Riley was still underwater- he could tell because of the echoes of the movement of water pressing against the metal walls- but this area of the building wasn't submerged because of a property Riley understood but couldn't put words to. He followed the Pokemon through the door at the top of the stairs, but even though its song bounded off the walls, it was nowhere to be seen.
There were lights here, but they flickered and some even sparked when they flickered. Other than that, dim backup lights that hardly lit up anything also lined the room. Riley looked forward. There was a pitch-black silhouette of a womanly physique with long, full hair.
He approached it, and when he walked about halfway across the room, the door slammed shut. A red glow lit up the room. It also lit up the silhouette. It looked incredibly similar to the Pokemon that had guided him here, but this one had one red eye. The other side of its face wasn't covered by its hair like the other Pokemon, but where the other eye would be on a human, there was a vertical mouth that had sharp, glistening teeth!
It had the same hair as the blue-eyed Pokemon, but there were no shackle-like accessories on its wrists or tail, and its hair was made of strong-looking tentacles as opposed to the texture of fins. Its hands were much bigger and looked like claws that could slice through metal. Had they? It was Team Delta's Leader's assumption that it had been a Pokemon that had caused the oil spill.
The Pokemon stood up, exuding confidence. A snake-like tongue slithered its way out of its mouth as it hissed at Riley. "Syyy!" it screeched. It sounded so similar to the Pokemon that it resembled.
That was when Riley knew what was going on. It had lured him in! What was it planning to do to him?
The Pokemon swung its arm at Riley, the arm extending as it flew towards him! He gasped, then jumped out of the way! He couldn't escape, so he would have to face it! He sent out Corvekt, who spun its sword on its beak, then grasped it hard between its beak and struck a pose to show dominance!
"Syrienne!" it cried, its voice still a song but a rasp having overtaken it and making it sound dangerous and intimidating!
It spun on its fin-like foot, then stomped its other foot down to stop its spinning and flexed its arms. It put one of its fingers up to its chin and held the other to its side, trying to act cute but failing quite obviously.
Corvekt juggled its sword between its wings, making it spin and look flashy, then grabbed its sword with its beak and slashed through the air, giving Syrienne a sample of its skills.
Syrienne got the first move in! It clasped its two hands together and a shock wave of blackness vibrated through the air. It hit Corvekt, surrounding it with black electricity which shocked it. Dark Pulse, huh? Riley thought. That must mean that Syrienne, at least in this form, was Dark-type! He'd remember that!
Corvekt recovered from the Dark Pulse and used Leaf Blade, vines made of green aura wrapping around its sword before lighting it up lime-green. Then, it slashed its sword across Syrienne's stomach! It was super effective! But it only depleted Syrienne's health by about an eighth! This Pokemon was terrifyingly strong! By far, Riley's strongest opponent yet!
Syrienne used Sing, and sang the same song it had to lure Riley into its trap. Corvekt started to get dozy when it heard the song, but quickly covered its ears so that it could no longer hear the tiring song.
Corvekt retaliated by using Leaf Blade again! It performed the same actions as last time, but this time it built up more power in its beak and slashed harder. It still only did a little damage to Syrienne, though. Even though Syrienne's Dark Pulse attack alone had done about a quarter of Corvekt's health worth of damage. A single drop of sweat fell from Corvekt's head.
"Rennienne," Syrienne charmed. It spun like a ballerina on its fin-like feet, which resembled an aquatic version of those of the mythical Xerneas that Riley had heard and seen pictures of. It used Hydro Pump, but Corvekt narrowly avoided it!
The black bird Pokemon flapped its wings and took to the air! The ceiling here was tall, so it flew freely. Syrienne tried to use Hydro Pump again, but the water jet couldn't reach Corvekt because it was so high up!
It came down and rammed its beak into Syrienne. However, this attack did even less damage than the previous two Leaf Blade attacks! The Dark-type opponent used Sing again! "Ultrienne!" it sang. Corvekt couldn't avoid the song this time, and dozed off!
The Syrienne walked towards Corvekt's sleeping body. It cracked it knuckles and knelt down next to Corvekt's body. It opened its vertical mouth wide and started bending down towards Corvekt's chest!
Riley ran over and knelt down on the opposite side of Corvekt! He pulled the Pokemon in his direction, then wrestled an Awakening desperately out of his bag and sprayed it in Corvekt's beak like a breath freshener. Corvekt's eyes opened just in time to see Riley get picked up by Syrienne's strong claws!
The Trainer kicked and struggled in Syrienne's grip! Its strong hand lifted him off the ground and started pulling him toward herself. Corvekt jumped to attention when it saw this! Its eyes narrowed in rage.
Riley closed his eyes, knowing this was going to end badly and four forked tongues slithered their way out of Syrienne's mouth! Corvekt sprinted over, preparing a Leaf Blade as it ran towards Syrienne, ready to give it the pinnacle of all attacks!
It swung its Leaf Blade, this time with its wings as opposed to its beak, and a satisfying crack rang through the room as the wooden sword made contact with Syrienne's wrist! Syrienne's hand went limp, its fingers dramatically separating and throwing Riley backwards as the Water- and Dark-type Pokemon was sent also flying backwards!
Corvekt had landed a critical hit! Syrienne got up, stumbling on its feet as it tried to get up without using one of its hands. Its eye glowed indigo as it sang a song different from the one it had been singing until now.
Water from the floor below rushed to Syrienne, cloaking it in mist which soon turned pink for whatever reason. When the mist cleared, Syrienne had changed back to its previous form, the form it had been in before it had entered this room.
Its voice was once again soothing and sweet. The move it had just used was Drowning Song, which had converted it back to its less-monstrous form, its Siren Form. The form it had attacked Riley in was its Devourer Form.
It cleared its throat, then began to sing again. Corvekt couldn't help but listen to the pleasing and beautiful song. Unfortunately, this meant it was forced asleep. Riley returned it quickly before Syrienne could do anything else sketchy to the poor bird!
He sent Barksky, not entire confident in its ability to beat it while it was in its Psychic-type form. But, luckily for him, Syrienne used Drowning Song again, changing it back to its Dark-type Devourer Form!
Barksky used Brick Break, hitting Syrienne with a full-force karate chop right to the middle of the face! A critical hit, and super effective! Syrienne was in critical condition! It used Hydro Pump, bringing Barksky down about half of its health with a critical hit!
The furry grey Pokemon retaliated by using Brick Break again! Syrienne didn't faint, but it sure was close! It body language was practically screaming! It used Sing, but Barksky ran out of the room and submerged its head in the murky oil-infected water in the stairwell, the attack song not reaching its ears. Riley pet its back and it popped its head back up. Its white and grey fur was now stained black, but it shook it off. Its fur was still dirty after shaking the oil off, but it was at least not dripping.
Barksky ran back into battle immediately! It pounced on Syrienne, climbed up its body, then jumped off the top of its head! It reared up its pelvis and charged up another Brick Break! It smashed its hind legs into the back of Syrienne's head, and the Water- and Dark-type opponent finally fainted!
Riley was panting. He called Barksky's name and it came running back. Riley fell to his knees, putting his arms around Barksky's neck. He took a towel and some shampoo out of his messenger-style bag and washed the black residue off of Barksky's face, being very particular about it so that its fur was spotless. He gave it a kiss on its chilly, wet, black nose.
Riley stood up, and Barksky followed him as he walked towards what the Syrienne had been standing in front of. It was another doorway. He put his hand out and the doors slid open seamlessly.
Inside, there was an absolutely gigantic drum of oil which had several slash marks in it. A grating underneath both the drum and the pathway around it lead to the water below, the water somehow not reaching this height due to the same physics as a diving bell. However, the oil from the drum was leaking out into the water below.
How could he repair this, possibly? He pondered. Perhaps a Pokemon move? That's when he got a call on his PokeVice. He answered it.
"Riley," said the figure on the phone. Not even a hello first? His voice was calm and confident, villainous. Though that was to be expected from the Leader of Team Delta. How did that guy get his PokeVice contact anyway? Riley nodded, showing he was paying attention.
"Have you found anything?" asked the masked Leader of Team Delta. Riley explained what he had found and about this giant drum of oil that was leaking into the ocean. "That's a huge trouble..." Team Delta Leader paused to think. He thought for almost two minutes, and Riley soon got bored of waiting. He urged him on.
"Please, this type of situation requires great pondering," Team Delta Leader requested. "I think I have an idea, though. You still have your Flaradillo on your team, correct?" Riley nodded. That was correct. "Okay, good. And you have the Leafprancer Darwing?"
Riley nodded again. "Good," replied Team Delta's masked Leader. "Have Darwing fly metal sheets over- you should be able to find them around that wrecked place- and then have Flaradillo use a Fire-type move to weld them onto the drum. If we can stop the leakage from this particular drum, it should stop the major part of the oil spill. We'll have more time to deal with the other smaller barrels if we deal with this main barrel." That was a good idea after all.
"Wing!" Darwing chirped as it was sent out. It started grabbing metal plating that had fallen off of the walls and whatnot and Flaradillo used Ember to weld them onto the drum. For the most part, this stopped the leakage. It was done much sooner than Riley had expected it to be.
He took advantage of a spot in the grating that had been broken to send Ripgill down. He changed into Team Delta's diving wear and hopped on its back, returning Flaradillo and Darwing and Barksky to their PokeBalls before returning to the surface. Already the water was starting to clear. He was proud of his accomplishment. He tried to fight his sympathy for Team Delta, but he couldn't keep it from invading his mind.
"Hey Riley," Sandra waved when she saw the second Pokemon Trainer to have won the Hourglass Badge while it was hers to give- or more simply, Riley- coming. "Did you manage to fix the oil spill all by yourself?" Riley explained. "Really? That's awesome! Team Delta was even involved? That's hard to wrap my head around.
"Anyway, the Ferry Terminal in Peurt Town just reopened after somebody who asked to remain anonymous reported that the oil spill had been taken care of, even providing pictures. Want me to drop you off there?"
Riley pumped his fist! He was finally going to go to Peurt Town!
Sandra giggled. "Alright, sit down and strap on tight."