Chapter twenty-two: The Battle of Outpost 3C 273 part 1
There is no moon tonight. The entire Viridian forest is dark, as it always is, with the exception of a small stretch of land. This is no surprise, however, because this area is always shrouded with bright lights once the sun falls below the horizon. Only tonight: fire lights up the ground as smoke is rising from several craters. Explosions become commonplace. Some of these explosions destroy tall concrete structures throughout the area, which is in fact a human settlement, a facility: the facility infamously known as Outpost 3C 273. Its inhabitants, part of the infamous Team Rocket, are now desperately defending it against a large group of Pokémon: who are determined to escape imprisonment. Inside one of the buildings are three young fugitives: Rigel, Orion, and myself.
Loud sirens echo every corridor that we travel through while we search for Rigel's Pokémon. Some very small parts of the ceiling fall toward the ground whenever an explosion shakes the building.
As a result: Rigel is urgently searching every room, "The building can collapse any minute and I still haven't found them!" He says, almost out of breath. Both Orion and I hang on to him as he runs and checks more rooms from within the building. Most of them are empty, however, or blocked off by debris from the explosions.
Eventually, he becomes frustrated, "Please…give me a break!" He stomps his foot into the ground, "Where could they be!?" He turns to look at a sign nearby: Cell block G
"Cell block G!? Ugh! We can't search all of these places! We might not have enough time to save them!" Rigel shouts. He grabs each side of his face with his hands in angst.
I read the sign as well. I then turn toward Orion and I was about to talk to him until I notice: he has placed a knuckle on his cheek and is thinking to himself. His ears suddenly rise all the way up as he looks up to the sign and smiles. He jumps down from the human's shoulder and waves his arm at him, "I think I know where they are Rigel!" The Pikachu yells while Rigel kneels down to listen.
"Where?" I ask him while I'm still on Rigel's shoulder.
"Well, I read a human sign earlier…a similar one...and it had a familiar letter that you had taught me…it was crescent-shaped, like the moon!"
"You mean the letter C?" I ask him.
"Yes! That one!"
"So…Cell block C?" I ask quietly to myself as I tilt my head towards Rigel. I scratch my chin and think.
Rigel's phone has been taken away most likely, so maybe if I lead him to Cell block C…
I carefully climb down from Rigel and I stand next to Orion, "I guess teaching you English paid off!" I pat him on the back, "Oh trust me…I put it to good use yesterday." Orion responds, smiling.
Afterwards, I walk ahead of the group to point towards a nearby area, "Follow me!" I say as I walk/run towards our next destination. Rigel, having no time to ask, follows me while Orion does the same.
We pass through 'F' and 'E' before I stop to rest momentarily. Rigel kneels down to me and asks, "Where are you taking us Lucas?"
Orion walks toward me on all fours, "Lucas, maybe it's better if I lead the way. It'll be much faster for us."
I puff from exhaustion and nod, "Do you know where to go?"
Embarrassed, Orion puts his arm behind his back and closes his eyes, "Not really, but maybe you can tell me where to go." He suggests.
"Sounds good." I say.
"Lucas?" Rigel interrupts.
I take a deep breath before I make a gesture: I point towards the end of the hallway and I do a C-shaped motion with my arms afterwards. After not understanding my gesture, I point towards the 'Cell block E' sign behind us and do the gesture again. He stands up from the ground, "Oh, so you're taking us to Cell block C then." He says, "Alright, as long as-"
Suddenly, we hear a loud bang. We look above us in fear, and the entire place begins to shake violently afterward. I struggle to keep standing in place, but soon after: I see debris fall from the ceiling, so I start moving around to avoid them, "Not good!" I shout.
The human's eyes widen once he sees a very large piece of the ceiling fall down toward the floor. Rigel, without any hesitation, picks me up and shouts, "Run! Down the hallway!" Rigel says to his Pikachu, knowing full well that the Pokémon is faster than the both of us. I am placed on his shoulder and he suddenly starts to sprint, almost giving me no time to grab on to him, down the long corridor alongside Orion. I then hear the sound of objects smashing the ground very loudly. Curiosity gets the better of me: I look behind us, but I wish I didn't because it soon becomes clear that the ceiling is collapsing right behind us and it's not stopping!
The human does the same thing but quickly looks away, "I wish I didn't do that!" Rigel shouts frantically, "I really wish I didn't do that!" He tries running faster now.
Once we reach the end of the hallway, Rigel and Orion jump, in sync, through the door: just in time to avoid the falling ceiling from crushing all of us. I am thrown from the trainer as we fall in midair. A shroud of dust envelops us afterward.
A minute later, we cough from the dust as we examine the damage done: we've all been struck by rubble at some point during the skirmish. We're all covered with some bruises, especially Orion and Rigel.
The good thing is: we're still alive.
The teen is now covered in gray dust and has some small blood coming out of several places on his arms and legs. He sits up and inspects the pain he is now feeling all over his body, "Ow…is everyone okay?" He says as his voice echoes throughout the room.
Rigel takes the initiative and stands up first. He shambles to his Pikachu, who landed elsewhere during the jump, and sits down again to see if he's alright. Just before I begin to worry for Orion's wellbeing, he opens his eyes and groans as he grabs his head in pain, "Jeez…my head…"
"Thank goodness." Rigel says which gets me to smile. I make a deep sigh of relief as a follow up. Rigel grabs Orion and kisses him on the head repeatedly, "Thank goodness, thank goodness you're alright Orion."
"Guys, that was intense…" Orion responds, still rubbing his head.
After several seconds, the human turns to me and asks, "Are you okay?" And I nod, "Yea". He gestures his shoulder with one hand, "Let's hurry...I have medicine and first aid waiting for us." Rigel requests after he coughs, "I don't want to sound pushy, but I don't want to be in this place when the whole thing crumbles."
I cautiously climb his clothing and I sit on him once again. He stands up slowly and looks back towards what used to be a hallway, which is now reduced to rubble. He looks down to his Pikachu and sighs, "That was extremely lucky for us…I don't think I'll be able to keep calm the next time Viridian has a weak earthquake."
Orion stands up as well, with some pain, "I know what you mean Rigel." He then walks ahead of the group toward another door, "I'll lead the way?" The yellow mouse asks.
"Yea, I'll tell you where to go." I respond.
"Orion, I don't mind if you lead us…just be careful please." Rigel says, Orion nods.
We quickly leave the room to get to Cell block C.
…
Several minutes pass by and we finally arrive at our destination. We examine our surroundings: the three of us are inside a large room; the main lobby of Cell block C. Rigel takes no time to search a 'reception' desk while Orion walks away from us after noticing a sign on the wall. I get off Rigel to stand next to the Pikachu. He stares at the English letters and I try to get his attention, "Orion?"
He turns to me and I look into his eyes: they're getting teary. Suddenly, he hugs me and then says quietly, "Lucas, thank you…thank you for helping me learn human language." He lets go and wipes the very small tears from his eyes. I smile, "No problem, you're getting the hang of it. But Orion, this is no time to get like this."
"I know, but I can't begin to tell you how much joy I have when I read or write a letter. I can really imagine myself writing messages to Rigel now…we'll finally be able to actually communicate with each other." He sighs, a rather satisfied one at that, "I wish I can learn more."
Since Rigel is still finding the bag and since I'm too small to even reach for the drawers, I become patient and I rub Orion's head in response to his compliment, "And you will, it just takes more practice and-"
"Yes! I've found them!" Rigel shouts. We stop talking and quickly make our way to him. After, we see him brandish a belt, which was inside one of the drawers by the desk. He checks the belt, which has several Poké balls hanging from it, and sighs with relief, "Good, they're still inside." Rigel says after checking the balls. Finally, he clips on the belt with ease.
"Thank goodness we found the belt here. I wouldn't have wanted to search the other rooms in this place." He says to us. He scratches his head and raises an eyebrow afterward, "But where's my bag…" He searches the other drawers and eventually finds his black messenger bag inside, "Ah! There it is."
He searches through it but then looks toward us with an annoyed expression, "I really hate Team Rocket…I really do." He finds nothing in his bag. Placing the bag over his shoulder, he points toward another entrance: Cell block B
"Well, no point in thinking about who took my stuff from my bag…even though it had my phone, my sleeping bag and other useful survival stuff." Rigel says sarcastically. He jumps over the desk and lands perfectly on the other side, "Let's get out of here." Yet again he kneels down to allow me to travel on his back, but I stand still for several seconds, motionless.
A thought forms in my head: they could be expecting us at the main entrance, yet it seems to be our only escape route now. I remember that many of the Pokémon from earlier had either destroyed several walls to escape the building or have flown away through several windows, but those exits were made near the cafeteria, which has most likely collapsed. Even if we could head back, we're already near the main entrance. Either way, I guess we could try and fight back: but I'm afraid, afraid that the same thing that happened in Verdigris may happen once again.
I hesitate for a moment but I finally climb on his shoulder once again, and we start making our way toward the exit as Orion follows from behind.
…
Finally, after running through a few more corridors and rooms, we reach the main lobby of the building: our exit from the prison is just several hundred feet away. Rigel and I smile as he opens the door leading into the lobby, "This is it…we're finally getting out of here!"
"Away from the falling rocks and closer to-" Orion stops midsentence.
Our smiles disappear as we stop moving all together because in front of the exits leading outside are two of our most hated adversaries: Dr. Bartoli and Anthony: both appear to be holding Poké balls in their hands.
"I see you all have been busy." Bartoli shouts from across the room, noticing the injuries that we have all sustained from the collapsing roof, "Gray and dull is the future I see for you." Bartoli giggles softly to herself, after looking at Rigel, whose clothing is covered in a ridiculous amount of gray dust.
"H…how did you know we were still here?" Rigel asks.
Bartoli brandishes a portable device, "The beauty of security cameras." She then puts it away.
"Did you honestly think that we would let you escape?" Anthony asks the boy. Rigel narrows his eyes slowly at them, "I thought you wanted us out of here." The teen says sarcastically.
"While wearing blindfolds and under the supervision of the staff, yes. We can't let you expose this facility to the public." Bartoli retorts.
Rigel looks up toward the ceiling and chuckles softly, "By the looks of things, there may be nothing left to expose of after tonight."
"Enough conversation." Anthony retorts, "Now's the time for you to decide."
"We're giving a chance for you to comply peacefully. It's your choice, so choose now." Bartoli brandishes the Poké ball, ready to battle.
"So what will it be?" Anthony finishes.
"After what you've done, I don't think peace is an option." Rigel responds.
Suddenly, the room shakes and some debris falls from the ceiling, "Can we do this battle outside, where we know for sure the roof isn't going to fall on our heads?"
They say nothing in response.
"Look around you! Stuff is falling and half the building is probably a clump of rock by now."
There is still no response from the adults even after he says this.
"Fine then…" Rigel says. He runs toward the exit with great speed, with me desperately hanging on for dear life, "I'm not staying here to be crushed to death!" He is stopped by a blinding light which reveals to be a Geodude, a floating rock creature with human-like arms, "Are you really that desperate!?" Rigel retorts, stomping his foot in defiance. Soon after, Rigel rolls his eyes and then takes out a Poké ball of his own and throws it, "Charmeleon! Go!"
The ball falls down toward the ground and then opens, revealing a bright light which soon transforms into the red-colored reptile. Charmeleon roars, which echoes throughout the room with impressive sound, and then stomps his foot into the ground afterwards. He looks up at Geodude which is followed by a mischievous smile.
Bartoli, however, is giggling at Rigel, "Well then...a Pokémon battle it is." I look at the young boy and I shake my head, "Oh man...wrong Pokémon to use." I say to myself as I hide my face with my paw.
Rigel turns to Orion and points toward the two adults, "Give it all you got guys. Just be careful for any tricks." I quietly sit on Rigel, trying not to fear for the worst since he has almost no training on using Pokémon types yet and since we were probably outnumbered in terms of Trainer:Pokémon ratio.
I was right about that because Bartoli then releases two Pokémon into the battlefield: a Clefairy, a rather fat but questionably adorable pink Pokémon, and a Meowth.
Remembering our previous Pokémon battle, I back away in fear and Orion nods when he sees me, understanding my significant level disadvantage, "It's alright…you don't have to-"
Now since it was only Orion and Charmeleon against these three opponents and since one of them had a weakness to Geodude, Rigel became desperate and he grabbed me. I tried to get him to let go but he wouldn't, "Come on Lucas, I haven't seen you fight! We need you right now!"
"No wait…let me go!"
As he's doing this, Dr. Bartoli covers her mouth with a hand and giggles even more.
"Come on!" Rigel shouts to me.
"Rigel…he's too inexperienced with Pokémon battles, he's not ready." I hear Orion jump into the conversation, "I mean…yea…he knows about types and moves…but still."
"Orion's right! I'll lose easily! I'm too low leveled! Please let me go!" I shout to him, begging him not to throw me at them, "Please Rigel, I can't!"
"Rigel!" Orion responds.
Anthony covers his face with his hand and shakes his head in disappointment as Bartoli continues to giggle. He points his finger at Rigel and shouts, "Rock Throw." He orders his Geodude to do. The rock-type punches the ground with its fist and causes several chunks of rock to travel toward Charmeleon and Orion, similar to what the golem had done before in the forest. Rigel, upon hearing Anthony's command, looks at him and then quickly sets me down on the ground. He stands back up and then shouts to Orion and Charmeleon, "Double-Team, Orion! Charmeleon, try to dodge it too!"
"Meowth, shower them with Pay Day!" Bartoli shouts.
The gold coin on the cat's forehead begins to glow brightly before releasing numerous bright orbs toward Rigel's Pokémon. Orion begins to run in circles at an astonishing speed. Soon after, his body seemingly replicates into two other copies of himself. Charmeleon, on the other hand, tries to sidestep the falling rocks and crashing orbs in an attempt to avoid getting struck by them.
I look toward Bartoli, who notices that Orion had just used a move, and I can see that she has a stern look on her face. She says, "So, the PP suppressor has worn off…oh well, I haven't had a battle in months. Let's make this as thrilling as possible, shall we." She smiles after she turns toward Anthony.
"Agreed." He responds.
As the rocks strike Orion's copies and leave him unharmed, Rigel shouts, "Use quick-attack on that Meowth, Orion! Charmeleon, follow him!" Right as the last copy is destroyed, the Pikachu springs into action. He dodges, with amazing speed, the last few rocks and orbs while he heads for his opponent, Charmeleon follows behind him right afterwards.
While Orion is closing in on his intended target, Anthony orders to his Geodude, "Tackle the Pikachu…stop him."
Despite this, Orion doesn't stop going for the cat, and even prepares to strike it with his body. As Geodude gets closer to the electric mouse, Rigel shouts from across the room, "Charmeleon, use Leer now on the Geodude!"
The reptilian Pokémon gets in the way of Geodude and stops it from going for Orion altogether. He begins to stare at it. From what I can see, it's a fierce stare that has chills running down my spine. A similar effect is achieved on the rock-type. It becomes distracted and shakes in fear as a result.
Oh I see…Rigel's got an interesting strategy going on…
I look towards Orion and I see that he's just a few feet away from Meowth. I tug on the trainer's pants and point towards the Pikachu. He quickly notices my gesture and catches a glimpse of the Pikachu soon after.
"Fury Swipes!" Doctor Bartoli shouts, but it's too late because when Meowth's claws slash toward the Pikachu, Orion manages to dodge them and he retaliates by jumping at the cat. He strikes the feline's body as hard as he can in the process.
Rigel then clenches his fist toward himself, "Counter-attack with a ThunderShock!" He then sways his arm to the right afterward. The Meowth looks in horror as Orion smiles mischievously, grabbing its arms so it can't escape or retaliate; electricity escapes from his cheeks in a very aggressive proportion, "Take this!" Orion shouts. The electricity all around him comes into contact with the cat which causes it to shout loudly as a high voltage travels throughout its body. Soon after, he lets go of Meowth, and it falls down on the ground and faints from both attacks.
"Good job Orion!" I shout and jump, smiling and cheering happily in response to his successful attacks. I then turn to Rigel and say, "That was great Rigel, try and do something like that again!"
"It worked!" Rigel does not listen to my compliment because he is too fixated on the battle, "Now I just need to do the same thing to Geodude." He says which causes me to drop on the ground with embarrassment, "I really got to teach you about type-effectiveness." I say softly as I stand back up.
Dr. Bartoli turns toward her Clefairy, which has been sitting idle since the battle started, "Get in there." She says, almost quietly. It smiles to its trainer and then jumped into the battlefield, and it soon starts heading toward the Charmeleon.
"Meowth, return!" Bartoli says afterwards. Orion lifts a foot in the air and almost falls on his back after seeing the cat, next to him, transform into red light. Nevertheless, He jumps into all fours and growls, "Come on Bartoli…send your next Pokémon to fight me! I'll make them never want to fight a Pikachu again!"
"Orion, ThunderShock that geodude!" Rigel says. I look at him and shout, "No, no! Not ThunderShock!" I tug his pants once again and I shake my head to him. He looks down to me and tilts his head.
"What?"
In an attempt to show him what I mean, I try to emulate a ThunderShock and shake my head afterwards. To my surprise, I find that my PP is no longer under the effects of Bartoli's drug as well. I easily create electricity around me, much like a ThunderShock but much weaker than one so it won't harm Rigel in any way.
"I can't really do this right now." He responds after seeing a clefairy enter the battle.
While Orion charges toward geodude and time runs out, I rub my chin in thought and then I look up and get Rigel's attention again. I mime a scene where I am picking up something and slamming it on the ground. I then point to geodude.
Rigel looks at me with a confused expression before saying, "Oh I see! Okay." He nods his head and shouts, "In that case…Orion, use Slam instead!"
I smile as a result, "Thank you! At least Slam will have an effect…" I say. Rigel doesn't look back at me this time but I can tell he's talking to me.
"How did you know we like using Slam? Never mind, tell me after." He tells me.
As Rigel said this to me, Anthony mutters a command to his Pokémon, "Geodude, make use of your Rock Throw on that Charmeleon, now!"
I call to Rigel, "Call him back! Call him back! Hurry!" I yell to him.
"Try to dodge it!" Rigel commands Charmeleon.
Unfortunately, geodude smacks the ground again and causes rocks to fall on Charmeleon. The consequence of this is a bombardment that causes sufficient damage to the reptile, he winces in pain due to their super-effectiveness; however, he lucks out and is still conscious despite this, but he's too injured to battle efficiently. The reptile stands idle, however, refusing to run away.
"Excellent, now…finish it off!" Anthony shouts.
However, just as Geodude is about to attack Charmeleon again, Orion arrives just in time. He jumps and lands into the rock-type in mid air, and then grabs each side of the creature to hang on. He then spins Geodude in the air several times as the Pikachu firmly holds on. Soon after, Orion falls towards the earth with Geodude. Finally, Anthony's Pokémon strikes the earth like a meteorite while Orion manages to avoid any damage whatsoever. Both remain hidden in a cloud of dust.
In response to the counter-attack, Rigel whistles to his Pokémon, "Charmeleon, come back-"
But suddenly, my ears droop as I watch in terror. Clefairy unexpectedly jumps in front of the red-colored Pokémon, blocking his escape route.
Rigel reacts right away, "Ember!" He shouts.
"Double-Slap." The female scientist commands, almost in a monotone voice.
"Mega-Punch!" Anthony shouts, almost in synch with Bartoli.
Before Charmeleon can respond, Clefairy slaps him. The fire-type attempts to retaliate in response but Clefairy slaps him again but with its tail which causes the Pokémon to be thrown into the air. Before he can recover in time, Clefairy jumps into the sky and slaps him in mid air. To finish the counter attack, Clefairy slaps him with its tail one more time, causing Charmeleon to fall toward the ground at high speeds.
I flinch as Charmeleon strikes the ground, leaving behind a small crater as a result.
"Ah…a rare multi-strike! Excellent!" Anthony turns and says to Bartoli. She closes her eyes and smiles to him.
Meanwhile, as this was all going on, Orion stood on top of Geodude triumphantly with his paws on his hips; however, despite the dust limiting his vision, Orion begins to see a bright light right below his feet where the rock Pokémon is. His impish smile quickly disappears just before he is struck by the light, which has taken the form of a fist. He is thrown across the arena and hits the ground near Rigel which gets me and the boy to scream out his name. Fortunately, the Pikachu stands up from the ground, weakly of course, and shakes himself repeatedly to get rid of debris on his body.
Rigel silently uses his Poké ball to retrieve the unconscious Charmeleon. Then, Rigel and I make our way towards Orion, since he's near us, and I grab him by the shoulders, "Are you alright!?" I ask.
"Fine, stand back…remember your level is too low!" More electricity escapes from his cheeks which signal me to move back from him, "I don't think we should stay to fight any longer." I tell him, "Remember what happened last time we fought like this: we lost, and we barely got away Orion." I retort.
"What else can we do? We're trapped, there's no other choice." He looks back to me, with a stern expression, before turning around again, "Even if it means we're going to lose. Lucas, I have to be optimistic about our chances, just like you have always been."
"We have to find another way!" I shout back to him, "There has to be another way! We can't be captured again!" I retort, "Orion…I'm sick of being a prisoner, an experiment. I want to get out of this forest…" I say desperately.
"…" Orion falls down on all fours and prepares to charge back into battle, despite his moderate injuries, "Then run, but I'm staying here. This isn't about just you and me anymore: it's about Rigel, it's about Charmeleon, and it's about all the Pokémon under the captivity of Team Rocket. Team Rocket needs to be taught a lesson!"
My eyes widen as I swing my arm to the side, "Orion! Please don't!" I shout in protest.
Orion, without his trainer's consent, jumped in the air and then dashes towards Clefairy.
"No!" I shout at the top of my lungs.
"Orion? Hey!" Rigel shouts as well, he even chases after him for several feet before stopping completely, "Come back here!"
Bartoli simply folds her arms and shouts at the advancing Pikachu, "Clefairy…Metronome!"
The pink-colored Pokémon remains still and she soon brandishes a finger on each hand and waves them around. A strange aura then envelops her hands before suddenly: she releases electricity from the tip of her fingers, which heads toward Orion. Rigel looks, in fear, at the scene in front of him, but he nonetheless calls to his Pokémon, "Orion use ThunderShock!"
I close my eyes as Orion stops running towards Clefairy altogether. Still on all fours, he collects and focuses as much electricity as he can all around his body. I open my eyes after I feel a bright light almost consume the battlefield. Rigel, Bartoli and Anthony shield their eyes as Orion begins to shout in distress.
"Orion!? What's going on!?" I shout at him, believing that he is in tremendous pain.
Orion's electricity aggressively travels throughout his body and he stands up from the ground. Then, instinctively, he closes his eyes for several moments and he raises his arms towards the sky. He shouts even louder than before as he brings his arms close to his chest. A gargantuan lightning bolt escapes from the Pikachu, which then heads straight for Clefairy while leaving a trail of destruction in its wake: an impressive and unexpected feat from Orion.
Right after, both lightning bolts, from Clefairy and Orion, clash with each other. Several seconds pass by and Orion's ThunderShock overwhelms the rival Pokémon's lightning bolt. It quickly continues its relentless march towards Clefairy until: she is struck by it and falls down on the floor in pain.
Clefairy soon stands back up, from the ground, and shakes herself in pain as she clutches her stomach. A brief silence envelops the battlefield as both Pokémon on each side breathe heavily after their intense confrontation. Orion stands there, unsure what to say.
"Did you just use…ThunderBolt?" Rigel asks softly to Orion. The electric mouse looks behind him, at Rigel, and nods, "I think so…that was too strong to be a ThunderShock…"
The Pikachu checks himself while sparks of electricity travel throughout various parts of his body as an after effect, "So I've learned ThunderBolt." Orion smiles impishly soon after, "Yes!" He jumps into all fours as sparks of electricity once again come out of his cheeks, "Bring it on…show me what you've got!"
Meanwhile, from where I am, my eyes shine as I smile with happiness. I can't explain the feeling, but I was attracted to that particular ThunderBolt. I think it's my instincts kicking in again, but I didn't care anymore because I inexplicably felt…pure and certain joy…I suddenly became fearless. I needed to be closer to the source of the lightning bolt, which is Orion, because I felt like I was a part of it.
Without thinking ahead, I ran towards Orion, not knowing that my instincts have allowed me to do so once again. I stand by his side and I release electricity from my cheeks as I smile mischievously as well. He looks up at me and stands up quickly, noticing my sudden change in behavior, "Lucas!? What are you doing!?"
"I'm fighting beside you now!" I say, still smiling.
"W…what? You were against the idea a minute ago!" He retorts.
"After seeing that wonderful ThunderBolt, I changed my mind!" I say. I am completely oblivious to what I am saying, yet I continue to act this way despite my attempts to stop, "It did something to me, something I can't explain! I am inspired to fight by your side!"
"Lucas, that's not a great idea. Remember you're much weaker than I am, especially against these Pokémon."
Without saying anything else, I charge towards Clefairy and Geodude while Orion follows shorty after in an attempt to stop me, "Lucas!? What has gotten into you?"
Bartoli narrows her eyes and points at me, "Use Pound!" She yells as her Clefairy, even though it's close to fainting, jumps and prepares to slap me.
However, as I was running towards the scientists' Pokémon, Orion notices something traveling underground near me, which is hinted by the rising concrete. He raises an eyebrow and then squeaks when he sees it heading between me and Clefairy. Because he's faster than me, he manages to grab me and pull me back just before the earth erupts in front of us, revealing a Diglett: Cy's Diglett.
It turns three-hundred and sixty degrees toward Clefairy and then slashes her with its claws. This causes the pink creature to yell in extreme pain before collapsing on the ground.
"Return!" Bartoli shouts as sweat begins falling down her face.
"No hard feelings, Bartoli, just returning the favor!" We hear nearby. We all turn behind us to see two humans: Cy, brandishing a Poké ball, and Km, brandishing the flames on her hands, "I'm actually glad you were stupid enough to leave our items out in the open, close to our Cell Block."
In the meantime, Orion shakes me, "What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself in serious trouble!" The shaking causes my smile to disappear as I manage to regain control over my actions.
"What…what did I just do?" I ask Orion but he says nothing to me, I see his face and I can tell that he is just as confused as I am.
"You don't remember?" Orion asks.
"All I remember is seeing your ThunderShock, or was it a ThunderBolt."
"ThunderBolt." Orion confirms.
"...and I remember feeling a lot of happiness...and then I...don't remember the rest." I say softly.
Orion sees Cy and Km walk closer to Rigel, "Nevermind, we'll talk more about this later okay?" He lets go of me and I sit there, unsure of what to think of the event I had just experienced.
Meanwhile, The young adult male, known as Cy, looks toward the three of us and starts laughing, "Oh man…you guys look like shit." Cy says after seeing us covered in gray dust and bruises.
"You…you…asshole!" Rigel says which surprises me because I've never heard him say a curse word before, "You guys left us all alone! You intentionally left us behind and now you're helping us!?"
"We're not helping you. We're here to tie up loose ends. I'm going to make these two pay for what they've done: to me and Km."
Cy takes out several items from his bag which he throws at Rigel afterward, "Here you go." Cy says as the boy manages to catch them in his hands.
"A revive and super-potions?" Rigel asks, "Yup, I took them from your bag." Cy responds.
Rigel stays silent for a few seconds before narrowing his eyes at the adult male, "Would you mind giving me the rest back too?"
"Nope."
"Give them to me, they're mine!"
"Not anymore. You should be happy I gave you those items…oh yea, take this back too: your phone is a piece of shit. It's like four years behind everyone else." Cy throws the phone, which Rigel is unable to catch since he's holding the other items. It falls on the concrete floor and almost breaks which gets the teen to shout loudly, "I don't understand you at all: we help you and you still act like a jerk!?" Rigel shouts.
"Are you going to say thank you or are you going to keep yapping." Cy retorts.
Km chuckles, "Your right Cy, this is the kid we stole the Pikachu from...he has the same whiny attitude." The female grunt folds her arms, "But where's his girlfriend?"
Rigel stomps his foot in anger, "That girl wasn't my girlfriend! We were only fighting...until you interrupted us and took my Pikachu, crook!"
Bartoli clears her throat loudly to get our attention, "Stop this nonsense Cy...Km. You can't win. Even if you escape, can't you see the dilemma that you will face once you're in the outside world? You'll be discriminated, hunted…not just by the authorities, but by Team Rocket as well. Both of you are making a terrible mistake, a mistake that I can't help to get you out of."
"We don't care what you have to say anymore Bartoli, you're going to feel hell in the next few minutes." Km says to the older adult while brandishing a flame on her hand.
"Km…listen to me. Your body isn't used to your powers. You could potentially harm yourself and others around you. Rk accidentally destroyed-"
"Don't try and play your games on me Bartoli." Km retorts, her flame grows bigger as she gets angry.
"Less talking, more fighting." Cy says as he looks at me, "Lucas…use ThunderShock on Bartoli and don't hesitate." Cy orders me to do.
Of course, I refuse and that only makes him narrows his eyes at me in anger.
"Do as I say Lucas…you are my Pikachu after all."
Rigel jumps in surprise and then looks at me, "What? Is this true?" Rigel asks me but I don't respond, in fact I look away and stare at the floor right after he asks. Orion knew of course, because I had told him back at the base, but he still felt a sense of worry for me, "Lucas, stay on your toes…he could…put you in a Poké ball at any time." Orion utters to me quietly as he shields me from Cy.
"Lucas…Cy's Pikachu? You're lying!" The human boy turns towards Cy and curls his fists in anger, "You don't even know him!"
"Oh, I very much do know him: before I left Team Rocket, I helped Bartoli experiment on him and…you know what…I don't need to explain it to you."
Cy turns back to me and says, "Lucas, you'll do as I say or else you'll learn to enjoy the feeling of being left in a Pc, inside a Poké ball, for the rest of your life." Cy shouts while he points the Poké ball at me causing me to cower behind Orion even more. Orion continues to shield me from the human, despite our size difference.
"Enough of this!" Anthony interrupts as he throws a blue Poké ball with red stripes on it, in the air, toward us, "Nidoqueen, Mega-Kick the foul Diglett!"
The ball hits the ground and releases a Pokémon similar to Rk's Nidoking but it has a blue hide instead of purple. And just like Nidoking, it roars very loudly in response to being called into battle.
It suddenly jumps towards Diglett, Cy turns to his ground-type and orders it to dig underground. After it does, the blue monster strikes the hole from which Diglett was and causes a large amount of concrete to fly into the air; however, the mole has moved from its location and is now underneath the Nidoqueen, waiting to strike its adversary in retaliation.
Meanwhile, the falling concrete heads towards Orion and I, so he picks me up from the ground and gets me to jump sideways, while being held by him, into the ground. We both manage to dodge the projectiles in time. Afterwards, we stand up again and try to keep our distance from both ground-types, "That was close." Orion tells me as I nod.
"Counter-attack!" Cy responds.
"Respond with Mega-Punch, Geodude."
Km's flame soon extinguishes by itself, giving her the opportunity to take out a ball from her belt, "Growlithe, use Take Down on that Geodude!" She throws her Poké ball, but it suddenly catches fire.
"What the heck!?" She says looking at her hand, which is on fire again, "I really got to learn how to control this…" She says softly to herself.
Despite being on fire, the Poké ball releases a dog-like Pokémon which then sprints towards the battlefield with swiftness: the ball soon disintegrates completely from the fire.
Km, as a result of witnessing this event, looks toward her Growlithe and then her hands. She then nods and smiles wickedly, "A crazy idea just crossed my mind…this is going to feel weird…but I mind as well try it." The female Grunt begins running into the battlefield, following her dog from close behind.
Cy takes note of this and raises an eyebrow, "Km?"
Km looks back at Cy, "Just trying something."
In the meantime, the Nidoqueen looks under her feet and is soon struck by Diglett's body, as it was emerging from underground, which significantly injures the reptile due to the super-effectiveness of ground against poison types.
Once the blue Pokémon takes a step back, Diglett hears Geodude's yell before he is struck by its bright fist. It is thrown out of its hole and crashes into the ground nearby, which reveals its entire body, "Heh…it is a mole after all." Orion says softly in response. Diglett quickly digs another hole to stay in soon after.
After Geodude's attack, Growlithe slams into the rock-type which causes less than considerable damage but still enough to be an issue to it. The move, Take-Down, causes Km's canine to ricochet and to hit the ground with some degree of force. As it does, Km arrives and manages to release a small blaze towards the rock-type: despite the fact that this almost has no effect on him, the combination of previous attacks brings his hp to below half.
"Growlithe, help me out here: use Ember!" Km yells.
Geodude, Nidoqueen, and Growlithe stare at Km, the three are confused and surprised that a human had actually used a Pokémon move. Yet still sensing danger, Growlithe runs to Km's side and releases his own version of Ember. Both begin harassing Geodude with weak flames.
To me, the sight is unusual: a human and a Pokémon, actually physically working together to bring down a foe. It's truly daunting because it's unnatural. If this is what humans are now capable of doing, it does make the notion of 'going against nature' seem justified.
Despite the awkwardness of the situation, Nidoqueen decides to retaliate without Anthony's command and now Km looks at the blue reptile above her in horror.
From I can see on the human's face, I can tell she had just realized that her human body may not be able to withstand the full force of a powerful Pokémon move. It might be possible that one Mega-Kick or Mega-Punch can kill her easily. Just because humans can use Pokémon moves now doesn't mean that they're now just as durable.
So, she takes a step back, but again unintentionally ignites fire on her hands and arms in self defense. Nidoqueen also takes a step back as a result, wary of the unusual trait that the human possesses. Yet, it soon roars in bloodlust rage and charges toward Km. Growlithe yelps and quickly jumps towards his trainer to shield her from the attack. Just before Km can be seriously injured or killed, Growlithe is struck by Nidoqueen's Mega-Punch instead of the human. It flies above its trainer and lands on the other side, and it is unable to stand back up on its own.
"Growlithe!" She screams while she runs to her dog. She quickly picks him up and runs back to Cy with him. When Nidoqueen gives chase, Anthony shouts, "No! Show them your true strength, use Earthquake!" The blue pokemon stops chasing Km and looks back towards its trainer and smirks. It then raises a foot in the air. Everyone, but Anthony and his Nidoqueen and Geodude, react with a gasp.
Cy shouts at Diglett, "Scratch the hell out of it before It can do it!"
"Anthony, are you insane!?" Bartoli shouts in protest, "You'll bring this entire structure down!"
But it's too late. The Nidoqueen stomps her foot on the ground, which creates a shockwave of the highest magnitude. The obvious result is what the three of us had feared for the most. The ceiling begins to fall and it causes everyone to immediately make their way towards the exit. Bartoli and Anthony escape the building with their Pokémon, almost hesitating in the process.
"Go!" Rigel shouts. He grabs the both of us with his arms and he shields us from the falling roof. He unfortunately drops me in the middle of the chaos when a small rock hits him in the back and tries to head back to save me, but debris suddenly cuts him off as he yells for me.
"Lucas!" Rigel shouts.
"Lucas, no!" Orion screams.
Km and Growlithe, also on the same side with Rigel, tries to head back for Cy, who is near me, but her attempts are in vain.
Rigel manages to push the door open and he yanks Km out, away from the collapsing building. Once outside, he looks back, ignoring the intense battle behind him, and gulps in terror as the entire façade crashes into the ground, with Cy, Diglett, and me still inside.
Cy holds his Diglett as I close my eyes. We prepare to meet our demise.
The building collapsed on us and darkness shrouds my vision soon afterwards.
