Chapter 49 - Not Much Longer

Lucas let out a groan, shaking his head as he came to. His vision, despite being blurry, revealed that he was staring at what looked like the bottom of a bunk bed. His eyes quickly moved to look at what seemed to be a figure, standing not very far away, surrounded by smaller figures.

Lucas promptly started to sit up in order to get a better look at the figure, only to become somewhat startled when he found that his arms were shorter than he remembered. That's when he caught sight of his taloned feet.

"What happened to me?!" Lucas yelped, jumping to his feet and turning so that he could get a better look at himself. "I'm a...I'm a Torchic!"

They boy's yelling caught the attention of the larger figure, and they came over quickly.

"Take it easy," the figure stated - a teenage girl with brown hair and blue eyes. "You're not the only one who got turned into a Pokemon when you came over here. And besides, aren't you supposed to be a Blazikan Trainer or something?"

"H-huh?" Lucas looked up in confusion at the teenager. "Yeah. But how did you know?"

"A...a friend told me."

Lucas blinked. "Uh...ok?" He looked around, seeing nothing but bunkbeds, two RIchu, two Pikachu, a Linoone, and some sort of black and red wolf creature that had what looked like red clown make-up on its face - he had never really been interested in the games beyond Sinnoh. "Where am I? And who are you?"

"I'm a friend," the girl replied calmly. "As for where we-" A frown came over her face. "Wait. Are you saying that you don't remember?"

"Remember what?" Lucas looked up at the girl directly. "The last thing I knew, I was falling asleep playing Diamond."

The girl's frown deepened, her blue eyes seeming to darken. "Weird." She shook her head. "You're in the Aqua barracks of Cyrus' citadel. And yes, I just said those two things together."

Lucas closed his beak, blinking in bewilderment. "How'd that happen?"

"It happened after Platinum's events. Cyrus came back and actually managed to take over." The brown-haired teenager looked grim. "He's been kidnapping kids from another world - myself included - so that he could find the one Trainer that took him down."

Lucas blinked. "Who was he looking for?"

"The Multi-Champion White."

The Torchic turned his head upon hearing the new voice, and he caught sight of an Aqua grunt with an Azumaril beside him.

The grunt, upon seeing the boy wide awake, grinned. "Well, well, looks like Sleeping Beauty is awake. Name's Nick, kid. Welcome to our own branch of the Underground."

Lucas frowned. "Underground?" he repeated.

"A resistance and rescue group," the girl explained. "See, most of the kids who were pulled through to this place somehow became mind-controlled, but there were a few who kept their free will." The girl smirked. "There's a resistance consisting of pretty powerful Trainers and the Professors, as well as the free kids; they've been looking for an opportunity to kick Cyrus off his self-made throne."

"And...you're one of these rebels?" Lucas guessed.

"Correct-a-mundo! My cousin's one of us, too."

Before Lucas could ask anything more, Nick spoke up, "There's a kid named Mist who's been trying to reach you for a while, now. You might want to answer her."

The girl stiffened in surprise. "Wha - really?" She dug into her jeans pocket and pulled up a small device that she promptly switched with another device in her left ear. "I'm going to go find some secluded corner, then." The blue-eyed girl walked off, one hand to her ear.

"Just don't go poking your nose where it doesn't belong," Nick called after her. "The entire building's on edge after that stunt you pulled."

"Stunt?" Lucas repeated in confusion.

"We freed a bunch of Pokemon," the female Raichu spoke up. Lucas had almost forgotten that the group of Pokemon was there.

"She's a smart kid, but sometimes, I think she'll need to be reminded," Nick remarked.

"She seems...familiar somehow," Lucas muttered, frowning. He started to pace around the bed, his talons digging into the blankets as he tried to get used to his body.

Nick gave Lucas a curious look. "Familiar how?"

Lucas shrugged. "I'm not sure, but when she mentioned that she had a cousin, it kind of...rang a few bells, I guess."

Nick frowned. "You could have run into one of them before or something." He shrugged. "I don't know where the Goonie managed to pick up the lot of you, but there's always something as soon as you get over here. Like the kid she's talking to right now - Mist. She's probably got a lot of Water-Types since she blasted Cyrus with a Hydro Pump as soon as she came through."

"Really?" Lucas' eyes widened. "That could be why I'm like this - I've got a full Blazikan team!"

"It definitely does," agreed the blue-eyed, brown-haired girl as she reentered the area. Not too far behind her came the woman known as Aqua Admin Shelley.

"The entire workforce is in an uproar," Shelly told the group. "If our friends do anything else, we may as well attack and try to take out as many as we can."

"Which means that we have to wait for the rest of the group to attack before we can move," the girl added. "We've already taken care of the outer defense system and the Psychic sensor that Cyrus set up to protect the building from intruders. All that's left is the main attack."

The girl suddenly stiffened then, and her head cocked slightly to the right as a frown formed on here face.

"Something wrong?" Lucas asked.

The girl shook her head. "You guys mind if I disappear for a moment? I need to take care of something." With that, the girl's shirt went from dull red to purple-gray, and she vanished, causing Lucas' eyes to widen in surprise.

"What did she just do?" the boy asked, looking between Shelly and Nick in confusion.

Nick shrugged. "For some reason, she's able to switch between Pokemon Types. That's how she took out the defense system and the sensor. I think what she just went to there was...the Ghost-Type."

"Whoa," Lucas murmured. "That's incredible."

"You're telling me," Shelly responded. "I wouldn't mind having some of that power. Just the thought of being able to summon the waters at my very whim...it sends chills up my spine."

"I don't think it would be a very good idea if you got the abilities I have," the girl remarked as she reappeared where she had been standing a moment before.

"So, what did you need to check on?" Nick asked.

"I just got a message from the Underground," the girl explained. "Preparations are moving along smoothly, and with luck, they should attack at dawn. We've got the rest of this afternoon to prepare ourselves for the attack."

The black clown-wolf grinned. "It's about time." He rubbed his claws together as though he was sharpening them. "I can't wait to sink my claws into that Skuntank."

Lucas shuddered, hoping that the Pokemon didn't mean an actual human. The girl seemed to think the same thing.

"The Galactic members are probably going to be put on trial after this, Zorro," she told the wolf. "If anything, the only thing you'll be able to sink your claws into are actual Skuntank."

Zorro let out a growl of annoyance, while Lucas' eyes widened.

"I've heard that name before somewhere," he remarked. "And the only person I've run into who's called any of their Pokemon that is...my rival." Lucas looked at they girl again, who was watching him expectantly. "Joshua, your cousin."

The girl nodded. "You catch on quick," she noted. "Can you guess who I am?"

It took a moment before Lucas knew who he was looking at.

"You're Khrista," he stated.

Spacial Break

"Well, you're definitely not leaving this cell ever again," the Galactic grunt stated with a sadistic grin. "After a show like that, they're going to leave you here to rot." He slammed the steel door shut, but Joshua could still hear the goon's maniacal laughter as he walked away from the boy's cell.

After Khrista had disappeared with Lucas, there had been a confused pause right before all the Galactic goons had started yelling at the kids - and each other - in order to figure out what had just happened.

Charon had, of course, promptly gone for Joshua and demanded to know if the boy had anything to do with it. Joshua had feigned surprise, claiming that he hadn't known Khrista had been in the room.

The old scientist, giving Joshua a suspicious look, then declared that the boy was to be taken back to his room and left there until they had figured out a way to put him out of his misery (oddly enough, the children they had brought over were much more resistant to Pokemon attacks than the average person).

Thus, Joshua had been sent back to his cell.

"What happened?" Gangrene looked down from her perch on Joshua's bunk with a curious expression.

"We rescued one of my rivals," Joshua explained. "My cousin had to appear and get him out of there before the Galactics could figure out what had happened."

A sinister grin crossed the Gengar's features. "Which one was it?"

"The Torchic."

"Why not the other one? You know I like messing with him."

"Because the Torchic was closet. Besides - they tried to put me in charge of a Grass-Type group, and his Fire-Group was in the perfect place for a challenge."

Gangrene's grin turned into a scowl. "What were you thinking? You could have gotten your name discovered!"

"He fainted with his eyes shut," Joshua responded. "I don't think he would've said anything, anyway - he was in shock."

The scowl remained put, but there was humor in the Gengar's eyes. "I suppose that everything became chaotic as soon as your cousin got him out of there."

"You have no idea." Joshua looked somewhat amused himself, now. "Unless you tried to do something."

"Oh, yes. I managed to get a Cubone away from his assigned Trainer some time ago. They found it in the basement a little while later."

Joshua frowned. "How long ago was that?"

"A few days ago, probably." Gangrene grinned again. "All the Pokemon are starting to become rebellious - they probably sense what's going to happen."

Joshua wasn't surprised by this. He knew that Pokemon could sense when something big was going to happen, and the attack was certainly something big.

"So, when do we get to attack?" The Gengar looked eager at the idea of taking on the Galactics out in the open.

"Soon," Joshua stated. "But it definitely won't be long."

"No, it won't."

The pair looked at the back wall of the cell, and were unsurprised to see Khrista leaning against it.

"What are you doing here?" Joshua asked. "A Galactic could come in here and -"

"I got a message from the Underground," Khrista stated. "The attack's going to be at dawn. I thought you should know."

Gangrene looked hopeful. "Really truly?"

"That's what Green said," Khrista confirmed. Turning to look at Joshua, she added, "You're rival's woken up, but he needed to be told what was going on. I don't think he remembers being under Cyrus' control at all."

"Really?" Joshua blinked in surprise. "I hadn't thought memory loss would be a side effect of all this." He sent a quick glance at the door. "You'd better get out of here and go back to wherever you're staying before a grunt comes in here to check on us."

Khrista frowned slightly, then nodded. "Keep your eyes and ears open - who knows when the attack will reach you." With that, she Teleported out in a flash of gold.

Gangrene grinned like an idiot at where Khrista had been a moment ago, then turned to looked at Joshua who, although he looked calm, had excitement sparkling in his eyes.

"Get some rest," he told the Ghost/Poison-Type. "You're going to need all the strength you can possibly have tomorrow morning."

The Pokemon nodded in agreement, then climbed into one of the lower bunks and disappeared under the covers. Joshua, after a moment, climbed up to a vacant upper bunk and lifted the covers, revealing the projects he had been working on when he was alone. Removing the pile carefully, he laid the tech out on the untaken lower bunk, going over each of them and looking for repairs that might be needed.

After looking each of the devices over, Joshua lifted up a small device that looked like it had a key attached to one end. Joshua fingered the strange invention for a moment, running a finger along the "key's" ridges. After he had inspected his work, Joshua moved over to the door and attached the device to the handle, causing it to begin beeping softly.

"Shock sensitive," Joshua muttered, causing the beeping to stop. "Twelve hours." With that, he moved over to the lower bunk, shifted the devices into a blanket-bundle (which he placed on the floor beside the lower bunk), then got under the blankets of his lower bunk, falling asleep in seconds.

The device on the door, meanwhile, began to throb quietly; if anything shook the door handle, the cell's occupants would know. And the intruder would be very sorry they had tried to disturb them.

The title of this chapter speaks truly - we really don't have too much longer.