Drew stared at the unconscious boy and winced in sympathy. Man, that must have been embarrassing, fainting twice at the most critical moments. He was bought out of his musing by Shu, who took a step forward while Maxie stared at the boy on the floor and then the machine.
Maxie stared at the machine so intensely that it looked like he was trying to convince the metal junk to break into a jig just by the power of his thought alone.
Well, it doesn't look like that is going to happen anytime soon. Drew thought in amusement as he grinned at Daichi who gave him a wink.
Shu was standing just behind Maxie. Just as Maxie turned around, eyes wild and dangerous, his face red with outrage, to give Daichi a shout, he stopped short as he looked down at Shu standing so close to him. Despite being almost 3-4 inch shorter than the older man, Shu was still intimidating as he looked up at Maxie.
"What-!" Maxie spluttered indignantly, "What are you doing so close to me? Get back! I said, get back! You, runt! What have you done to my machine, you….you…"
They all waited for Maxie to run out of steam. Just Maxie was reaching for his pokeballs when Daichi stepped forward. "Chill, Maxie."
Maxie looked truly angry at being referred to by his name by a guard, "What-what did you say?"
"Maxie, calm down." Daichi said calmly, as he held up his hands, "I just took a look around the control panel."
Maxie stared transfixed at Daichi's hand, holding thin wires. At that moment, Drew could almost feel the outrage radiating from the man as he trembled with suppressed rage.
"Who-what…"
"Shimizu's brats." Drew announced, before promptly commanding Ditto- who had turned into a Raichu- to knock him out with iron-tail.
O.o
"Hey." May smiled and stepped forward as Drew emerged from the tunnel, holding a small box and a leather pouch, led by a grinning Ditto. Drew ran a tongue over his lower lip and looked at her hopefully. May gave him an amused look before leaning in to kiss him. Drew sighed contently and May smiled into the kiss. She pulled back when Drew opened his mouth to deepen the kiss, "Not now, Romeo."
Drew pouted but then smiled. Chiyo stepped out next, arms outstretched towards Ayame who hugged her, "Success!"
"Way to go!" Ayame grinned and even Miyuki cracked a smile. The four chatted for a few moments, before Ayame turned to Chiyo and Drew with a concerned expression, "Where is Shu and Daichi?"
"And Kei?" Miyuki asked before she could help herself. But May had to give her credit; she remained stoic even as the others gave her amused looks. Before Drew or Chiyo had a chance to reply, they heard a groan coming from the direction they both had come from. Ayame, Miyuki and May turned to the remaining two with questioning expressions which they returned with amused looks.
"A little-grunt- help would be –hah- appreciated!" Daichi's voice came before he and Shu became visible. They were panting and sweating as they carried the dead-weight of Maxie and…Kei?
They all rushed forward and straight to Shu, "Oh my god, what happened?"
"Kei? What happened to him?"
"Is he hurt?"
Daichi gave Drew and Chiyo, who were snickering, a withering look, "A little help would be nice."
And with that, he dropped the unconscious man on the floor, gaining the attention of the other occupants. Shu settled Kei on the floor with his back propped against the wall, and Ayame, May and Miyuki gathered around the unconscious boy. While Daichi and Chiyo narrated what happened in the chamber, Drew and Shu dragged Maxie over to where Brodie and Courtney were sitting unconscious.
"Do you regret letting us tag along?" Drew asked as he tied up Maxie's hands behind his back.
Shu looked like he was contemplating the question as he gazed at his little brother, his hands working automatically on the rope he was using to tie up the man's legs, "Well, it's not like you really did anything important."
Drew gave him a dry look as he looped the rope in a pattern Ayame had taught him, "And whose fault is that?"
Shu tried to give him a serious look but he failed when he ended up grinning at him, "Mon angi," Drew smiled softly at the nickname, "I totally regret arguing about not letting you come along."
"Thank you." Drew said proudly as he tugged the rope a final time and Shu ruffled his hair. He stood up and waited for Shu to finish tying the gag. Together, the brothers propped him back-to-back with Courtney and Brodie.
"They do look sort of nice together." Shu commented and Drew snickered. They heard laughter from the group around Kei. The peaceful moment was totally broken up when the only door to the cavern, the entrance to the basement banged open and revealed a panicked looking Alex.
"Guys, I think you should come out and see this."
O.o
Tabitha was suspicious.
As the battle raged around him, he stood at the front entrance, arms crossed and a look of deep contemplation on his face. He looked up and saw their planes and Pokémons going head-to-head with the Police's. A potted plant to his right caught fire as a fireball launched by their Charmander was deflected by a shield from the police force.
He tried to make out the faces of their opponent and he recognized a few. Hideyoshi, from Water Department, Mystica, from Psychic department, Visca from the Ice department, Mark from the Grass department, Dawn from the Normal department, Michael from the Dark department...the assistants of the administrators. These were the people who led the various Pokémon-type departments of the Rubello Headquarters when their leaders were absent.
When the leaders were absent. Tabitha gritted his teeth. Why are the leaders absent?
He turned around and marched inside the building.
O.o
Carlos and Damon had followed Alex inside, a worried expression on their faces. Carlos had flashed a strained smile at the others before his face turned serious again. Alex was panting heavily, and they had to wait for him to catch his breath before he could speak.
"I'm sorry, ran all the way down here." Alex said, after he calmed down enough to speak. After another few seconds, he looked up again, "Tabitha."
"He's outside." Daichi replied, "I don't think he could have down our entire for-"
"He left the battle to our forces."
They all turned around, slightly panicked at the unfamiliar voice. Alex took a sigh of relief and rushed to the person silhouetted at the basement door, "Oh Arceus, you're here."
O.o
Tabitha marched into the headquarters and shook his head in disgust. He can't believe that those brats had played them so easily. Brilliant plan. Attack the headquarters from the front, draw out the full forces and infiltrate from the back door.
Now the only thing left would be to find those brats.
And destroy them.