CHAPTER 5: GANYMEDE
A bokeh glare struck Eevee's eyelids as the sun hit them. Its eyes were red, and its limbs felt heavy when it tried to get up from the pile of grass. Any moment now… Eevee thought. It went into Regigigas' cave and looked for the Titan, but it was nowhere to be found. Instead, in the center of the cave lay a gaping hole in space, like the ones Regigigas ripped open before. The inside of the hole was incomprehensible but glowed blue and white sparks shot out periodically. Eevee considered going in for a moment, but it was too scared. As it turned around to leave though a loud sparking noise from behind made it jerk backwards. A Beheeyem fell out, its body thumping against the rock twice. It crawled towards Eevee, its eyes and fingers flickering. It said nothing as it dragged its limp body forwards locking eyes with Eevee while it slowly backed away in horror. But after a few seconds, the Beheeyem fell to the floor and stopped moving. Eevee quickly ran as far as it could. It did not want Regigigas knowing what it saw. It ran and ran, tripping over grass and spitting pieces of shrubbery out. After a while its feet began glowing white and it ran even faster than before. It kept running and running and running and running until it noticed its body turning red and transparent. This time, it was fully conscious and aware as it left the box and entered the dark room. Let's do this.
Jupiter took out Eevee's Poke Ball and pressed the button. The little creature stood up and looked deep into Jupiter's eyes with nothing but determination. Jupiter subtly tilted its head towards the camera on the side of the room for a moment and headed to the other side of the one-way glass. After waiting a substantial amount of time, it flashed its fingers. Red, yellow, green. Red, yellow, green. Red, yellow, green. Today wouldn't be like other days. Today would be different. Eevee lay unmoving on the floor, and Jupiter wondered if she accidentally put Eevee to sleep for real as she hoisted it onto the hospital bed. It grew increasingly worried as it wheeled Eevee towards the glass chambers and suddenly took a turn into an empty corridor, pink and purple tiles unfolding from its fingers and encasing the room as she walked. The moment she looked down, Eevee was looking up at her. "Oh, thank Necrozma," she thought.
"What did you tell Regigigas?"
"Nothing about you. It appeared to be busy when I went to check on it this morning. It gave me this leaf so it could command you or something, but I won't be using it. What's your plan?"
Jupiter looked at the leaf with dots on it, shrugged, and sighed in relief. Eevee placed the leaf back in its mane. Its ears were shaking, and all its hairs were standing on end, but Jupiter could see no fear in its eyes.
"The room we are in right now is 2 floors under the ground. We are going to have to take the stairs to the ground level if we want to get out, and luckily for us the security only gets laxer as we go up. It will take a moment for the professor's assistant to get suspicious of us, so we should be able to get out of floor 3 with no hitches. The problem will be the second floor. Security Beheeyem and Sigiliph sentinels guard the 2nd floor, and Sigilyph are faster than I am, and will likely try to use Hypnosis on us first. I can protect you from attacks, but not Hypnosis. I'm going to need you to use Safeguard to protect us."
Eevee took a moment to process all of that and asked Jupiter to repeat a few things but nodded after a moment.
"And what's on the first floor?"
Jupiter paused.
"I don't know."
The two stared at each other grimly until Jupiter broke eye contact and began wheeling the hospital bed, reabsorbing the Wonder Room's tiles as she walked. After turning the corner, Jupiter wheeled the hospital bed across countless Beheeyem. The two got past most of the crowd, and Jupiter could see the door to the stairwell.
This is going almost too well, thought Jupiter.
"Hey, Jupiter!"
Shit. Jupiter froze.
"Hiiiii Neptune!~"
"Jupiter Jupiter Jupi-Jupiter Jupiter Jupiter Jupiter Jupiter Jupiter"
Neptune floated around Jupiter.
"What a cute little guy you have there! Whatcha doin…"
"I'm kind of busy, as you can see…"
"Well duh. I still wanna talk to you though… you're like the only other girl here and I barely see you anymore…"
"I love you, but I really have to go, Neptune…"
"Uuuugh can't you hear me out for just a second?"
"Ok… be quick though."
"Follow me! I'll levitate that little thing with us so nobody else takes it."
Shit.
Eevee shut its eyes harder.
"Ugh. Nep. What part of 'I really have to go' don't you understand! Fine!"
Jupiter followed Neptune down a forking corridor as Eevee floated close behind held up by pink energy. It was getting harder for Eevee to pretend, but it kept its eyes shut and its body limp as it could.
Neptune opened a door with a square glass window, and the 3 Pokemon entered the room. It appeared to be some kind of abandoned storage closet, but the inside was full of candles lit with pink flames. Boxes and blankets were arranged in such a way that it appeared like a fort, and drawings covered the cardboard. The drawings depicted a teal egg and a brown bell holding hands and going on adventures. Crayons littered the floor.
"Jupiter, meet the third girl in the basement… our daughter, Ganymede."
Jupiter stopped in her tracks as a small teal Elgyem came out from under one of the blankets.
"Hi miss Jupiter… I'm Ganymede…"
Jupiter looked at Ganymede, then at Neptune, then at Ganymede, then at Neptune, then at Ganymede, then at Neptune, then at Ganymede, then ran up and hugged Neptune, kicking off her heels.
"I knew you'd wanna see this Jupi."
"This is amazing. She's amazing. But how? Why didn't you tell me you kept the egg?"
"I knew you'd be mad at me. I even named her Ganymede, like you always said you'd wanted. I should have told you."
"It's ok, Nep. She shouldn't have to live like this though. This is not sustainable. You'll get caught…"
"I don't care, I couldn't just let them ship the egg off. It was horrible. How did you let go so easily-"
"I didn't, Nep. I didn't."
Eevee opened its eyes as it dropped to the floor, watching the two embrace and touch their hands together. Jupiter glanced at Eevee for a second, then back at Neptune.
"Nep, listen, this is going to be crazy but, what if I told you there's a way out of here?"
"You're crazy. I'm in."
"I didn't even tell you yet."
"I'm in."
Neptune turned to Ganymede, who was looking at the two Beheeyem with curious eyes.
Gany, do you want to go to go on our own real adventures?"
The baby Elgyem looked up at its mother with big watery eyes.
"Yes, mommy!"
Neptune turned back to Jupiter.
"Like I said then, I'm in."
"We can do it, Gany… we can do it… aunt Jupiter is going to help us."
Jupiter's stomach dropped, but she quickly hardened her face into an emotionless gaze. She looked at Eevee, and Eevee nodded in agreement.
"Me and this Eevee here are going to make a dash for the surface level, using Hypnosis on everyone that tries to stop us on the second floor."
"That's a stupid plan, Jupi. That's so like you. You don't have any attacking moves. You'd get caught instantly."
"I know, but th-"
"But with me backing you up, we'll have a chance."
Ganymede walked up curiously to Eevee with its hand out. Eevee jumped on Ganymede and licked the baby Elgyem's face. She laughed and fell over, her limbs flailing as Eevee kept licking her. Eevee's tail wagged violently. The two Beheeyem covered their laughs.
"This can work. This can work. You can help Eevee stall the security and sentinels until I hit them with Hypnosis."
"Let's do this! Gany, gather your things!"
Ganymede picked up a red crayon and a dead butterfly, and the 4 Pokemon backtracked to the stairs.
The second floor was a lot more open than the basement. From the door, Eevee could see just 1 large room with several doors on the walls. A single long light panel led all the way down the hallway and to the door with the ground floor stairs. All along the light, Eevee counted 10 Beheeyem in the room, and in front of the stairs stood 2 scary looking multicolored winged Pokemon.
"Gany, those are Sigilyph and they are dangerous Pokemon. Teleport away from them if you can." said Neptune. Jupiter realized she left her heels in the storage closet. Goodbye, my loves… she thought. After hesitating for a moment, Jupiter opened the door.
Nobody noticed them at first, but eventually Jupiter eyed a Beheeyem looking at Ganymede and Eevee strangely. It didn't say anything but teleported away in an instant.
"That one will definitely inform the lab assistant," said Jupiter. Upon saying that, Jupiter suddenly noticed all the Beheeyem looking at her, then down to Eevee, then to Ganymede.
Shit.
"Eevee, use Safeguard, quick!"
Eevee didn't need to be told twice. It focused all its energy to the tips of its ears, and a gust of wind tickled all of the Pokemon in the room, causing them to pause for a moment. Eevee opened its eyes, now glowing blue, and began drawing a circle with its ears. While Eevee drew the circle, The two Sigilyph coated their wings in white light and rushed towards the group. Neptune pushed aside Jupiter and stood in front of the group and yelled "Protect!" flexing its fingers to create a large Protect barrier, stopping the Sigilyph in their tracks. 6 Beheeyem levitated various tables and cabinets from the doors and created a barrier blocking the stairs and doors, but 3 of them used Hypnosis, one on Jupiter, one on Neptune, and one on Ganymede. Jupiter stared back at the hypnotist unimpressed, but Ganymede and Neptune fell fast asleep, shattering Neptune's barrier, and one of the Sigilyph sent her flying. Scooping up the child in one arm, Jupiter spewed out transparent pink tiles from its fingers, slowly covering the room in them. Finally, Eevee's Safeguard was complete, and a sparkly glass formed in front of it. However, it reacted differently from before. The glass dissolved into thousands of tiny sparkles and coated Neptune, Eevee, Jupiter, and Ganymede. Jupiter looked at the sparkles on her arms and stared at the Sigilyph that hit her Neptune as the pink tiles finally coated the entire room, creating a glowing grid between them.
"You're going to regret that," said Jupiter.
As she finished, all of the opposing Beheeyem and Sigilyph began moving in slow motion. She used Hypnosis, and the Sigilyph that hit Neptune began crashing towards the floor in slow motion. "Now what?" thought Eevee. Jupiter was just closing her eyes preparing to take a hit from the other Sigilyph, and Neptune was out cold. "Think, Eevee, think!" Eevee thought hard to no avail. But then it remembered all the berries it ate with Regigigas, and remembered the chesto berry, a berry that cures comas. It recalled its purple blue hue and dug around in its thick mane. It produced a half-eaten chesto berry and dashed towards Neptune, shoving the berry into its mouth. Neptune slowly chewed and was still for a moment, then her eyes shot open.
"Thank you," she said. Then she flexed her knuckles and telekinetically picked up every single table and cabinet in the area and shoved it into the opposing Beheeyem and Sigilyph.
"You are damn cowards for aiming at a child before its mother. Rock slide. Bitch."
With that, the Sigilyph were taken down, and the Beheeyem could do nothing but attempt to get the debris off them and use Hypnosis to no avail because of the active Safeguard's protection. Neptune then rushed to Jupiter and made sure that Ganymede was safe.
"Let's head for the stairs, quickly! Trick Room does not last long. It is different from Wonder Room and is the reason everyone slowed down."
The baby Elgyem snored softly. It was almost completely quiet with how slowly the defeated Pokemon were moving as the group moved towards the stairs. But right as the group was about to reach the stairs, a human voice shouted behind them.
"Go, Hydreigon! Banette!"
Jupiter grabbed Neptune and Ganymede and teleported away, up the stairs. Eevee was not too scared as Hydreigon entered the Trick Room tiles and slowed down, but it did not catch a glimpse of the second Pokemon's name that the human called out. Eevee turned around to head up the stairs but was stopped by a cold body. "Jupiter must have come back for me," Eevee thought, but was met by two bright red eyes and a barely visible ghastly doll figure standing just taller than Eevee. Eevee jumped backwards into the Trick Room, but the eyes moved at an incredible speed towards Eevee and opened its mouth to bite into Eevee's face. Eevee flinched, preparing for the pain, but it never came. Instead, it heard a robotic grunt, and when it opened its eyes, it was up the stairs. Jupiter lay in front of Eevee holding everyone, her body trembling unnaturally. Her arm had a deep bruise on it.
"I think Banette disabled my Teleport when it made physical contact with me… I'm trying to teleport us to the door, but I can't. That Banette must have a Cursed Body. Neptune, take it from here…"
Jupiter shakily straightened itself and stood up, floating up the stairs with Eevee and Ganymede in its arms. Neptune trailed behind, keeping an eye on the door from where they entered the ground floor of the facility. The ground floor appeared to be a shared dormitory space, with personal belongings and 3 beds. A few safes lined one wall, and a kitchenette lined the other. A figure in a grey tank top and jeans was fiddling with the stove but stopped when it noticed the Pokemon heading for the door. It didn't do anything, but the way it looked at the Pokemon made Eevee feel like it was lesser than. Suddenly, an ominous blue and black Pokemon with 3 heads burst through the floor, blocking the door. Hydreigon. The figure looked at Hydreigon with disappointment, but still did nothing. Banette teleported in front of Hydreigon, smiling ominously while staring directly at Eevee. It began walking leisurely towards Eevee, almost in playfully so. It giggled in a voice that did not match its face, and even Hydreigon's left and right heads eyed it with fear.
"It's now or never. Jupiter, we're going to get out of here. Hyper Beam."
Neptune aimed its fingers at Banette, and the lights flickered as orange energy gathered in front of Neptune. Hydreigon flapped its wings to get out of the path, but the figure in the tank top said, "Hydreigon. Remain still." The draconic beast barked and whined with discontentment but obeyed the order. The beam kept charging, and a ball of white light formed in Neptune's palms. Banette continued walking playfully towards Eevee, giggling all the way. Then, all was quiet but Banette. The lights stopped flickering, and the only movement was Banette skipping heartily. The figure in the tank top covered its ears. Suddenly, the loudest rupturing noise shattered every glass in sight and a beam of pure energy shot from Neptune's fingers, slowly consuming her arms in white light. She screamed robotically, and Eevee couldn't see anything but white for a solid 30 seconds. Smoke covered the entire room, and the room went totally silent after the beam vanished.
"Incredible, truly. That was truly a Hyper Beam. You're easily the most powerful Beheeyem in this facility. But what did you really accomplish with that?"
The figure in the tank top started clapping slowly, and Banette giggled. Eevee's jaw dropped as the smoke uncovered the scene. Banette stood unharmed, dancing on top of Neptune, who was now lying on the floor, purple claw marks covering her entire body. Her arms were almost completely blackened, and she lay on the floor shaking. Nobody spoke. Then, from the rubble, Hydreigon began standing back upright and floated back in front of the door.
"Very good, Hydreigon. I apologize for making you take that hit. Eat this root."
The figure in the tank top tossed an object from the pan it was cooking with into Hydreigon's middle head's mouth. The creature gulped down the object in one bite and looked pleased. It shook itself off and then the Hydreigon, too, appeared unharmed. Eevee's vision became clouded with tears. They got so close, but now it will all have been for nothing. The lab assistant finally appeared at the stairwell as well, took one look at the scene that unfolded, and went back down the stairs after nodding at the figure in the tank top.
"What will you do now, oh brave conniving rebels?"
Everyone stood in place. Hydreigon sneezed and grunted, and Banette stared deep into Eevee's soul and flashed its shadowy claws. Eevee started to breathe hard and put its tail between its legs whimpering, but stopped when Jupiter placed her hand on Eevee's head, stroking it gently.
"Eevee. Use that leaf on me."
Eevee appeared shocked for a moment, but it really was the only option. Eevee had no idea what Regigigas was capable of and what the consequences of releasing it into the real world would entail, but its friend was hurt, and much worse things appeared to be in store for Eevee and its friends if they did nothing. Jupiter winced in pain from her wound.
"Ok. Thank you for all you've done, Jupiter."
Jupiter nodded, and Eevee pulled out the leaf from its mane and stuck it onto Jupiter's injured arm. The figure noticed this immediately.
"Oh. Hydreigon, leave the facility immediately and tell the professor that subject 133-1 has escaped, and that commander Ryuk sends her regards."
Hydreigon looked at the figure, concerned.
"Go. Now."
Hydreigon nodded its middle head in disagreement, snorting and whining with its other two.
"GO!"
The figure in the tank top had tears in its eyes.
"Just what am I releasing onto the world?" Eevee thought. And as if to answer its question, Jupiter's body went limp in midair, and all of the lights on her body turned off. Hydreigon took this as its sign to flee and burst through the ceiling of the facility. Eevee was more concerned with its friend at the moment though. Jupiter's eyes were blank, but white pools of energy were collecting within all of the lights on her body. A horizontal line struck through every light, and her body jolted back into place, the lights suddenly turning back on. They flashed in the same colors as the Titan.
"You must go now, Eevee."
"But that's my friend!"
"I know, I can read her thoughts. I also know she wants more than anything for you to escape. I'll do what I can to help her. Take the child and go."
Eevee sobbed violently, but sat still as Regi-Jupiter placed the sleeping Ganymede onto its back.
"We'll meet again one day, friend."
With that, Eevee ran past the debris, jumped over the hole in the floor, and ran through the door and into the light without looking back. It could feel the figure in the tank top boring its eyes into the back of its skull. As it ran, it heard a loud thud, and a ghastly shriek. Things were silent for a while, but then a howling and screeching could be heard. Eevee just kept running. It ran, and ran, and ran. After a while, it thought, "I should make landmarks, so I know how to come back. I need to come back. For Neptune and Jupiter." Eevee looked at the stirring child on its back. "For Ganymede."
END OF ARC 1 – ESCAPE FROM THE FACILITY