"Alright Banette, can you light up this place?" Lyra asked the Ghost Pokémon as she called it out of its Poké Ball. Eerily, she could only see a pair of sinister red eyes twinkling in the darkness but for now, she trusted the Pokémon.
Giggling, Banette complied and balls of blue flame appeared, surrounding both Pokémon and trainer in a ring. Will-O-Wisp. Moving its arms, Banette telepathically fanned out the blue flames across the room, illuminating the vast basement in a chilling blue glow. It was a big room with many pillars of sealed cardboard boxes piled to the ceiling, bearing labels like "Potion" or "X Speed". Lyra sincerely hoped that there would not be another Pokémon waiting in one of these boxes to spring out at her again.
However, the Trainer nature in her got the better of her and she could not just leave those boxes alone, especially since they were full of potentially-useful items. Finding a box labelled "Battle Items", she excitedly scratched the tape around the box off with her fingernails and forced the box open. Her excitement was rewarded as the box was indeed filled with many valuable items that she knew she could use, like Life Orbs and Assault Vests. She quickly filled her bag with a few of these before regaining awareness of her surroundings and looking around to make sure that no one else was watching. No security cameras were in sight and only Banette observed cavalierly. Standing up hurriedly, clutching her bag tighter and pretending that she hadn't just robbed the Goldenrod Department Store, she walked on, leaving the raided box in a corner. Weaving around more stacks of boxes and resisting the urge to open them, she headed to the exit at the far corner, the tongues of fire leading the way and Banette dutifully following behind.
After navigating the maze of corridors and rooms that were the Department Store's basement, Lyra finally came to a wrought iron door that was sealed shut, with a control panel on the wall as its side. As she stepped forward to inspect this panel, the door suddenly rumbled and slid open from bottom to top. On the display of the panel, a digital message appeared: Goodbye, Lyra.
A cry of shock escaped her lips and she leapt back, horrified that someone or something was watching her and that he/she/it seemed to be leading her toward her demise. Backing away, she turned around and saw that Banette still floated about the same spot, waiting for her to step through the door. Its eyes still stared unblinkingly and sinisterly at her and it still bore a huge ominous grin that seemed to border on excitement at something about to happen. Something definitely was not right and Banette seemed to know something she didn't. Still, there was no other way out of this basement. And anyway, if she had supposedly survived a ghost Pokémon ripping off her face and a combined Explosion attack, Lyra reasoned that maybe whatever awaited behind the door might not necessarily be the permanent mortal end of her. Mustering her courage, she stepped through and saw a long flight of stairs downward. This time however, the staircase and wherever the staircase led were dimly lit.
As she had no more need for Banette's Will-O-Wisp for now, she returned it to its Poké Ball and descended the stairs cautiously, reaching a narrow corridor that opened up to a single large room. The room had a dizzyingly-high ceiling, probably 6 or 7 metres high with dim and flickering fluorescent tubes providing dull lighting. From wall to wall, numerous partitions were built, making the room resemble a gigantic maze. The partitions were around three-quarters the height of the room. If not for the labyrinthine structure of the partitions and the ominously-high ceiling, this would have resembled something like a corporate office which had been emptied of its staff and then used as a basement warehouse; which it probably was. In and around these cubicles were stacks of sealed cardboard boxes and other miscellaneous office furniture, like desks and filing cabinets, positioned randomly and haphazardly. All of these were caked in a thick layer of dust. Nothing to do but find the next exit from this maze, probably.
Deciding to rely on Pokémon again, Lyra called Banette out of its Poké Ball asked it to help her find an exit. The marionette Pokémon merely continued smiling and floated stationary. Sighing, she entered the maze and Banette followed behind, rather like an amused and casual spectator.
After an hour or so of moving through the maze and getting her bearings based on the objects around her, Lyra arrived at what she believed was the middle of the room. It was a large chamber, bare except for a dusty table and on it, a Poké Ball. A surge of hope passed through her. As she neared the table, she saw that the Poké Ball had a number of star Seals pasted near its base, and the hope in her turned to excitement. It was her Dragonair's Poké Ball!
She ran with joy over to the table and scooped up the ball. As she did, a low rumble filled the room, sounding like a large machine somewhere near had been activated and was now starting up its processes. Paying no heed to this in her euphoria at finding one of her Pokémon though, Lyra pressed the button on the ball. Nothing happened. Frowning, she pressed harder and held down the button but still, nothing happened. How strange. Poké Ball failure was almost unheard both hands on either hemisphere of the ball, Lyra grunted in frustration as she tried to manually force the device open. In the midst of her efforts to open the Poké Ball, Lyra suddenly felt a cold sensation enveloping her feet. Looking down, she gasped in horror as she realised that that water had flooded the warehouse up to her ankles and was rapidly increasing. She also suddenly became aware of the deafening roar of gushing water coming to her from somewhere across the room.
Quickly, she pocketed Dragonair's ball and sloshing through the water, retraced her steps. Because she was a Trainer who had travelled not just through cities but caves and jungles as well, Lyra had developed a good sense of direction and this served her well, placing her at the start of the maze in just under 20 minutes. Reaching the staircase which she had descended and looking up, Lyra stared in horror after realising that the metal door from which she had entered was now tightly shut. Reaching the electronic control panel and pressing on it did not make the door budge. The digital display still bore the same message, its meaning now ominously clear. Goodbye, Lyra.
There had to be another way of escape. Wasting no time, she charged back into the maze, the water at this point above her knees. The layer of dust on everything turned the water a noxious blackish colour. Behind her, Banette easily kept pace with her, now seeming a little annoyed at being wet and endeavouring to remain above water but otherwise remaining calm.
Quickly, quickly!
It was becoming increasingly difficult to move across the maze, the murky water at waist-level impeding her movements. "Banette! I need you to help me! If we both want to survive, we have to work together!" Lyra gasped, pleading with the Pokémon.
Unhappily, Banette floated past her, phasing through the wall in front of her. She didn't know what to make of this – whether the ghost would return and lead her out of this death trap or if it would abandon her. She continued pressing through the maze, praying that Banette would find another exit and return for her quickly.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to move. The water level was so high that her feet were barely touching the ground and she had to make swimming-like movements with her arms to propel herself forward. At least it was still a distance before the water reached the high ceiling. When it rose high enough, it would enable her to float above the maze partitions and look for an exit but if the doorway was of normal height, it meant that she would have to dive into the filthy water to pass through it. Also, there was no guarantee that whatever exit she found would lead to higher ground. Hearing a clacking sound, she turned and saw Banette hovering beside her, shaking its head. "No exit?" she asked, becoming even more desperate and the Pokémon continued shaking its head. Just great. There had to be another way. She racked her brains for a solution.
The way that this room was an enclosed area filled with water almost reminded her of… of a Pokémon battle stage that they had in gyms and other official League battle competitions. That's it! Maybe she could try something. Paddling around, the water now fully lifting her off the ground, she came to a tall filing cabinet. It had a detachable metal bar across its front, designed to allow the cabinet drawers to be locked with a padlock. However, thankfully this one was not locked down and she swam to it, struggling to yank the metal bar off with both hands while she pushed against the cupboard with both feet. With some difficulty, she finally dislodged the bar. Holding it with one hand, she rummaged in her bag, which was floating beside her head, with the other and managed to find what she was looking for: two Eject Buttons which she had taken from the box earlier. Hopefully this works!
"Here," she said, activating both buttons for battle use before handing Banette one and taking the other. "At the count of 3, you will use Astonish on me and I will… I will hit you with this metal bar at the same time." Banette did not look pleased. "… Gently. We need to do this to escape here. Please."
The marionette Pokémon did not respond but it did not shake its head either. Lyra chose to interpret this as grudging acquiescence. "1… 2… …," Lyra angled the metal bar with both hands, resting the other end of it just centimetres above Banette while the marionette Pokémon moved closer to her to ready its attack. "… 3!"
A dark silhouette shot out from Banette and knocked Lyra back. At the same time, she brought the metal bar onto Banette's evanescent body with a smack. In a flash of light emanating from the Eject Buttons, Lyra felt herself being propelled upwards by a sudden and violent force through the room. She felt herself smashing through the ceiling though she did not feel any pain, as though the force catapulting her had formed a force field around her, wrecking the ceiling without injuring her.
…
She must have blacked out for a short while because she suddenly opened her eyes and found herself lying flat on her back on the floor, completely dry and free of any of the scum that had been in the water. Banette was prostrate on the ground next to her and was slowly pulling itself up groggily, seemingly having been knocked out temporarily as well. However, the sounds of rushing water still came through the floor below her and she knew that she was still in the same reality and not in another dream.
Looking around her, she found herself in the middle of a wide corridor. It would have been brightly lit, except for the fact that many of the electrical lights were flickering or otherwise seemed to be blown out. But at least she recognised this place. It was the Goldenrod Tunnel – the tunnel that ran underground across the length of the city.
Lying back down, she allowed herself to breathe a deep sigh of relief at her good luck. Her plan had worked! She began chuckling to herself, her tensions eased at the realisation that she had once again narrowly escaped death. But her body immediately stiffened again when her giggles were replied with maniacal laughter echoing down the corridor around the corner from her. So, they were not alone. Standing up quickly, she pulled Banette up with her.
"Come on! We've got to keep moving!" she said determinedly to the Pokémon as she advanced carefully but steadily to the source of the ominous cachinnations.