-Chapter XVIII: Though Darkness Comes-
-Connor-
"Connor… I… I didn't know-" Tyranitar's voice was on the verge of breaking.
"What… happened?" Connor felt his anger rising by the second. "Why did she die? You had one job… scout the base and don't get caught!"
"They were too well-guarded. They were suspicious as soon as I came to the front door. Dawn's information made me think it would be easier. They took Alice from my arms and dragged her inside. I talked my way into the place… Then these two pokémon… An Ariados and a Noivern… They called my bluff… They tossed Alice into the middle of a dogfight… The Noivern, he…" Tyranitar took a deep breath and slammed his fist into the nearest tree, snapping it in two. "I could've just destroyed the base and everyone in it, and Alice wouldn't be-! GAH!"
Connor teared up and shook his head slightly. Another one dead… I saw it too late… But what activated it? The Dimensional Scream?
Connor? What's going on? Is everyone alright? Dawn's voice sounded concerned, which was understandable.
"No… Alice is..." he couldn't finish the sentence without bursting into tears. But Dawn got the message
...Should I tell the others? Atlas will probably take his anger out on Tyranitar as soon as he tells him. Perhaps I should-
"No. That's not necessary. We'll tell him together." He turned to Tyranitar, and for some reason, he wasn't angry at the giant pokémon anymore. There was nothing he could have done. He saw that Tyranitar was pinned to the wall. And if Grovyle followed the restrictions to the point of not killing a threat like that Pikachu, then that meant it was serious if they broke the rules. Their plan was set to fail from the beginning… Briar had told them that.
"...Roy, what happened?"
His eyes widened for a moment, and when he opened his mouth, no words came out. Only a small whimper. Tears began falling down his face, and he shook his head rapidly. He sobbed, "I'm so sorry..."
He didn't know how to respond to that… Roy never cried. Not like this. Why did he have a change of heart all of the sudden?
"...Listen, Roy, I don't know exactly what happened, but it's not your fault. Okay?"
He shook his head. "I should've known… I could've helped out before a fight broke out… It is my fault, Connor…" He inhaled deeply, tears falling to the ground. "Briar warned us… But we went anyways."
"Hey, I know she did. But nobody ever knows what's going to happen. It could have succeeded… But it didn't." Connor was trying his best to not cry then and there. In all honesty, Alice was the one that calmed down everybody when their anger got out of hand. Even his. Without her, what would happen to the team?
They're already hurting badly… Atlas was already set on hunting them down… If he finds out that Alice… He grimaced and shook his head. I won't let him. He'll get himself killed. I have to stay strong...
Tyranitar collapsed to the ground, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Hey! Don't fall! What're you doing?"
The stone colossus was shuddering, a low rumbling noise coming from his throat. "How can I face them?"
"What? What're you-"
"I let her die… I could've gone mega sooner…"
Wait, he-
"He mega-evolved and broke his restrictions to save her, Connor." Roy's eyes were sunken and had lost most of their mischievous glow. "I don't know what the penalty is, either… But there is nothing further he could have done."
Tyranitar choked back a sob whilst looking at the ground, and Connor nursed the wound on his arm. "Wow… Mightyena have a strong bite…" He stood up and rolled his eyes. "Now that's both arms injured… Tyranitar. Roy. Mirage… Let's move. We need to get back A.S.A.P."
-Amber-
"Dawn, what happened?"
Her face was wet with tears, and Atlas clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. "Did someone die?"
YES!
Amber flinched at the sudden shout, but when she looked around, nobody else seemed to notice. Dawn must have been speaking through telepathy.
When she looked at the Ralts, she was facing her. The plan failed, and Alice…! GAH!
Amber found herself tearing up. This is my fault…
Celebi scowled at Amber while crossing her arms. This wasn't supposed to happen, Amber.
I know… I know…
"Is Alice alright?!" Atlas spoke with more force.
"...I don't know." Dawn said. It was an obvious lie to Amber, but she had learned how to read others. It might not have been that obvious to Atlas. "Connor hasn't given any confirmation. They might have gotten there in time."
He slammed his fist down on the table in the center, nearly splitting it in two. "She'd better be alright!" He pointed at Grovyle and growled, "It was your idea to-"
"No, it was her idea." Briar cut him off, her voice rapidly gaining a dangerous tone. "Alice volunteered to go in on her own initiative. None of us prompted her to do so. Do not blame us if something were to happen to her. And there is always the possibility that she is alive. Do not jump to any conclusions just yet."
He took a deep breath and glared at her, but she stared him down fearlessly. She was much faster and had more agility, as well as leaf blades and vine whips to keep him at bay, so he wisely backed off. Amber turned back to Dawn and asked with her mind, "Where are they now?"
They're… They're a little over halfway back. I couldn't teleport them back all the way, and now I've used up almost all of my psychic energy. It's taking everything I've got to keep in contact with them. And if I use wish again like this, my body will explode. I'd have to rest for a couple days before I could do something like this again.
Amber nodded slowly. I understand… But… Is Alice…?
Dawn sniffled once and tilted her head down in confirmation. Amber pursed her lips and looked at the ground. Atlas was observing them intently, probably trying to determine what happened.
Out of nowhere she heard an explosion from immediately outside. Galvantula moved towards the noise faster than she could even register. By the time she had come out to see what was wrong, Galvantula had a dark gray Pikachu snared in a net of webbing that had been set up on the perimeter.
The Pikachu was shooting thunderbolts right and left, and she heard Grovyle groan from behind her before he rolled a sleep-inducing seed bomb next to the electric-type's face. When it detonated, the grey pokémon crumpled to the ground, fast asleep.
Grovyle crossed his arms and moved closer. Basileus was already towering over it, and Grovyle held out his hand. "Wait."
Celebi tilted her head, and Basileus glanced between his son and the Pikachu before stepping back. Amber's immediate response was to let Atlas kill the Pikachu. She didn't know if it was an enemy or just a wandering pokémon that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But when Grovyle told Basileus to wait, she hesitated. Grovyle never told his father to back down.
Grovyle smashed a chesto berry in his hand and fed it to the Pikachu after a moment, and Celebi tilted her head. "My dear Grovyle… What are you doing?"
"Waking him up. I've met him before."
"What? Why didn't you say anything?" Mirage questioned.
"Because he's a bit… punch-happy. His thunderbolt is what fried my hair."
"Oh. Then why are you helping him? And why'd you say a Helioptile-"
"Ugh…"
The Pikachu's eyes fluttered open, and Grovyle instantly pinned him to the nearest tree with vine whips. "Start talking!"
Well. Amber thought with a chuckle. That's more like it.
The Pikachu tried to break loose, but the tree seemed to come alive and wrap its bark around his arms. "Arceus, what's your problem? You've done nothing but attack me every time we've met!"
"How did you find us?"
"I followed the trail." the Pikachu said matter-of-factly.
"The… trail? Impossible. There's no way you could've…" Then he thought about it for a moment. "Connor…!"
"Yeah. For the leader of Team Firestorm, he sucks at stealth. But whatever. I'm here because I've thought it over after what you said…" Grovyle nodded slowly, and the Pikachu continued. "And I want to join you guys."
Dawn floated out from the hut and levitated inches from his face. He narrowed his eyes at her, and was about to say something, but before he could, she grabbed his ear and yanked him free of Grovyle's vine whips. She threw him to the ground and trapped him in a sphere of earth peeled from the ground itself. The trees around them were surrounded in a pink aura, seeming to sway in the same direction, and Dawn's eyelids glowed bright blue. "Why the sudden change of heart, Aaron? When we met yesterday, you had no interest in joining us."
"Because… I just did, alright?"
She took a deep breath and appeared to calm down. "I don't believe that. I can read minds, and you're as easy to read as an open book."
His eyes widened and his entire body glowed with electricity. "You'd better let me out, or I'll-!"
"You'll what?"
Aaron rolled his eyes and shook his head, which was the only thing sticking out of the sphere of earth. "Okay. Alright, listen, sweetheart. I'm not here to fight you. I'm here because I want to help you fight the Mafia. Okay? So calm down and let me-"
The dirt seemed to condense, and Aaron's breathing became more forced. "Do not tell me to calm down, and don't call me sweetheart," Dawn said with an impressive amount of authority.
"Dawn, stop. This isn't how we treat others." Vulcan walked out of the tent and stared down the Pikachu. "What's your deal?"
The sphere of dirt crumbled away, and he brushed himself off while saying, "My deal is that I talked to Grovyle yesterday, and he made an offer. I wanted to know if it was still up for grabs."
"That's Vulcan's call right now," the wood-gecko replied. "He's the leader while Connor's not here."
"Well where's Connor?"
"First things first… What's your name?" Vulcan knelt down to the Pikachu, and it looked like it was ready to headbutt him. "Aaron. I take it you're Vulcan."
He stood up and crossed his arms, "That's right."
He looked directly at Amber, much to her surprise. "I don't remember reading about your girlfriend over there-"
"She's not-! ...She's not my girlfriend."
Aaron shrugged slightly. "If you say so. So can I join or not? I hear that you need an electric-type. And not a lot of pokémon in the Mafia resist my attacks."
Vulcan seemed to think it over for a minute, but Amber already knew the outcome. She had read about this team in the future, including the members on it before it disappeared.
Galvantula let out a slight chuckle after an awkward amount of silence. "Um… Hey, you got a little dust on your fur." He began scratching at Aaron's side in an attempt to clean him off, and the grey Pikachu growled at him. "It is my fur."
"Oh. I knew that… Heh."
"So why do you want to join us?" Vulcan brought the conversation back to him.
"Vengeance. Nothing more, nothing less. I hate the Mafia just as much as you do."
Vulcan blinked rapidly and sort of swayed backwards. "Whoa… Okay. That's, uh, not what most pokémon would say."
Aaron shrugged and let out a short laugh. "Just being honest. You guys have, like, two mind-readers anyways. No point in lying."
Vulcan glanced at Dawn, and she seemed hesitant. After a moment she agreed with a silent nod of her head, and Vulcan turned to Grovyle. "Why didn't you guys let him come see us at first?"
"He doesn't take orders very well," Dawn replied. "He told us that when we first met. And Connor didn't like that."
"My answer depends on if that's changed. Can you follow any of our orders to the letter?"
Aaron took a deep breath and said, "Yeah. I'll listen to you guys if I join."
Vulcan glanced at Dawn, and she tilted her head down in confirmation, meaning he meant what he said. Vulcan stood further upright, attempting to mask his anxiety. "I'll give you temporary membership, but Connor and I have to make the decision together before we allow you to officially join. And even then… I don't know. We'll think about it. We have to be a lot more careful now that we're facing a bunch of criminals.
Aaron grunted, but agreed. "Fair enough."
Dawn shook her head slightly with a frown on her face, and Amber spoke with her mind to avoid attention. Dawn, what's wrong?
You mean besides one of our teammates dying literally ten minutes ago?
Amber scowled at her and moved closer. Dawn cringed and held her hand out in apology. Sorry… I've just… I've never felt death before. Not like that.
It's alright. But I'm not talking about Alice… This Pikachu. You don't like him. Why?
Dawn tilted her head down and took a deep breath. Is it that obvious?
It is to me. Especially since you're usually so sweet to everyone.
She saw a light smile appear underneath Dawn's green hair, followed by her voice. His aura's too strong for a Pikachu. Like, it doesn't feel like he's a Pikachu, but I know he is. I saw his memories and all that, and everything he's told us is the truth.
Then what is there to dislike?
I can't help but feel that he's got ulterior motives. But I don't know why. I literally know everything about his life. He was born in Amp Plains as a Pichu, grew up on Mt. Travail, left home when he was fourteen because he was bullied about his grey coloration, and a whole bunch of other stuff. His aura is through the roof for his species, though. But not his power levels, which is what I thought it was at first. He's still a regular pikachu, power-wise, but he has a strong enough aura to make aura spheres.
Amber looked at Vulcan and the Pikachu, who was being pelted with questions about himself, then back at Dawn. I knew something was off about him... But his aura…? How is that possible?
He's trying to get to Victor through us. Since we're the most powerful team around, supposedly. And Grovyle did try and recruit him in the forest.
Amber nearly gasped in surprise. She shut off her telepathy and thought to herself. I thought he only suggested-! No! This isn't supposed to happen!
She heard a loud crash behind her, and when she turned around, Connor fell to the ground from midair, his left arm swollen and bleeding, with a chunk of skin missing from it. Tyranitar appeared in a blur of green and red, his skin glistening from using rock polish. He dug his feet into the ground to stop, making ten-foot long trenches where his heels were, followed closely by Mirage kicking up a miniature tornado of foliage in her wake. Roy floated out of the nearest tree's shadow, and all of them looked crestfallen. None of them were smiling in the slightest. Atlas came up to them first and looked around for a moment before staring at Connor, ignoring the fact that they travelled so far in such little time. "Where's Alice?"
He looked to the ground silently, and Tyranitar stepped forward. "It's my fault, Atlas…"
Mirage, Roy and Connor all looked at him with disbelief, and Amber's jaw nearly dropped. Atlas looked up at the giant and took a shaky breath. "...Is she dead?"
Tyranitar slowly nodded in confirmation. "...I couldn't get to her in time. I'm so sorry..."
Atlas turned away from Tyranitar and took multiple deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. He paused for a moment, then stomped the ground with so much force that the ground shifted underneath them. Tyranitar stood perfectly still, and when Atlas turned to face him, tears were falling to the ground. "What happened?! How did she die?!"
"They… They took her from my arms and pinned me to the ground… After that, it was over."
Atlas pointed at him and spoke with so much despair that Amber nearly burst into tears. "You could have saved her! How did they hold you down?! What could they possibly have done to take her away from you?!"
Tyranitar shook his head and looked at Amber with so much desperation that she wanted to get Celebi to travel back in time and reverse these events by stopping Alice from going. But that wasn't how time travel worked. That kind of interference could destroy everything they had worked to create, and end up making everything worse than before.
Amber shook her head solemnly, and Tyranitar visibly shuddered. "Atlas… I'm so sorry…"
Atlas clenched his fists and started walking towards the stone colossus, but Tyranitar shook his head and strongly said, "I'm sorry… But I won't let you attack me."
"Then why did you let them, huh?! You let them hold you down and take her! And now she's gone!"
Amber!
She whipped her head around to Celebi, who was still crossing her arms and scowling. When we came here, you promised that no one else would die. No matter what, protect them with our lives. That was our agreement. And not even five days later, Alice is dead.
She stared at the little grass-type and gritted her teeth, blocking out Atlas' shouting. I understand… I'll tell them tomorrow at daybreak.
With everyone? Even Team Firestorm?
...Yes. Although I don't wish for them to know, we must tell them about everything. They have a right to know.
Alright. Connor is already suspicious, so I would talk to him tonight, after everyone else has gone to sleep. Celebi suggested.
Okay. She nodded and looked at the rapidly dimming sky. "It's getting dark. We should take shelter for the night."
Okay, so this was chapter 18! Atlas was relatively calmer than one might expect, but still... Not exactly calm. And what is Amber's big thing she has to tell them? With that question in mind, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Go ahead and leave any questions, comments, concerns or theories in the form of a review or PM! The feedback is much appreciated!
-PL