Conquering the Dark
Chapter 8: New Agents of Team Galactic
It was a melancholic journey to Newmoon Island. Not much was said when the group departed. Only the core essentials and vital information were stored on the boat when they packed. Before they set off, the entire former gym was set ablaze. Reshiram, who started the fire under N's direct orders, had already been recalled by N, now in her Pokéball.
Aaron looked off the deck of the boat to see the gym, still burning brightly even from the great distance between them.
"It's still hard to believe this reality is so messed up." He sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want this other version of me to just burn in hell."
"I can't blame you for feeling that way." Riley said, walking up next to Aaron.
"Oh… Hey, Riley." Aaron sighed once more.
"Some war we're fighting, huh?" Riley commented.
"Yeah… and I can't believe it's all because of some stupid and selfish decision I made."
"Come on, Aaron. That's not you. This evil, alternate commander we're going against… that's not you."
"But then why did I make such a decision in this timeline? I can even imagine a scenario. I'm too weak spiritually, I toss my God away just to make the pain stop, and…"
Riley put a hand over Aaron's mouth. "But you didn't. That isn't you. You stayed strong, and you came out of that situation. If anything, that makes you stronger than this evil version of you."
Aaron smiled, taking Riley's hand off his mouth. "Thanks, Riley."
N came over. "Hey. Once we get Byron settled into Newmoon Island, we'll be heading back to home base. I have a feeling they'll be plenty of issues we'll still need to take care of."
Riley and Aaron nodded. "Right."
N looked out into the blaze. "Don't worry, guys. We're going to put a stop to this war. But for right now, we just need to ensure everyone's survival."
Aaron looked out into the blaze again. "I just wonder what we'll do now…"
As Riley, Aaron, and N helped Byron set up a new home on Newmoon Island, a new crisis came to light at home base. As Dialga was still away, Xerneas took in the information Mewtwo gave him.
"And you're sure?"
Mewtwo nodded. "The Commander has sent Rayquaza to hunt for and destroy our home base. The odds of our discovery are low due to our location, but I think it is best not to take chances."
"Understood." Xerneas replied. "It seems we can't afford to stay on the defensive anymore. We'll have to find Rayquaza first before he finds us and subdue him."
"Yes, I would like you to do that… but there's something I noticed that I'd like to inform you about."
"Hmm? What would that be?"
"…It appears that the Commander's brainwashing may not be as strong as we deduced. It may have a weakness." Mewtwo said.
"This is the first I've ever heard of that." Xerneas said curiously. "What would this weakness be?"
Mewtwo explained. "At one point, I was able to interrogate Rayquaza. Recently, he, Zekrom, and the Commander launched an attack on Floaroma Town. Killed everyone. While he didn't seem to remember any of his previous memories before his… 'reprogramming'… he did explain to me why he hesitated at killing a few of the town residents. More specifically… this young girl."
"That IS odd. Normally, from what we've seen, after a reprogramming, anyone like that shows no remorse or hesitance in their actions."
Mewtwo nodded. "He explained to me that the reason he hesitated was because the young girl… prayed for him. She was scared, like anyone would be. But she had the heart to pray for Rayquaza. As if… like as if she KNEW this wasn't how he was supposed to act."
Xerneas took in the information. "So, what you're saying is that this 'reprogramming' effect may have some sort of spiritual weakness?"
"I can't be 100 percent certain. But it looks to be very possible. I think we should call a meeting over this. We can tell Aaron, Riley, N, and Reshiram at a later time when they come back."
After the two finished talking, they went back inside to discuss this new information with everyone else at a later point. But rather unfortunately, Raiden and Keldeo had come back from the training grounds and overheard the conversation.
Raiden's heart skipped a beat after hearing everything.
"You heard that, right?"
"Their conversation? Yeah."
"I could… I could free my dad. I could get in there and…"
"Don't you think you're jumping into this too quickly?" Keldeo posed the question. "I mean…"
"Come on, Keldeo! It's easy. Just sneak in there, find my dad, launch a prayer nuke at him, and then boom! He'll be back to normal." Raiden insisted, incredibly sure of himself.
Keldeo had to chuckle at Raiden's choice of words of 'prayer nuke'. Still… maybe he was right.
"Xerneas would kill us if he found out, though." Keldeo still hesitated, though only slightly.
"Not if we come back with my dad back to normal. We'll be admired and praised for our acts! I mean… isn't charging headfirst into danger to rescue those who need it part of being a Musketeer?"
Keldeo thought this over. Raiden had a point. When Keldeo was with the Musketeers, they would do anything to help those in need. That's what being a Musketeer was about.
Finally, Keldeo nodded. "Yeah… Yeah! You're right! We can definitely do this!"
"Then let's get going! We'll just find a way to infiltrate their base, and sneak to wherever my dad is!"
Keldeo hopped onto Raiden's back, with Raiden soaring to the skies. He was careful not to go too high in case any mechanical drones would spot. Raiden smiled as he looked up to the sky. The sun was setting, and even its' beauty could be seen from Raiden's low flying height.
"Don't worry, Dad." Raiden said softly to himself. "I'm coming for you."
The duo eventually arrived at the Galactic Headquarters, landing in a hidden and shadowy alley just next to the underground floor.
"So… how do we get in?" Keldeo asked.
"Easy. I've done surveillance here before, and this part of the building is an underground area where the dungeons are and where they keep prisoners."
"How do you know that?"
"Mewtwo's a high-ranking official in the Commander's army, remember? He has access to pretty much every area. He's managed to copy the blueprint documents for Galactic's headquarters, and this area is right where the dungeons are." Raiden explained. "It's soundproofed too, so nobody will hear us bust in. Well, except the prisoners, of course. Not that it really matters."
Keldeo was still showing some last-minute hesitance. "I get that we'll be heroes and all… but I have to ask the question. What if it doesn't work? What if he doesn't snap out of it?"
"That's not even a question, Keldeo!" Raiden insisted. "It WILL work. He WILL snap out of it. He WILL be my dad again. Think about it. If one little girl's prayer was all it took to get Rayquaza to hesitate, then a powerful belief that my dad can come back to normal… with both of our Legendary power… there's no doubt in my mind that it will work."
Keldeo pondered Raiden's words for a bit. "That does make sense… but just in case it doesn't…"
"It WILL." Raiden interrupted.
"I'm just saying, let's have a safe way to get out."
"Yeah, all right." He dismissed, approaching the wall. With a charged Thunder Punch, the wall blew open, revealing the inside of the dungeon as concrete chunks of the wall fell off. "Let's get going."
"So, I suppose we should call that meeting now, right?" Mewtwo asked.
Xerneas responded with a nod.
Mewtwo started to cast out a telepathic message with his psychic powers. "There will be an assembly in the meeting room. Xerneas and I have important information to discuss. Please report there as soon as possible. By which I mean: NOW."
"You didn't have to be THAT stern." Xerneas said.
"Well, it's important. I see it as vital for everyone to immediately report there."
"If you say so…" Xerneas shrugged.
In the meeting room, only a few Legendaries were there: Groudon, Kyogre, and Darkrai. Maylene's team of herself, Lucas, and Bridgette reported there as well. Riley, Aaron, N, and Reshiram weren't there, as Xerneas knew. Dialga was still gone at the Fuego Ironworks in search of Mega Stones, and it wouldn't be much longer until she came back. Zekrom and Rayquaza were… 'reprogrammed', of course. But still… it seemed as if the group was short on Pokémon even with the accounted missing ones.
"Are we missing someone?" Xerneas asked.
"Well, Dialga's at the Fuego Ironworks and Aaron's team…" Darkrai recalled, only to be interrupted.
"We mean aside from them." Mewtwo clarified.
"Umm… I don't think so." Darkrai thought.
Xerneas shook his head. "Never mind, then. Mewtwo has some important information to share that could help us turn the tides and give us an offense to launch. Mewtwo?"
Mewtwo nodded, approaching the group.
"As Xerneas said, I have some information that could prove to be valuable to the group. More specifically… the Commander's reprogramming effects could be possible to break."
This caught the attention of everyone, especially Groudon and Kyogre, as their trio master was under this effect.
Maylene's Lucario closed his eyes, thinking about the situation. "But… I was under the assumption that this was impossible to break." Lucas replied, curious about this development.
"So was I." Mewtwo answered. "Allow me to explain. I had heard that Rayquaza had actually hesitated in destroying this family in Floaroma Town. The Commander had taken both Zekrom and Rayquaza to test their loyalty and to demonstrate their power that they weren't to be messed with."
"And for a town that has had no part in this war? A town that did nothing to them? They attacked it just for the hell of it?!" Darkrai growled angrily.
"We all know that the Commander is despicable, Darkrai. From what I've overheard from Zekrom and Rayquaza, Zekrom showed no hesitation. But Rayquaza… he hesitated in participating in the destruction."
Bridgette spoke up. "Is that a first?"
Mewtwo nodded. "Very much so. Rayquaza was to be punished by the Commander for showing hesitation to destroy and kill, but I offered to punish Rayquaza instead so I could get a chance to interrogate him."
"So… what exactly made Rayquaza hesitate while Zekrom didn't?" Maylene asked as well.
"It was interesting. Rayquaza told me that he was going to destroy this family, but he hesitated for one reason. He told me that there was this little girl… and that despite the fact that she knew she was going to die… she prayed for him. She prayed that Rayquaza would see the error of his ways. And that she only wanted God to have mercy on him."
Silence encompassed the room. This was a first to take it. Despite the fact that this girl faced her death, she prayed for the one that was supposed to murder her.
"…So did Rayquaza actually kill that family?" Lucas asked, wanting to hear the rest of Mewtwo's story.
"…No. Rayquaza didn't. He told me that he couldn't bring himself to do it, and Zekrom had to finish the job. Rayquaza told me that he harbored immense guilt and hesitance about killing the family. This leads me to believe that the Commander's reprogramming may not be completely unbreakable. There could be some kind of spiritual weakness to it. So… it might actually be possible to save them." Mewtwo finished.
Everyone thought about this information. It was hard to take in, but it was good news to hear that there truly might be a way to reverse the reprogramming effect. After a bit of thought, Darkrai was the first to speak up.
"So… who should we try to go after and save first with this newfound information? Rayquaza or Zekrom?" Darkrai questioned. It was a legitimate question to ask, and a tough call to make. There was no way that they could rescue both at the same time, as trying to do so could easily result in failure and both could fail to break the brainwashing.
Mewtwo put deep thought into it. Groudon and Kyogre, as much as they bickered and argued with each other, both wanting the Pokémon that kind of considered to be their father back. And Reshiram, though she wasn't here at the moment, desperately wanted to have the Pokémon that was her husband back. And both were incredible assets to the team.
"But…" Mewtwo thought to himself. "It would be wiser to target the one who isn't as strongly under the reprogramming effects as the other… as that would result in a greater chance of success."
Mewtwo sighed, facing the other Legendary Pokémon. "As much as I hate having to pick who to save first, I'm afraid I don't have much choice. At the moment, I would consider it to be wiser to go and use these new tactics on Rayquaza, as he has some resistance to the Commander's reprogramming effect and isn't as deeply under as Zekrom."
Even though Groudon and Kyogre were happy to hear the news that they would try to rescue Rayquaza, the duo didn't show it. Aside from the fact that it meant Zekrom would continue to remain under Galactic's control in the near-future, it also meant that Reshiram and her son Raiden would be crushed to hear that Rayquaza was chosen to be rescued first instead.
"Poor Raiden…" Xerneas commented, before someone caught his eye. Or rather, the lack of someone.
"Mewtwo, I think I just realized that we are missing someone aside from the accounted groups. Where are Raiden and Keldeo?" Xerneas asked.
The dungeon of Galactic HQ was a haunting and horrifying place to be. With the exception of the hole recently blown up and created, light rarely shined through to this dark and dreary place. It was where all hopes and dreams went to die. With the light from outside, it was easy to see just how many cells were in the dungeons. There were dozens upon dozens of them, and according to the blueprints Raiden looked through, the dungeons continued even further down underground, where not even the corpses of hopes and dreams remained.
Raiden and Keldeo jumped as they heard a Zangoose prisoner in one of the cells jumped and shake his cell door madly, pleading for freedom.
"P-Please!" the Zangoose begged, his red fur dulled and scarred from his long days in the cell. "Y-You have to let me out! I-I have a family! I-I can't stand the cold and the dark and the torture! I… I'm just broken! PLEASE! LET ME OUT! I JUST WANT TO RUN! FAR, FAR AWAY!"
Keldeo's heart completely sank, seeing the Zangoose like this. It was obvious that he was determined to be of no use to Team Galactic, and sentenced to live here. More than likely for the rest of his life. He was about to approach the cell to open it up when…
"We can't let him out, Keldeo."
Keldeo frowned. "Why not?"
"We're just here for Dad right now." Raiden sighed. "If we let him out, we have to let everyone out. And even if we only let him out, it would still arouse Galactic's suspicion. Once this whole war is over, we can let him out."
"But we don't even know how long this war is going to last. It's already been going on for… years before I even came along, right?"
Raiden crossed his arms, closing his eyes. "…Yes. But it's going to end soon. It has to. Getting Dad back will make it easier to get Rayquaza back. And then when we get Rayquaza back, it'll be cake with the good Aaron's team on our side to destroy Team Galactic."
Keldeo looked to Raiden, back to the Zangoose, and back to Raiden. He sighed. "All right. You have a point. But you better be serious about this war ending soon."
The two left the dungeons silently, still leaving the broken Zangoose begging and pleading desperately to be released.
Mewtwo was silent for a bit. "Raiden and Keldeo… They should be here." he said. "That's strange… I broadcasted that message to everyone. And they aren't the type of Pokémon to just miss a meeting. The only reason they wouldn't be here was if they somehow… oh no."
"I don't like the sound of this 'oh no'." Xerneas commented.
"I certainly hope not, but do you think there is the slightest chance that Raiden and Keldeo… might have heard our earlier conversation?" Mewtwo pondered.
"Well, they don't seem to be here at all. Even if they were at the training grounds, we would've heard from them by now." Xerneas answered.
"Why? Where do you think Raiden and Keldeo might be?" Bridgette asked in concern.
Mewtwo sighed. "Xerneas and I talked about this briefly before we held the meeting, so if the two somehow overheard us… well, they just might have decided to try this tactic by themselves. Raiden would be all too eager to try and get his father back."
The whole group gasped. "But that's suicide!" Groudon exclaimed.
Mewtwo nodded. "It is. But Raiden would be all too eager to rescue his father. So much so that most reason would be thrown out the door. Regardless, we can't waste time talking now. They're in serious danger. I'm going to head back to Galactic HQ and get them out ASAP."
Mewtwo was about to teleport away when…
"Wait."
Mewtwo looked towards the voice. It was Maylene speaking up, next to her own Pokémon Lucas and Bridgette.
"Let us help." she insisted.
"Are you kidding me?! This is dangerous."
Maylene sighed. "Look. I didn't come all the way here just to sit on the sidelines. That's all I've done so far! I'm not just going to stand by and just wait and hope for the best."
"But I can't just walk in with you! You're part of the resistance!"
"Team Galactic doesn't know that, do they? They don't even know what happened to Maylene or even her Pokémon in this universe, right?" Bridgette posed the question.
Mewtwo paused for a moment. "That's… true…" he muttered. "The Maylene of this universe… well, no one knows what happened to her. Not even Team Galactic. Maybe she died. Maybe she's still alive in a different region somewhere. Who knows what happened?"
"And that's where we come in with the advantage." Lucas said, catching onto what Maylene is saying. "If you're second-in-command in Team Galactic, you can make the fake claim to Cyrus, the Commander, and Palkia that we swore allegiance to you. And they wouldn't suspect you of lying because they don't know that we're part of the Returners, unlike Groudon, Kyogre, Darkrai, Xerneas, and all of the others."
Mewtwo paused. "Are you… suggesting that you want to become double agents as well? You do know what that entails, right? It's far from easy."
"No one ever said a war was going to be easy." Bridgette said. "Look. You have your Blaziken Mega Stone, right? It's going to be a very tempting offer for them to have a powerful martial artist, Lucario, and especially a Mega Blaziken on their side."
"But you do realize what you need to do, right? You have to prove your trust. You have to be able to bring in prisoners to them. Emotionally, it's a very hard thing to do."
"We're aware of that." Maylene answered. "But at the same time, it would be beneficial to have more than one double agent against Galactic, and we'd be the only ones here who would qualify."
Mewtwo looked at the group. They certainly were capable, and it would put the Returners in a more favorable position on the offensive.
He nodded. "Very well. But when we look for Keldeo and Raiden, we are sticking together. For your first few days there, I'll have to supervise you before you get more freedoms."
"Fair enough." Maylene said.
Mewtwo teleported briefly away before coming back with a Blazikenite, giving it to Bridgette. She marveled in how much power she could feel flowing through her.
"Oh my…" she muttered.
"Are you ready?" Mewtwo asked. The trio nodded before all four of them were enveloped in pink light, before they all vanished from sight.
Ignoring the pleas of the Zangoose, the two headed out of the dungeons and into one of the hallways just outside. There was a human guard on the other side of the hall standing away from the dungeon door, but was thankfully facing away from it and also seemed to be the only one guarding this section.
"OK… how do we get past him?" Keldeo asked quietly.
"Simple." Raiden whispered back, closing his eyes and putting his hands to his head. After a few seconds, he opened them and put his hands back down.
"What did you do?" Keldeo wondered.
"Just wait."
It was a bit of an anxious wait, but about half a minute passed by, the human guard suddenly fell over, hitting the ground unconscious.
"What was…?"
"Future Sight." Raiden answered. Keldeo didn't ask any further questions, simply following Raiden now.
After a bit of searching, Raiden and Keldeo made it outside at the training grounds. Fortunately for them, Zekrom was currently the only one there, practicing launching Thunderbolts at targets that looked like crude cutouts of members of the Returners. Darkrai, Groudon, Kyogre, Dialga, Xerneas… it was easy to recognize them despite the crudeness of the drawings. Surprising, there were no drawings of Raiden or Keldeo, perhaps because the two were very recent additions to the Returners that Team Galactic didn't know about yet. Zekrom was focused, not noticing the two that just came in.
Raiden was about shout out his dad's name in joy upon seeing him again, but Keldeo put a hoof over his mouth.
"We need to launch this prayer attack silently." he whispered to Raiden. Raiden nodded, before Keldeo took his hoof off.
The two hid behind a rather large tree, with their heads slightly peeking out. The duo closed their eyes and talked silently to God.
"God… please. I know you're out there. Please help my father. Please help him break free from this horrible mind control. Give me my father back. Please." Raiden prayed silently, before opening his eyes and peeking back at his father.
Zekrom seemed to look around in a bit of confusion.
"Did I hear someone?" he wondered. "…Nah, it's probably nothing." he shrugged, going back to striking the targets.
Raiden hid fully behind the tree again, baffled. "Why didn't it work? It should've worked…"
Keldeo came up with a suggestion. "Let's try it together this time. Saying the same prayer, I mean."
Raiden nodded. "Yeah… yeah, that should work."
The two tried another prayer, praying and begging and pleading with their entire souls to help Zekrom break free of his brainwashing. They prayed for a full five minutes, before opening their eyes and peeking out again.
And this time, Zekrom was staring straight at both Raiden and Keldeo. The two jumped from behind the tree, startled.
"Who the hell are you? And more importantly, why are you here? If you're new trainees, you shouldn't be hiding behind a tree."
"D-Dad… it's me." Raiden said. "Your son, Raiden. You remember me, right?"
"Listen, kid. If you aren't trainees, then I recommend you get the hell out of here before I throw you into the dungeon for trespassing." Zekrom's tone was cold, uncaring, and apathetic.
Raiden was close to tears now. "D-Dad? You… You don't recognize me? I… I'm your son."
Zekrom grabbed both Raiden and Keldeo by the scruff of their necks. "Guess I'll have to throw you into the dungeons after all." he shrugged.
Raiden was shaking in pure fear now. "NO! DAD, PLEASE! LET ME GO! I'M YOUR SON! YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!" he shouted and begged desperately.
Zekrom stopped for a moment. He felt some sort of strange feeling coming on. He thought for a bit. "Is this kid right? Do I know him? Am I… no, that's stupid. He's just trying to get to me." And just as quickly, the strange feeling passed.
Both Raiden and Keldeo might have been sentenced to rot in the dungeons forever if Mewtwo hadn't shown up at just the right time. "Hello, Zekrom." he greeted the dragon calmly.
"Hello, Lieutenant Mewtwo." Zekrom addressed him. "I was just…"
Zekrom paused for a bit, seeing Maylene, Lucas, and Bridgette. "Who are those new people you have with you?"
"New trainees. I have recently inducted them into Team Galactic, as they have sworn their allegiance." Mewtwo informed.
"I see. I was just about to escort these trespassers to the dungeon." Zekrom said, motioning to Raiden and Keldeo.
"No need to. I'll take care of it."
"Thanks, Lieutenant." Zekrom nodded, saluting him. "I'll get back to training."
Zekrom went back to the training grounds, now going to a different section of the grounds and out of Mewtwo's sight. It was just Raiden, Keldeo, and Mewtwo's group now. Raiden was still on the verge of tears.
Mewtwo felt rather bad for Raiden, but had to keep his serious demeanor up. "We'll talk later." He informed the two, teleporting them away and back to the Returners' base.
With that taken care of, Mewtwo now went back inside to begin the training of Maylene, Lucas, and Bridgette as new 'agents' of Team Galactic…
Pokémon © Nintendo / Game Freak
Finally, I'm getting some nice use out of Maylene. She's kinda sat at the sidelines like Lyra did in Slaves and Soldiers, but I'm finally putting Maylene and her Pokémon to good use now unlike Lyra who just stuck to the sidelines for all of Slaves and Soldiers. I put a lot of passion and work into this particular chapter, hitting over 4,500 words and hopefully making up for the previous short chapter.
And I am so bad at this updating thing, it's not even funny. Months apparently go by stupidly fast these days, and it only feels like a little while ago I updated with the 7th chapter. And this fic started in late 2013… with the 8th chapter in early 2016?! Man, I would make a horrible professional writer. I mean there's real life and all, but geez. 4-5 months for the next chapter is no excuse, even when juggling multiple stories and oneshots. Maybe part of it is that I don't have much motivation to write these days compared to earlier, and things change when you get older. Or maybe it's because I felt Breaking the Chains was rushed, and it's actually painful for me to look at the earlier parts of that story. Or maybe because I was in a rut for a while with this story (that I seem to be crawling out of now, thankfully). I don't know for sure why I update far more slowly, but it's probably a combination of the aforementioned things.
Although, I think I may have found a writing technique that works out better for me than what I've used before. Normally, I write linearly, which naturally slows down writing if I can't think of the next thing to write. So I tried something else for this chapter. I wrote bits and pieces and sort of skipped around to write the parts I think about first, and then later connected them. So far, it's worked FAR better than simply writing linearly has for me.
But hopefully, the next update won't be half a year away… again.