Chapter 4-The Team

"Me sir?" Ore asked in disbelief.

"Yes you, soldier. I've read your reports from Dewford and I think you show real potential of a natural born leader."

"But sir, I got through that battle mostly on luck not to mention I had an entire army to back me up and-"

"You're being too modest." Interrupted Douse, "Commander Biech told me you showed great bravery and that we would have lost that battle if it weren't for you. I can't think of anyone else I would rather have as the leader of this team."

"But sir, I'm completely inexperienced and I'm not sure if I can lead a team"

"Well I know for a fact that you can lead this team," Douse said with absolute conviction, "and as for the inexperience, leading a team on a dangerous mission is a great way to gain some. How do you think you gain experience anyway? From reading books and training? No, you gain it out on the field."

"But sir-"Ore started.

"Enough." Interrupted Douse, "The bottom line is; we need someone to lead this team. I know you can do it; that's why I picked you out of the other hundreds of possible candidates. This is your chance to make a real difference in the world, to finally put a stop to Celibe's tyranny. Now are you going to rise to the occasion? Or are you going to fade back into obscurity?"

Ore's mind was racing. He had no idea what it took to lead a team. If he did take on this dangerous mission and failed, there was a high chance that he could get himself and his entire team killed. They could even be taken prisoner and tortured for information. Ore shuddered at the thought. Thinking about the extreme risk involved in leading the team, he thought about the possibility of refusing the general's request. As soon as he considered it he knew that it wasn't an option. If he refused, the general could arrest him for insubordination or make the rest of his life in the army a living hell. Besides Ore knew he wouldn't refuse; he had never backed down from a challenge before. You could call Ore a lot of things but coward was not one of them. Nervous and anxious maybe but he was no coward. Every time he was faced with a challenge he always tackled it head on. He knew that he only had one option and with a heavy sigh he said,

"I…I will try to lead this team sir." He said with a salute.

"Look kid, I don't need you to try, I need you to do. Now can you do this or not?"

"Yes sir." Ore said with more conviction this time.

"Then let me hear you say so." The general said with a deadly seriousness in his eyes.

"I will lead this team sir." Ore said firmly.

"Good." Douse said his demeanor relaxing. "I think it's time to meet your team then." He said sweeping a hand down the hall.

"Where are they?"

"In the training rooms. Behind these one-way mirrors," He said gesturing to the windows along the hall, "are rooms we use to train special soldiers." Douse walked over to the closest window and said, "Your first teammate is in this room and I think you may know him."

Ore was curious so he followed the general and stood next to him at the window.

"No way, Is that…?"Ore said with a smile.

"Yup. He's the first one I picked to go on your team; I thought he would make a good second in command. He's one hell of a shot isn't he?"

"No kidding. Man, I haven't seen him in years."

Ore was looking through the window down into a large room that resembled a gymnasium complete with tile floors and cinderblock walls. On the far side of the room were several targets set up in a random sequence. Standing below the window was a Drapion shooting at the targets with a combination of Poison Sting and Pin Missile. Every barb he shot found a perfect bull's eye with incredible precision.

"That's nothing, just look at what this kid can really do." Douse walked over to a control panel by the window and pressed several buttons. Suddenly hundreds of hatches opened up on the floor, walls and ceiling of the room. Ore watched in awe as hundreds of targets sprang from them until the entire room was filled with wall to wall targets. Some of the targets were stationary while some moved on mounted tracks or rotated quickly in place. The Drapion just smiled and, without hesitation, shot a volley of barbs in all directions. It was mesmerizing to watch as every shot found a perfect bull's eye with such speed and fluidity it was as if it were a dream. In the time it took Ore's heart to beat three times, the Drapion had hit every target and was standing motionless in the center of the room, poised to take another shot. The general pushed a button on the control panel and spoke into a speaker.

"You missed one." Came the general's voice from a loud speaker inside the room.

The Drapion looked up to see a target, no bigger than a penny, on the ceiling one hundred feet above his head. He casually pointed his tail at the target and shot one single barb dead center of it. He looked to the one-way window and smiled.

"Is that better?" Came his voice from the speaker.

"Yes." The general said back. "Why don't you come on up, I've got an old friend here that wants to say hi."

"Oh-kay." The Drapion said, puzzled as he proceeded to exit the training room.

Moments later he entered the hallway through a door set into the wall. Once he noticed Ore his face lit up and a small smile played across his face.

"Holy crap. Ore!" he said as he went to embrace his old friend.

"It's good to see you Osiris." Ore said as he clasped his friend on the back.

As they pulled apart Osiris asked, "So how have you been?"

"Well I just got here from fighting in the battle of Dewford, I was made a master sergeant and oh yeah, I just agreed to lead an elite team to take down an evil tyrant." Ore said with a smile.

"You never told us that Ore was going to be our leader." Osiris said casually to general Douse.

"I hadn't made my choice until recently plus I thought it would be better if you saw it for yourself."

"Wait, you knew about the mission?" Ore asked Osiris.

"Yeah all of us do. We've all been training and living together for some time now."

"All of us as in the rest of the team?"

"Yeah, hasn't general Douse told you anything?" Osiris asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Not really." Ore said casting a glance toward the general, "He just told me that I would be leading some team to take down Celibe."

General Douse looked up at Ore with a sly smile and said, "Your entire team has been here for a few years now, some more than others, but they all knew they were being trained for a mission to take down Celibe. What they didn't know was who was going to be their leader or exactly what the specifics of their mission were. And like I said I was still looking for the perfect leader to initiate our plan, plus some of them needed time to get ready." The general turned towards the Drapion and said, "Osiris, why don't you go and get something to eat while I introduce Ore here to the rest of your teammates. I'll gather you and the rest of the team for debriefing later."

"Alright then." Osiris said as he was turning to leave. "It was good seeing you again Ore."

"You too." He said as Osiris was leaving. Once he had left Ore asked, "Just how many pokemon are on this team I'm leading anyway sir?"

"Uhhh…I think there's twelve total."

"Well I guess we should get going then."

"That's the spirit! Let's get to it." Douse said as he turned and walked further down the long hallway.

"I think that Camila is up in this next room." Douse said some time later.

"Who's Camila?" asked Ore.

"An Altaria that has been training to be on your team." He said stopping at a window.

"Here she is. Come take a look." He said gesturing to the window.

Ore stepped up to the window and peered through. The room inside was similar to the other with the exception of what appeared to be an aerial obstacle course taking up most of the space. The obstacle was made up of floating walls, hoops (some of which were on fire), and multiple laser arrays. As Ore examined the obstacle course an Altaria suddenly shot out from behind one of the walls. Ore watched as she flew at an alarming speed straight toward another floating wall. He let out a gasp as she pulled up mere inches from the wall narrowly avoiding it. She flew up and over the top of the wall and shot through a ring of fire barely a foot in width only to appear on the other side completely unscathed.

"Dang."

"Agile little thing isn't she?" the general said with a smile. "Quite the looker to." Douse added under his breath.

"What was that sir?" Ore asked.

"Uhhh…Ahem, well let's go see the rest of your team." Douse said hurriedly.

"I thought I was going to meet her."

"There's no time, I just wanted you to see your team going through some drills so you can see what you have to work with. Don't worry though, you can meet them all later." Douse said as he headed further down the hall.

"Alright sir." Ore took one last look at Camila as she flew through the rest of the course effortlessly before he turned and followed Douse down the hall.

They had been walking down the hall for nearly five minutes before Ore asked, "So what other types of pokemon are going to be on this team?"

"Let's see…" Douse said as they rounded a corner. "Well there's a Grumpig, she's a great healer, there's also a Wartortle, an Aggron who's one tough S.O.B., an Onix, a Grovyle, a Sableye, Makuhita, and you've already meet Camila and Osiris. Right now we're going to go see a Typhlosion named Reicart."

Ore quietly absorbed all this as he thought about what he had to work with as far as strength, stealth, and other qualities that would actually be useful in the upcoming mission. He continued mulling this over until he noticed they were approaching a Whismur starring into one of the many windows.

"Good morning Annabelle." Douse said in a surprisingly gentle tone.

The Whismur, not noticing their approach, jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Oh… h-hello general Douse." Annabelle said in a meek voice.

"Annabelle this is master sergeant Ore Areeder," Douse said in the same gentle voice, "remember how I was looking for a leader for the team? Well this is him."

She stared at the ground and said, "Oh umm… hello." She said to Ore barley above a whisper.

"Annabelle where is your brother? I'm sure Ore would like to see him in action."

"Oh well… he's in the cold lock." She said pointing to the window.

"Umm sir?" Ore asked.

"What is it?" Douse said.

"Well I thought we were here to see a Typhlosion sir." Ore said confused.

"We are. Annabelle and Reicart are adoptive siblings." The general answered simply.

"Oh" Ore said awkwardly. To cover his embarrassment he turned to the window Annabelle pointed at and saw a thick sheet of frost covering it.

He cocked an eyebrow and asked, "How cold is it in there sir?"

"Negative seventy-two." Douse said proudly. "I designed it myself as a way to train fire types. It's basically an obstacle course in the freezing cold complete with icicle cannons, frost hoses, and blizzard makers."

Ore stepped up to peer inside and saw a room very much the same size and shape as the others. The difference was that everything in this room was covered in frost and snow. The obstacle course inside was complete with walls, gaps, nozzles, and what appeared to be ballistae placed randomly around the room. Ore swept his vision across the room until he saw the Typhlosion. Reicart was in the process of dodging a barrage of icicles being fired from a ballista attached to a wall. Ore had to admit that this Typhlosion was fast and could really keep his cool under fire. He watched as Reicart sprinted fearlessly towards the ballista dodging icicles along the way. He got within fifty feet and launched a volley of Swift at the ballista. The stars raced toward the mounted cannon and exploded on impact. Once the smoke from the collision subsided all that was left where the ballista once stood was a gaping hole in the wall.

"Man, he's got some power on him." Ore said in earnest.

"Yeah, that's why I picked him. He's got a lot of fight in him and I thought he would make a great addition to the team. Annabelle here will also be going with you." Douse said sweeping a hand to the Whismur.

"Ummm sir?" said Ore in disbelief. He couldn't believe that such a small and timid pokemon was going with them on such a dangerous mission.

"I promise to be brave. I bet I won't even cry." She said trying to sound fearless.

"Well okay." Ore said in bewilderment, "It's a pleasure to have you." He said offering her a hand shake.

She stared at the hand for a while before tentatively grasping it and giving it a shake.

"Um thank you." She added meekly.

"Come on we need to get going." The general said while walking away.

"Yes sir." Ore said breaking his grip with Annabelle.

Ore took one last look at Reicart as he was being blasted by what looked like a concentrated blizzard. He turned and started walking after Douse. Once they got out of ear shot from Annabelle, Ore asked,

"Sir, Is she really going on the mission with us?"

"Yeah, I know how you feel. I don't like it either, but Reicart said that if she doesn't go he wouldn't."

"Why did he say that?"

"She and Reicart have been inseparable ever since they arrived, they're almost never apart. I guess that's why he wanted to take her on the mission with him, to keep an eye on her." The general explained.

"But what if she gets hurt? I doubt that she could handle any real combat."

Douse chuckled then said, "Don't underestimate Reicart; he would never let her get hurt. He's crazy protective about her and would give his life to protect her."

"Are you sure about this sir?"

The general looked up at him with a smile and said, "No, but do you want to tell Reicart that his sister has to stay here?"

Ore's silence answered the general's question.

Sometime later Douse said, "I think Arcadia is up ahead here. She's the Grumpig who's going to join your team."

"Is she the one that's a great healer?"

"The best I could find. You'll need her for your mission incase…something goes amiss."

"Okay." Ore said absentmindedly.

"Here we are." Douse said stopping at a window. "This room is for psychic types to refine their blocking skills. It's all about using shields to not get hit."

Ore looked in and not surprisingly this room looked similar to the others. Inside was a Grumpig standing poised as if waiting for something to happen. Suddenly a missile shot out of the wall on the far side of the room at an alarming speed. It was heading straight for Arcadia, but before it could hit she projected an immense wall of light. The rocket exploded against the wall and she was left unscathed. A second later another rocket shot from the opposite wall. Arcadia spun around and thrust her hand out toward the rocket. It started glow a light blue then slowed to a stop as she held it in her psychic power. With a concentrated look on her face she dropped her hand and smashed to rocket to the floor. It exploded on impact sending up a shower of tile.

"Missiles sir?"

"Well she's the one who requested them. Plus they're low yield; they probably wouldn't even kill her."

"Well that's good to know." Ore said sarcastically. He looked back at Arcadia as two pistons shot out of opposite walls heading right for her. Arcadia formed a bubble of light around her as the two sections of wall slammed into it with such force that it shook the window. The pistons began to glow blue and, gritting her teeth, Arcadia forced the two pistons back into their places in the wall.

"Dang." Ore said quietly.

Douse looked up at him with a smile and said, "Come on Ore." he said as the general steered him away. "I'll show you the two rock types on your team."

"Okay." Ore said breaking out of his daze. He turned and followed the general as he walked off down the hall.

As they headed down the hallway Douse said, "These next two are an Aggron named Ronan and an Onix named Ruka."

"Are they in the same room sir?"

"Yes, they're sparring up ahead. Ruka is a little dull, but she's a damn good burrower and Ronan can do things with the ground that I've never seen any other rock type do."

"Like what sir?"

"Why don't you come see for yourself." Douse said stopping at a window.

Ore peered in and was surprised to see the room beyond. It was different from the others in that it appeared to be some kind of cave.

"This room is a natural formation we found in the ground and we use it to train rock types." The general explained.

In the middle of the cavern-like room, Ore saw a writhing Onix being held in a headlock by a large, muscular Aggron. The Onix reared up and using her tail smashed the Aggron across the side of the head. Ronan reeled back from the blow and let go of Ruka's head. They both moved a few paces away from each other and prepared for the next attack. Suddenly Ronan brought his leg up and slammed it on the ground causing a spire of rock to erupt directly under Ruka launching her into the air. She was thrown back into the wall as Ronan formed a glowing white orb in between his horns. Before Ruka could recover, Ronan launched the fully formed Flash Cannon at her which exploded in a flash of light.

"Just between you and me, Ronan could beat her ass any day of the week, but Ruka's still a good fighter." After a pause he added, "We should be going now." Ore, having gotten used to the procedure, followed Douse without another word.

"How many team members are there left to see sir?"

"Uhhh…two." Douse said after some thought. "A Wartortle named Katrina and a Makuhita named Tyber."

"Who are we going to now sir?"

"Their actually next to each other further up here." Douse said nodding towards the end of the hall. "We're going to see Katrina first; she's in what we call the aqua room."

Once they reached a window near the end of the hallway, Douse stopped.

"Take a look." He said sweeping a hand towards the window.

Ore peered inside and could hardly believe what he was looking at; the room was twice the size of the other ones and didn't have a floor. Instead the entire room was filled with what appeared to be a miniature ocean complete with floating platforms on its surface.

"This room is where we train all our water types in everything from speed and agility, to water manipulation and strength. Right now Katrina's using our artificial current maker to work on her speed and endurance."

Ore looked down to the Wartortle below as she was swimming against a powerful current in the middle of the massive indoor sea.

"Not only is she a decent fighter, but she's one hell of a mechanic and I've never seen a piece of technology that she couldn't hack, fix, or build. She'll be pretty useful to your team. And over here is Tyber." He said as he walked across the hall to a rather small room. Ore peered inside to see a Makuhita throwing a flurry of punches at a practice dummy.

"He's a little wet behind the ears," the general said nodding toward Tyber, "But he's a good kid and I figured he could learn a thing or two from you."

"Me sir?"

"Yes. That's why I assigned him to your team."

"How long has he been training here sir? He's looks pretty young."

"He is, he's only been here for about two years now."

"Are you sure he's up for the challenge sir?" Ore asked skeptically.

"To be honest, I'm not sure, but I think this will be good for him, and for you. You two can look after each other on the mission, just keep him safe and bring him back alive."

"Yes sir." Ore said uneasily. He didn't know what the general meant when he said that it would be good for both of them if Tyber came on the mission. He decided to trust the general and do what he said.

"Well," Douse said cheerfully, "That wraps up our little tour and the first look at your future team. So what do you think?"

"Honestly sir I'm still a little nervous, but after seeing such a well-qualified group as these pokemon, I think we might be able to pull it off."

"That's good to hear. Now you have a few hours to kill before the debriefing."

"What is the debriefing about sir?"

With a devious smile general Douse said, "You'll see soon enough. As for those few hours you have to kill you may want to spend them up top in the town. There are plenty of things to do and I'm sure the others will be going up soon, you may even run into a few of them."

"Okay."

"I trust you can find your way back out. I have some things to take care of."

"Yes sir."

"Alright soldier, dismissed."

Ore saluted him and said, "Yes sir."

And with that they parted ways.