost killing him and for stealing his Pokemon. For as bad as Team Cosmic was, he refused to believe there was any member more vile than his former love. She would not escape again. Not today. Not ever.
But for all his righteous anger, fate would not allow his justice that day. As Marcia ran sobbing, her hands and knees bloodied from her falls, her uniform torn from the battle, a hand reached out to pull the pathetic mess out of the frenzy.
A man in a Team Cosmic officer's field fatigues stood before her in front of an open Cosmic mini-sub, "It's time to leave, Captain,"
Even in her defeated state Marcia refused to surrender, "I don't take orders from you, Lt. Branson! I outrank you! I can still make this work! I can-"
"This is an order from the General. Hoenn is over for us. You've failed," the tall, muscular man stood coldly over his superior officer, waiting for her to move. Marcia bared her teeth, and looked fearfully at the sub, knowing what failure in the eyes of her leader would mean. But as she looked back to see her ex still pursuing her on the back of his Gyrados she realized the danger she was in. She swallowed hard and crawled towards the sub, praying that she was picking the lesser of two evils.