Hey guys, welcome to chapter 22. As you know, this is still going to be a Gamma Chapter. Y'all are probably excited for this, so let's get this started with!
Kazuma's POV
This is the last day we're spending in the Donalda Region, and I managed to convince Elaine to explore Azure Town. Honestly, I'm sadder than I thought I'd be. While I'd never admit this out loud, I actually enjoy hanging out with Elaine, and the Donalda Region is incredible. Once I got to know her, she didn't seem much of an emo girl, I still don't know what she has against Azure Town though.
Ever since I got my powers, I've been better at reading people. I've been able to read the surface thoughts of people, detect those around me, conjure fire and psychic energy, and boost my jumps. Elaine suspects that my powers are connected to Scarlet and her sister Ashley. There's really no other explanation to it. I'll probably have to ask Scarlet about it.
I sighed, causing Elaine to look at me.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just missing coffee. The one at the hotel wasn't really that good."
Elaine gave me a look. The coffee was perfectly fine. You're just nitpicking because you're a coffee nerd."
"Expert is the proper term. Anyways, I wonder if they have a Staryubills here."
"Azure town doesn't have any big businesses. They're all small businesses owned by residents."
I nodded. I knew that family made coffee with heartfelt love was usually better.
"Know any good places?"
"How should I? I haven't been here in years."
"I thought you had a perfect memory."
"Only when things are relevant."
I shrugged. Elaine didn't really speak in long sentences. We continued walking, finding no cafe.
"I'm going to ask someone," I said.
"Go ahead."
I shrugged and went to a random person.
"Excuse me sir, I was wondering if you knew any good cafes around here."
"Oh yes! Marron Cafe is very good! They serve amazing tea!"
"Marron Cafe?"
"Yes! Simply turn onto Rising Street and walk a bit, you'll find it."
I nodded, wondering if Marron was a common last name. I found Elaine, who was watching the sky.
"I found a place, come on."
She nodded and followed me down Main Street. I found the sign for Rising Street and turned down the street. We walked straight for a few feet, I looked to my side and saw the sign.
"Here we are, Marron Cafe!"
My mind flashed as I sensed Elaine tense next to me. I turned to look at her, but she looked normal. I carefully tried looking at her thoughts, but she was intensely thinking about lunch.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong."
"Are you sure? I thought-"
"Kazuma, nothing is wrong, I'm fine. In fact, I think I'm going to go to a restaurant for some real food. I heard that Xiao owns a restaurant. Huliasair Eats or something like that."
"Alright, okay I guess."
As she walked off, I knew that something was wrong. I looked at the sign again. Maybe the cafe had something to do with her, probably has to do with the fact it shared her last name. I shrugged and headed inside.
Inside, I was greeted with the beautiful, refreshing smell of fresh coffee. I sighed, happy to be reunited with my true purpose.
"Hello!" came a cheery voice from the front counter. What can I do for you?"
I looked up at the person at the counter, I immediately froze when I saw them. They were somewhat short, and had deep green eyes. They had black, braided hair, as was the usual in Azure Town. But as Kazuma looked at the person, they seemed to look a bit like Elaine.
"Is something wrong?" the person asked.
"You just look like someone, that's all," I said, slightly unnerved. I looked into the person's mind, but all I saw was confusion on their part.
"Say, do you have a sister?"
At that moment, a brief moment of suspicion flashed in their mind. Something about their mother crying, keeping something from them. A photo of a baby girl.
"No. Why do you ask?"
"You just looked like someone I know, that's all. Anyways, I'd like your Sunday Special. What's in it?"
"We have special coffee beans that are home grown in the Azure Region and are imported directly to our cafe from a family member. He prepares it with a special Azurian herb called the Huskroot that gives the coffee a bittersweet taste. We add a splash of vanilla, sugar, cream, and a few others which are undisclosable."
I laughed. "I know how important it is to keep the best part about the coffee secret."
She smiled. "Certainly. I'll have it prepared very soon, we're having a slow day today. But it's Sunday, so it's expected."
I guess Elaine was right about Donaldans being more relaxed on Sundays. Apart from the next day being Monday, Donaldan's have their special rituals I could care less about.
I glanced over at the girl again, trying to see deeper into her mind. She was still thinking about her mother and her secrets.
Soon, she came back with my coffee. I took it and paid for it before tentatively taking a sip. Instantly, I was greeted with delicious flavors that could only be achieved by someone like me.
"Wow, this is really good."
"Thanks, it's a homemade recipe from my dad."
"This is why family owned businesses are better than big chains. I never asked for your name by the way."
"Oh, it's Elizabeth."
"Ah, well thanks for the coffee. I'm Eric."
"You're not from the Donalda Region are you?"
"Nope, I'm from Johto."
"I figured, Eric isn't a Donaldan name, or an Azurian one."
"Right you are. Also, I was wondering if I could get a second coffee, for a friend."
" me three minutes."
I met up with Elaine at Huliasair Eats, still gritting my teeth at the fact that I'd been outed as a first time tourist because I didn't know where a stupid restaurant was.
"Sup. I got you a coffee, it's really good."
"How sweet of you," said Elaine, with her usual zero trace of emotion.
I watched as she took a sip, as was flabbergasted to find she had no reaction.
"So what do you think?"
"Decent."
I'll never understand Elaine. I feel like she does things just to be a contrarian or to be annoying. I sighed and entered the restaurant with her, watching her closely to see if she'd have any reaction to the coffee.
"So," I said as we sat down at a table, waiting for one of the young waiters to take our order. "Do you have any siblings?"
Of course, I knew Elizabeth had said no, but her initial reaction was somewhat suspicious. I'd decided I'd look at Elaine's reaction to see if they really didn't know each other, and whether they were related.
Instantly, I picked up a flash of anger from Elaine. "Not that I should know about. Why do you ask?"
If it wasn't her tone that set off alarm bells, it was her wording. "Uh, the cafe."
Elaine sighed, the kind of sigh that made you think someone was going to get pummeled. Elaine said nothing and looked at her menu.
"Uh, something wrong?"
Like she sometimes does, Elaine chose to ignore me. Sensing the clear irritation on her mind, I guess it'll be better not to pry.
No one's POV
An hour later
Elaine walked down the streets of Azure Town by herself, remembering her last instructions to Kazuma.
"Get some rest," she had said. "We'll start the heist in the evening. I have to go attend some business beforehand. When you're ready, check both of us out and wash the dye out of your hair, and take off the glasses. These disguises will be reused, the last thing we need is for Eric Hunter and Emily Scott to be wanted."
She sighed. He hadn't asked what she was going to do, which made her feel like he was reading her mind. Things did get a lot less private when someone who had no respect for others' privacy could see into your mind.
She fingered her black braids, having restored her hair to her natural state beforehand. She was also wearing different clothes. She looked at a street sign and turned onto Rising Street.
She saw Marron Cafe up ahead and sighed, placing her hand on the door. She steeled herself up, and pushed open the door.
A jingle sounded as a voice spoke. "Hello, what can I-"
Elizabeth froze, looking at Elaine closely.
"You must be Eric's friend. What can I do for you?"
"Where's your mother?" asked Elaine, trying to keep her cool.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Where's Lisa Zhang?"
Elizabeth hesitated for a moment. "Uh, she actually changed her maiden name to Marron."
Elaine gave a bitter laugh. "How funny. I suppose no one abandoned you the instant they could."
Elizabeth paused. "May I ask who you are? Cause I don't really like you acting like this."
Elaine narrowed her eyes. "You haven't figured it out? I'm your elder sister."
Elizabeth froze. "That can't be true. Mother would've told-"
Elaine glared at her, her voice raising. "She didn't tell you because-"
"What's going on here?"
Elaine turned around and saw her mother. She really only knew about her after sneaking some files from her adoption center and reading them. Afterwards, she had snuck into her house, but wasn't noticed.
"Hello mother," spat Elaine bitterly.
Her mother froze, looking at Elaine, seeing the similarities between them. She immediately paled.
"N-n-no, that can't be right. My daughter only had-"
Elaine ripped off the glove on her left hand, revealing the prosthetic.
"She only had one hand? Well guess what, I am your daughter!"
Her mother stepped backwards, unable to form words. Elaine stepped forward, anger blazing on her face.
"What's wrong? Can't defend yourself in front of your new daughter? Why'd you have her anyways, you suddenly decided you wanted children after all?"
Her mother broke down into sobs and collapsed to the ground. Elaine showed no sympathy, in her mind, she wasn't her mother. Elizabeth got up from the counter and moved to stop her, but Elaine pushed her back.
"I heard you even married him. I thought he was a drunk you should've never met, the one who created this little accident," she said, pointing at herself. "Why the change of heart."
"Stop it!" shouted Elizabeth. "Can't you-"
"No," sobbed their mother. "It's my fault. I'm sorry, I'm"
"I don't need your apologies," said Elaine coldly. "I needed answers."
With that, Elaine spun on her heel and marched out the door, not looking back.
Two hours later
Kazuma paced around a clump of trees near the Nightport Castle; he'd expected Elaine to be there early, but she wasn't. He looked at his watch and saw that the time she was supposed to be here was approaching.
Suddenly, he felt a presence nearby. He closed his eyes and brought up a mind map in his head. The presence was familiar to him, and he soon recognized it as Elaine. He could feel her approaching from behind him.
He turned around and saw her coming from behind a few trees.
"You're late," he said.
Technically, she was right on time. But she'd taught him before that being on time rather than being earlier was equivalent to being late.
"Maybe I am, I had something important to take care of. Anyways, the agent should be here soon. Watch out for him."
"Are you sure he can be trusted though?" asked Kazuma uncertainty. "He could've switched sides at any point."
"Am I ever uncertain?"
Kazuma paused for a moment, trying to think of a time. Suddenly, he felt another presence from nearby. "Hold on, I feel someone."
"Let's hide just in case," said Elaine.
She sank back into the trees, keeping very still. Kazuma followed her lead and also melted into the trees, staying in the darkest shadows in order not to be seen.
A man wearing the Donaldan royal guard uniform and holding a large duffel bag entered the clearing. He looked around, scanning the trees, but passed over Elaine and Kazuma multiple times.
"Dang, they're good at this. Where there's life, there's development."
After a few seconds, Elaine stepped back into the clearing. Kazuma however, stayed hidden.
"Phew, I thought I got the place wrong at first, where's your companion?" asked the guard.
"Staying hidden, he doesn't trust you, Karl."
"Well he's the first. Anyways, I brought the stuff. Two Gamma Suits, pretty fancy by the way. Two sets of grip claws, a remote safe cracker, some sleeping darts, and a list of guard rotations and points of interest. Are you sure you don't need the laser cutter?"
"Yes, the less stuff we have on us, the better."
"Alright then, I'm going to head off. Can't stay out too long."
When the man had left, and Kazuma stopped feeling his presence, he got out of the trees.
"Wait," he said when he got to Elaine. "You refused a laser cutter?"
"You're the laser cutter."
Kazuma gave her a look. "Well that's flattering, so what are Gamma Suits anyways?"
"They're water and heat proof, and are made of low friction material. It comes with a breathing apparatus, and is also made to blend in with the shadows. They're electric resistant, so it can protect you from many Pokémon attacks. It shouldn't come to that unless you screw up."
"Me?"
"Yes you, who else would screw up."
"That's fair, anyways, can I ask you another question?"
"You just did."
Kazuma rolled his eyes. "Can I ask two then?"
"You've just asked your third question," said Elaine, a smile playing on her lips.
"Argh! Fine then, Let me ask a question."
"What is it? Make it quick, we don't have all day."
"Alright, what's the point of having all these agents all over the regions?"
"That's a surprisingly good question. Our agents mostly work to spy and gather info on various Oak Agencies, as well as criminal teams like Team Magma, Plasma, Aqua, and recently, Rocket."
"Why the criminal teams?"
"This is practically a gang war. But on a larger scale, instead of fighting over which neighborhood to sell stuff to, we're fighting to control warehouses, abandoned power plants, and other facilities. Each criminal team has their different goals, so we don't really get along. Recently, Team Magma and Team Aqua were fighting over a hidden Dynamax hotspot found somewhere in west Calzei, of course, the Oak Agency got involved. Most criminal teams operate in their regions, which is why we have them in each region to monitor stuff. Like we recently got a report of a cult growing power here in the Donalda Region, the Purists or something like that. Wanting to restore the world to its premodern glory, they seem to get along with Team Plasma unfortunately. Speaking of them, we haven't gotten much word from Unova considering the political unrest and threat of civil war. Anyways, enough with the history lesson, we have an orb to steal."
Ten minutes later
Elaine and Kazuma crept around the castle, moving much slower than Kazuma would've liked. Of course, he could feel guards moving around the castle grounds, the slow pace they were taking was the safest pace.
Their destination was the gardening wing. Most of the people and Pokémon would be fast asleep according to Karl's schedule. Kazuma would be able to tell which people and Pokémon were fast asleep, and which ones weren't.
They continued crouch walking, barely making a sound. Elaine had warned about only talking when necessary. The quiet of the night made it extremely easy for even the lightest sound to be detected.
They made their way into a garden, and saw a building in front of all the various plants and flowers. Elaine nodded, and Kazuma quickly looked around for any presences. Finding none outside of the building, he nodded his head.
They crept up to the side of the building. Elaine peered inside slowly, and saw no one up and about. Kazuma looked inside and reached out for any precenses. And nodded.
She quietly eased the window open and climbed inside, slowly dropping down noiselessly thanks to the Gamma Suit.
Kazuma got inside of the building as well, and they crept close to the ground, staying near every available shadow. They didn't have to cross through the sleeping quarters, but it didn't hurt to be careful.
They were almost to the door separating the gardening wing and the rest of the castle when Kazuma stopped, feeling a presence. He held a hand up for Elaine to stop.
"Someone's there," he muttered.
They crept backwards behind a shelf full of potted plants. The person walked down the hall, muttering to himself. He came dangerously close to where they were hiding. Kazuma extended a hand and started muttering quietly. The man froze, and then gave a huge yawn.
"Might as well go to sleep."
The man turned around and went back the way he came. Kazuma let out a breath and wiped sweat from his forehead. Elaine looked at him in surprise.
"Did you just control him?" she hissed.
"No, I gave him a suggestion. I can't really control people, only suggest things to them. It really only works if they want to do it to some extent."
Elaine nodded and put a finger to her mouth, signaling he should be more quiet.
They continued moving throughout the castle, they passed through the gardening wing and found themselves at the door that led into the Great Hall.
"They're guards in the Great Hall, five of them patrolling," said Kazuma.
"Anyone around this door?" whispered Elaine.
"No."
"All right, you remember the layout of the castle right?"
Kazuma nodded.
"You'll take the lead, avoid any guards."
Kazuma nodded and shuffled forward, keeping a hand close to the door. He monitored the guards with his psychic powers and waited for the best time when their line of sight wouldn't be facing the door.
After a minute, he closed his eyes and focused. The deadbolt inside the door moved inside of it without the handle turning. Kazuma gently pushed the door open slightly and eased out, Elaine following him.
They crept through the room, hiding in shadows and staying still multiple times as the guards moved about the room. Their goal was to reach the ancient piano, a piano that hadn't made a sound in four hundred years, and had been put in the Great Hall since the castle was made.
The castle, since it was very old, had secret passageways. The passageways had originally been built for the royal family in times of war. The passageways had long been forgotten, but had been detected by Elaine's device. One of these passageways was located behind the ancient piano.
Kazuma crept behind a large glass collection of trophies when he froze. A guard was coming close to his location, while he couldn't see them, he could sense them.
"I wish I had trophies like this," muttered the guard, coming closer to the case.
Elaine looked at Kazuma, signaling for him to do something. Kazuma gave her a sharp look and turned his attention back to the guard, holding out a hand.
The guard stopped, and then turned around. He looked back to the glass case, looking at the trophies.
"I guess I do have a job to do. I'll just look at them in the morning. Can't wait for when I can go back on break."
The guard turned around and left. Kazuma let out a sigh and collapsed to the ground, Elaine caught him before he hit the ground and steadied him.
Kazuma gave her a thumbs up and rose to an unsteady crouch. He checked for guards, his mind feeling a bit foggy. Seeing that their attention wasn't focused in their area, they resumed their slow progress.
They made it to the ancient piano without any more close calls. Elaine checked her watch, looking to see when the next guard shift was. She held up two fingers to Kazuma, indicating two minutes.
They waited for two minutes. The guard picked up their stuff and left the Great Hall. Before the next shift came, Elaine and Kazuma started pulling out multiple secret wooden panels behind the piano. The board creaked, causing both of them to flinch.
Kazuma stretched out a hand and applied his psychic powers to it. The board kept steady as Elaine eased it out, not rubbing against the other boards.
Kazuma felt the next shift coming and elbowed Elaine so she could hurry up. She gave him an annoyed look as she extracted the rest of the boards, creating a hole wide enough for them to crawl through. They crawled through the panels right when the next shift came.
"Should we replace the boards?"
Elaine shook her head, crawling further into the tunnel. "We'd just make unwanted noise. I doubt they'll look behind the ancient piano."
They continued on through the dark tunnel. Kazuma put his hands on the walls, he felt that they were made out of stone. He continued crawling, careful not to bump into Elaine.
Eventually, it came to the point where they could stand up in the tunnels. Kazuma gave a sigh of relief, he'd hit his head against the top of the tunnel too many times. Lanterns that couldn't have been lit in decades lined the wall. The air was musty and very old.
"Do you think there'll be fresh air here?" asked Kazuma.
"Probably. The builders wouldn't want the royal family to suffocate when trying to escape death. Anyways, the path we're going leads to the store room. After that, we'll have to sneak to the treasure room. It isn't too far. Honestly, we got pretty lucky with the tunnel. I won-"
"Hold on. Someone's in the tunnels," said Kazuma urgently.
He and Elaine froze. They're no hiding places in the tunnels, and few alternate paths. They edged backwards into the tunnel as a light shone through.
A young boy appeared, illuminated by his light. He looked at Elaine and Kazuma in shock and fear.
"Wait! Please don't tell the Head Cook! I was only exploring- Wait a minute. You're thieves!"
"What makes you say that?" asked Elaine cooly.
"You're wearing black clothing! And I've never seen you around the castle before."
"The king and queen asked us to examine the castle and assess whether or not it is fit for usage. We're also mapping out the area. We're working directly under the royals, and we usually don't work here. We're with a third party organization."
"I don't think so! Get them, Braixen!"
The boy threw a pokéball. A Braxien burst out of the ball, pulling a twig from its tail and setting it alight. Kazuma pulled out his own pokéball, but Elaine put a hand on his arm.
"Your Pokémon will be too loud."
She stepped forward and threw her own pokéball. Gaol appeared from the ball, hissing at the Braixen.
"Braixen, use Ember!"
"Shadow Ball."
The Ember attack was poorly aimed, allowing Gaol to easily side step it. He created a mass of shadows from his mouth and fired it directly at the Braixen. The Pokémon stumbled backwards as Gaol used Dark Pulse, sending a wave of darkness that hit the Braixen and fainted it.
Elaine sighed as she returned her Pokémon. "Pathetic. You interrupt my work with your squabbling and then give a terrible performance of what you think was a battle."
"You can't fool me!"
Elaine rolled her eyes, and started to show annoyance. "Now listen kid. I'm sure you don't want my report to the queen saying the Head Cook's errand boy was in the tunnels when we weren't supposed to. The fact that you're currently standing here, interrupting our work is embarrassing enough. So why you help both sides here and beat it."
The kid looked at her, trying his best to look intimidating without showing the fact he was intimidated.
Kazuma walked up to the kid. "You heard her. Beat it brat. Unless you want your name in our company's records."
The kid shivered and turned around, heading back to where he came from. As he was leaving, Elaine called out to him.
"And don't go to the kitchens unless you're asked to! I can tell you swiped food."
The kid didn't respond. Instead, he quickened his pace and walked off.
Kazuma waited until he couldn't feel the kid's presence before speaking.
"Do you think he's going to be a problem?" asked Kazuma.
"I doubt it. If he thinks we're legit, he won't say anything. If he has doubts, he still won't say anything in case we're actually legit. If he thinks we're lying. Alerting the guards will get him in trouble, considering he wasn't supposed to be here. To him, there's always the chance we're telling the truth. But let's not dally."
They continued walking through the tunnels, eventually reaching a fork in the road. Elaine briefly glanced at a paper and turned to the path on the left.
The path took them upwards for a while, so Kazuma figured they were on the next floor. The tunnel led to a hidden door disguised as a panel on the outside. However, when Elaine slid the panel back, they were met with a large sack.
"Yep, we're in the storage room."
Carefully, they moved the sack aside, Kazuma confirming there was no one nearby. They crawled through a small opening and snuck to the door of the room.
"No guards out," muttered Kazuma. "There was one guy in the kitchen though, I don't think it's the kid."
"We'll be careful either way. The treasure room is on the next floor."
They snuck through the kitchen, narrowly dodging the guard posted there. They headed into the hallways, where Elaine took out the grip claws strapped to her sides.
"We'll crawl on the ceiling. There's no way we can dodge the guards in the hallways."
Kazuma nodded. "The last place people look is up."
He took out his own grip claws and strapped them onto his arms and legs. Switching on the suction mechanism. He traced the devices over the wall. An LED light flashed green, telling him the wall was flat enough to scale. He pressed the devices on the wall, and slowly made his way up.
Elaine nodded in approval and followed him. They made their way onto the ceiling, moving quickly. The only downside to the grip claws was the fact that you couldn't stay in one place for too long. The paint would peel off from your weight and cause you to fall.
They crawled upside down on the ceiling, moving on arm and leg at a time. Their progress wasn't fast, but they soon got to the stairs with no incident. Kazuma did a quick sweep with his powers, and found no guards except for the ones up stairs.
They leapt off the ceiling and headed up the stairs on foot. Unfortunately, the grip claws only worked on flat surfaces.
They made it near the treasure room, and Kazuma felt two guards posted next to the door. Elaine motioned for him to be still and pulled out her tranquilizer gun. Two faint noises sounded before both darts found their mark. Elaine slipped forward and caught the guards, letting them slowly slump to the floor.
Kazuma walked forward, keeping an eye out for any guards. Elaine pulled out a device and connected it to the steel door. She then activated her communication device.
"Mia? This is Elaine."
There was silence on the other end for a moment. "Who?" came Mia's voice.
"It doesn't matter who I am, you should know why I'm calling you. Open the door."
"I'm in the middle of a game."
"Video games?" asked Kazuma. "At one o'clock?"
"It's actually only ten here, you're in the Eastern time zone. Three hour difference. Anyways, fine. Give me a moment."
There was some shifting on the other side of the link as Kazuma's earpiece suddenly became filled with keyboard clacking. The device flashed green as the door slowly swung open. Elaine nodded and walked through, Kazuma following behind.
"Seriously?" asked Mia. "No thank you? Jeez, I really am underappreciated around here."
"Than-"
"Don't bother," said Mia, cutting Kazuma off. "You wouldn't have said anything if I didn't. Just connect me to the next safe and leave me alone."
"Gladly," said Elaine, opening a secret compartment that revealed a safe. She put the device on and waited.
Soon, two minutes passed with Mia's non-stop clacking. Elaine huffed impatiently and then started speaking.
"What's taking so long?"
"Well excuse me!" said MIa indignantly. "I have to bypass soo many security checks. For your information, the safe is rigged to shut down and defy all attempts to open should the correct or incorrect code be activated. Should the unlock sequence begin, the same will happen. The safe was never meant to be opened, and whoever made it like that knew what they were doing!"
As she was ranting off, Kazuma froze. He felt a presence, a powerful presence approaching the castle. He could only recognize it as Ashley, the woman who'd chased him for his powers.
"Elaine, we're in trouble. Ashley's rapidly approaching."
"Who's Ashley?" asked Mia. "Not like I care, I'm done."
Elaine nodded and opened the safe. She was about to grab the Red Orb when an explosion sounded at the front gates. Kazuma was suddenly overwhelmed by presences as guards rushed to the scene.
"Let's move," said Elaine, grabbing the orb.
They waited until the coast was clear before running full speed out of the room. Elaine sent out her Kadabra as they exited the room. Kazuma and Elaine made contact with the Pokémon and were teleported back to the forest clearing. They didn't stop and kept running, the Kadabra teleported them again as they left the clearing.
Kazuma looked back, the palace already somewhat far from view because of Elaine's Kadabra. He then felt Ashley rapidly approaching, flying with her own psychic powers.
"Can we risk a teleport?" asked Kazuma.
"I doubt it now that she knows how we escaped. Henry should be waiting at the nearest pier with a speed boat."
"A speed boat?"
"Scarlet assembled a fleet of ships. We're going to summon Kyogre immediately."
"Still don't understand why we need the Red Orb."
"Then don't. Watch out!"
She dove to the side as Kazuma instinctively leapt, narrowly dodging a burst of fire. Ashley landed on the ground, fire gathering around her.
"I know you have the Red Orb, and so do they. If I can't stop you, the entire might of the Donaldan army and royal guard will. Submit your power, Zack, it's your only chance."
Kazuma stood up. "A lot of people are starting to use my real name, and it isn't comforting!"
He fired a burst of psychic energy, disrupting her fire. She growled and flicked her hand forward, creating a bigger burst of fire that flew straight at him. Kazuma leapt to the side and narrowly dodged it, feeling the heat sear his skin.
"I won't repeat my-"
A burst of light slammed into Ashley, causing her to go flying backwards. Elaine's giant Honedge floated behind her like a vengeful spirit.
"Shadow Sneak."
An ominous shadow glided forward from underneath Stiele, stalking towards Ashley as she recovered from the surprise attack. The shadow gripped her as Elaine and Kazuma turned and ran.
"We can't defeat her," said Elaine. "But we can buy ourselves time."
She pulled out her tranquilizer gun and fired three shots at Ashley. All three hit her perfectly and caused her to slump down, rapidly losing consciousness.
"How do you have such a good aim?" asked Kazuma, impressed.
"Self taught myself. Pretty easy if you put your mind to it."
The noise of a helicopter came within earshot as a huge beam of light shone downwards. Elaine and Kazuma pivoted away from the light and hid in some bushes.
"I see they're really after us now," said Kazuma.
"I have a bike stashed nearby, we can get to the pier."
"A bike," echoed Kazuma.
"Did I say bike? I meant motorbike."
Henry tapped the wheel on the speed boat, worry threatening to consume him. It was pretty clear that something had gone wrong. He'd already seen a Militalion skulking around; those were only sent to do their thing if a manhunt had been ordered.
He was sorry for Kazuma. They'd been very good friends. He wanted to go out and look for him and Elaine, but was under strict orders to wait for them.
The buzz of a motorcycle caused him to sit up. He then heard the roar of a Militalion. He started up the engines and was prepared to turn around and flee when he saw the unmistakable design of a Gamma Suit worn by the riders.
The motorcycle raced onto the pier and was headed directly for him. He caught a better look of the people and decided it was them, but was confused as to what their plan was. Clearly, they couldn't stop with the Pokémon chasing them. But then-
Elaine hit the brakes and flipped the motorcylce's wheel, causing it to skate at a low angle. It flew off the pier right as they jumped off, causing the motorcycle to fly into the water with them landing roughly onto the boat.
Henry hit the gas as the amped up speed boat raced out of the pier. One of the Militalions that had been chasing them leapt into the water, but its heavy gold armor slowed it down.
"Woo hoo!" shouted Kazuma. "Talk about escape!"
"More like talk about almost dying," muttered Elaine, turning around so no one would see her smug grin.
"Come on," said Kazuma. "Surely you didn't stay calm the entire time."
Elaine said nothing.
Henry wheeled the boat to the right. "So, what happened?"
"A crazy woman with the same powers as Scarlet busted us."
Henry flipped around, almost flipping the boat in the process. "What?"
"I know right! She shot fire and could do similar things Scarlet can. So can I by the way."
Henry looked at him as if he'd gone insane. "You're joking."
Kazuma created a ball of fire in response.
"How do you think Lady's going to react?"
Kazuma was quiet. "I never thought of that. Though she could possibly explain the whole thing."
"Only one way to find out."
Twenty minutes later
Scarlet stood at the bow of the largest Gamma Team ship. She sensed three presences behind. One of them is a powerful presence.
"I see our guests of honor have arrived," she said, not turning around. "I take it you have the Red Orb?"
"Yes," said Elaine, pulling out the orb.
Scarlet turned around and took the orb, examining it closely.
"Good, you brought the real one. Kazuma, I suspect you want to ask me something."
"You're reading my mind right?" he asked.
"No, I can tell your powers have awakened. Ask away. Everyone else, depart."
"How do I have powers? How does Ashley have powers, and is she related to you?"
Scarlet flinched, anger creeping on her face. "While I cannot escape the truth, I would really prefer to not talk about it. But yes, me and Ashley are related. Siblings in fact. And to know the origin of your powers, we must go back twenty years."
"Flashback time," muttered Kazuma.
"Twenty years ago, when the Gamma Team was just a shadow organization for a big company's questionable experiments, me, Dakota Stewart, and some trusted associates were carrying out a plan. This plan was hidden from our employers, and was a personal project."
"What was this plan?"
Scarlet fixed a cold look on him. "To end the impurities of mankind."
Kazuma shivered. "What kind of impurities?"
Scarlet sighed. "That would involve going into a past I do not wish to talk about. Either way, our project was similar to the one a scientist on Cinnabar Island in Kanto conducted a long time ago. We wished to create a powerful Pokémon, one that could help us achieve our goals."
"Like a Mewthree."
"Yes. We set out on many missions to collect DNA from powerful Pokémon. Particularly, fire and psychic types. We collected from Mew, Victini, and others. We lost many people back then. After seven long years of searching and collecting, we had finally been able to create our Pokémon. The experiment was going well, and the Pokémon was almost complete. We had begun the process of making it stable for the outside world, as well as genetically engineering a failsafe into its being in case it went rogue like Mewtwo. And that's when she came."
"Ashley," said Kazuma.
"Yes. The wretched excuse of a human believed that we were wrong in our endeavors! After years of abuse she thought-"Scarlet paused, realizing she said too much. "Anyways, she messed up our experiment. She destroyed the genetic tank before the Pokémon was complete. As a result, its instability caused its physical body to degenerate into nothing, leaving only its soul. The soul was unstable as well, causing it to split into three separate parts in order to exist within this world. Of course, the Pokémon, being very new to this world, only had one goal."
"World domination?" guessed Kazuma.
"No. Self preservation. Staying alive was its top priority. In order to achieve that, it needed human hosts. Pokémon, to its limited knowledge at the time, were too complex to use as a host. The strongest part of the soul fled into me. What the Pokémon didn't know was that using humans as hosts would only benefit them. The soul is not able to control the host and simply grants the host its own powers, as well as being able to see into the host's mind. The second soul piece fled into Ashley, granting her powers as well."
"I don't see how I'm tied into all this."
"At this point in time, the Pokémon, or what was left of it, was quickly gaining knowledge. Through me and Ashley's minds, it deemed humanity as a whole was cruel and evil since the soul pieces remained connected to the same Pokémon. However, since it couldn't use Pokémon as suitable hosts, it opted for a different plan. It rationalized that humans were useless and helpless at birth. Therefore, newly birthed humans could not yet commit evil. If it learned to influence its hosts, it could potentially create an angel."
"Which failed."
"Evidently. The last and weakest soul piece fled the facility and absorbed itself into you."
"Wow, so I have powers simply because I was in the right place and the right time."
"Precisely."
"Wait, but then how did the lab blow up afterwards? Wasn't the ruined lab where you kept Groudon?"
"Me and Ashley fought afterwards. Our newfound powers ended up destroying the equipment and causing it to explode. But more on that later. We're approaching our destination, but the Oak Agency is pursuing us, as well as the Donaldan coastal guard. Time is of the essence. We're at a disadvantage because we don't have enough energy for the Dynamax Pokémon. That reminds me. Get Marlow."
Kazuma nodded and went off. He soon came back with Marlow in tow. Scarlet waved Kazuma off and spoke to Marlow.
"You're a scholar in mega evolution, correct?" asked Scarlet.
"Yes."
"And you understand where the power of mega Pokémon comes from right?"
"Yes. The energy created by a Key Stone is directed towards a Pokémon through their corresponding Mega Stone. The energy created strengthens the Pokémon and causes it to change form."
"Good. I heard you were able to unlock mega forms for Pokémon without the need of a mega stone."
"Yes, but it requires vast amounts of energy."
"That's fine. I need you to create an army of genetically modified Pokémon that receive the same power as megas. They don't need to change form, but I want this ability for any Pokémon."
"I understand. I'll be working on it."
"Good, you are dismissed."
As Marlow walked off, Scarlet stared out to sea.
"War is coming to our doorstep, and I'll be the first to answer."
