Chapter 42: Paint It Black
"Now that you've gotten dressed and eaten breakfast, we're ready to move on with your training," Auro said while standing in front of the gang with Nate and Rosa.
"This training is based on stealth and resourcefulness, so you'll have to be sharp," Nate informed Ash, May, Cilan, and Iris.
"Unlike the last session, we won't be involved this time. Instead the Lake Guardians will produce enemies that are actually illusions, but keep in mind they can still cause physical pain so don't take the illusions lightly," Rosa warned them.
"Alright, sounds fair," May said with a determined look.
"So am I!" Ash made a fist of confidence.
Iris and Cilan smirked as well, knowing that even though the training sounded challenging, they'd be ready for it. "We've done similar things in the past, so I am sure we can get through this one without too much confusion," May smiled as she recalled similar experiences in the past.
Auro smirked at their confidence, "The objective is to save Iris and Cilan without alerting the base. Ash, May, the two of you must be as quiet and discreet as can be. We're not asking the two of you to be ninjas, be avoided being spotted by the enemy or else you'll have serious trouble. Also unlike last time, you can take Victini with you, but do not rely on him for too much of the mission. The three of us highly suggest using some stealthy Pokémon and use silent tactics to outsmart the enemy."
"Awesome!" Ash and May said simultaneously and looked at Victini happily, who hovered between them with a grin. Pikachu also flashed a smile at his younger friend who would join them on this escapade.
"Tini v," Victini spoke with a determined tone as he looked at Auro.
"So we're captives in this mission?" Iris said with a surprised look as she pointed at herself.
"Ax ew axew," Axew eyes widened, not sounding too happy about being taken in as a prisoner.
"Well then, how are we supposed to train?" Cilan raised an eyebrow.
"You're going to use the techniques you learned from yesterday and apply them here. You must remain calm and be resourceful because there's a possibility Ash and May might take too long to reach you. So as Ash and May try to reach the two of you, you're also trying to break free," Auro explained Iris and Cilan's situation, receiving nods from the two of them.
"Remember, there are going to be a lot of infantry men and they won't hesitate to harm you, same with any hostile Pokémon lurking in the base," Nate warned Ash, May, Iris, and Cilan.
"The base will also have bad lightning or may be none at all, so you will have to rely on your other sense besides sight. Many of the infantrymen will also have flashlights and lighting equipment, so don't think they also have a disadvantage from the darkness," Rosa added one last thing.
"Gotcha," Ash nodded with a confident grin.
"We're ready!" May said with a confident tone as Victini and Pikachu also flashed the same confident expressions.
"So are we!" Cilan and Iris nodded while Axew took on the same attitude as Victini and Pikachu.
"Good, Mesprit, Azelf, Uxie, let's start," Auro commanded the Lake Guardians who formed a triangle around the gang like last time.
"Priiiii," Mesprit's eyes began to glow blue.
"Uuuuuu," Uxie's eyes did the same.
"Aaaaaaz," Azelf's eyes also started to glow blue.
Ash, May, Iris, Cilan, Victini, Pikachu, and Axew became outlined in blue energy and within a second they vanished into thin air, leaving Auro, Nate, and Rosa uncertain about how the group might perform this time.
Out of the blue, Ash, May, Victini and Pikachu appeared in a small storage room filled with stacks of empty boxes. "Well guess this is our starting point," May examined the area.
"Yeah, but where are we exactly?" Ash wondered as he looked around the room.
May's sapphire eyes scanned their location like a machine and with sharp eye sight spotted a map hiding behind a stack of boxes. The girl walked over and removed the boxes, with Ash following her, "What are you doing May?" Ash asked her.
"I found a map," May removed the last box covering the map on the wall.
Ash raised an eyebrow when he found it and analyzed it, "Good eye sight, I'm sure this will tell us where we are."
May, Victini, and Pikachu leaned closer to the map with Ash to spot their location. Pikachu's finger motioned through the simplistic map that was about two feet long. Victini took a careful gaze at it and wondered why this base was so big. "Looks like it's a pretty big building, there's so many rooms. There's the chemical room, the machinery room, the armory, the cafeteria, th-," Ash was about to mention another room before May interrupted him.
"The storage room!" May exclaimed when she placed her finger on a red dot and above it a label calling it the "Storage Room".
Ash smiled and nodded, "Good work May, you're definitely getting this done better than I am."
"Thanks Ash, but I think you would've been able to figure it out too Ash. It's the only red dot on the entire map and it seemed logical to consider this the storage room with all the boxes and stuff," May grinned at him.
Ash analyzed the map and towards the top part of the map, he found a room labeled "Cell Chamber" and when he motioned his head down to their current location he realized just how far they were. "Wow, looks like it have a lot of ground to cover, we're almost at the other end of the base," Ash scratched the back of his head as he kept gazing at the map.
"Well I guess we'll have to move quickly then, we need to rescue Iris and Cilan," May saw the door and walked over to it.
As Ash prepared to follow her, a thought struck through him and alarmed him as May prepared to open the door. "May wait!" Ash held her wrist.
"What's wrong Ash?" May had a puzzled look.
"Auro and the others warned us there would be hundreds of men walking through the hallways, I think we should listen from the side of the door to see if anybody's around first," Ash recommended.
May seemed a bit surprised by the approach Ash took and nodded with a grin, "Ok, you're right."
Pikachu and Victini quickly neared the door with Ash and May; the four then listened intently from their side. Relief crossed through May, Victini, Pikachu, and Ash when they heard more than a pair of feet moving through the hallway.
"The master had us bomb an entire city to rid ourselves of the resistance, I never felt so merciful," a troop spoke.
"You're telling me, the leader of my squad had us and our Pokémon hurt everyone in sight when we invaded a base. There were so many people…so many children…" the other troop sighed.
Ash and the gang motioned away from the door and let out a sigh of relief. "That was a close one, good thinking Ash," May complimented him.
"Yeah, I just want to be careful doing this, it's not the first time we do this sort of thing. The next thing to do now is find a way out of this room," Ash crossed his arms and began to think of another exit.
"Hmmmmm," May wondered and spotted an air vent perpendicular to the floor. "The air vent," May said happily.
"Pika!" Pikachu cheered joyfully about the solution.
"Tini vi," Victini hovered over to the air vent.
"Nice call May, we just need to remove the cover and we're set," Ash prepared to take out a Pokéball.
Suddenly, May spoke, "Got you covered Ash, Blaziken come out and remove the cover from the air vent!" The brunette gracefully threw her starter and the Fire-type proudly stood in front of them.
"Blaz!" Blaziken quickly moved to the air vent and with its super strength easily removed the air vent cover, gently putting it aside so they couldn't alert the guards.
"Thanks Blaziken, you can return now," May recalled her trusty Fighting-type, who nodded in response.
Ash smiled at May, admiring the brunette's resourcefulness for a second until he got his head back to the current objective. "Alright let's get moving, Iris and Cilan are waiting for us," Ash motioned to the air vent with the others as they all slowly crawled in.
"I really hate this," Iris sighed as she tried escaping from the pole she was tied to.
"Axew ew," Axew sighed, knowing it was no use to squirm out of this one.
"Iris, remember what Auro told us. We have to learn to be calm and resourceful in these situations, if we are we might be able to find a way out of this," Cilan told the purple-haired girl.
"I guess, but what do you have anything in mind Cilan?" Iris asked the green-haired male with a worried expression.
"Not yet, but let's take some minutes to calm down and think this through. Like I once read in a comic book about this detective, 'there's always a way, always', and I'm going to find a way," Cilan said with a determined tone.
Iris sighed and looked at Axew, receiving a nod from the Dragon-type. Iris smiled and focused on clearing her mind, closing her eyes in the process.
"You know, it feels like we've crawled for hours, do you think we should drop now?" May inquired.
"Hold up, let's check again if there's anyone around," Ash suggested, with May agreeing and the two crawled forward to an air vent cover.
They focused their ears on any voices or footsteps reverberating through the hallways, but it was silent. They listened for a few more seconds and nothing, Ash grinned, "Looks like no one is around, so I think it's safe."
"Blaziken won't be able to fit in this air vent and if we just drop, we might cause a lot of noise," May told the raven-haired boy.
"I don't worry, I've got the right Pokémon," Ash told the coordinator when he reached for a Pokéball.
"Scraggy, come out and help," Ash released the Fighting-type.
"Scraggy," Scraggy came out and wondered what was going on.
"Scraggy, can you please remove this air vent cover, we'd really appreciate it," Ash told the Dark-type.
"Scrag!" Scraggy placed his hand on his forehead like a soldier and crawled over to the air vent cover. The Fighting-type placed its hands on the bars and exerted as much as strength as it could, "Scraaaaagggyyyyyyy!" Scraggy put all its muscle into it and successfully pulled off the air vent cover.
"Way to go Scraggy," Ash thanked the Fighting-type.
"Scrag," Scraggy grinned proudly as he placed the air vent cover aside.
"Great job Scraggy, now we can start to actually walk," May said cheerfully and gently lowered herself down to the hallway, landing smoothly.
"Right behind you," Ash told her and gently came down, landing smoothly besides May while Pikachu, Victini, and Scraggy jumped down after them.
"Now that we're in the hallways it'll be easier to navigate," Ash said with relief and just as he prepared to move a figure popped out from around the corner.
"What the?!" a trooper came out of nowhere. He had a black helmet on and special goggles with red lights for eyes. His uniform appeared to be made of special military clothing colored entirely in black. The troop also had a belt equipped with many frightening objects including small knives, explosives, darts, and some Pokéballs.
"Busted," May gritted her teeth when she saw the man. The brunette's heart quickly began to beat rapidly when she saw the figure, wondering if their run was already over.
"You're being taken prisoner, surrender now," the trooper declared as he reached for a Pokéball.
Before Ash, May, or the trooper could react though Pikachu leaped at the troop's face and wrapped its tail around the infantry man's mouth.
The man began to groan and prepared to remove the mouse. "Pikachuuu," Pikachu glared at the troop and sent electricity coursing through the trooper's body. The man's arms trembled and dropped the Pokéball without being able to do much. Since Pikachu had wrapped its tail around the man's mouth, the man was not able to scream either.
"Pi," Pikachu said sternly as it leaped off the man, who dropped unconscious in front of the gang.
Ash, May, Victini, and Scraggy got impressed by the mouse's quick thinking while Pikachu sighed in relief. "That was quick thinking," May said as she looked at the unconscious body.
"Thanks Pikachu, you really saved us," Ash smiled at the Electric-type.
"Pika," Pikachu nodded confidently.
"Victini tini vi," Victini told Pikachu and the teens.
"Right," Ash grinned in response. "We should get moving; who knows what might happen if we stay," Ash told the others.
"Let's keep going," May said in agreement and the group stealthily began to walk through the hallways, leaving the man's body behind.
As they watched Ash, May, Iris, and Cilan's progress through the Lake Guardians, Nate, Rosa, and Auro began to speak as they kept their eyes closed. "Auro, there's something I've been meaning to tell you about Ash that had occurred yesterday," Nate started the conversation.
"Yes, I saw it, if you're suffering to the amount of power he and Pikachu released the moment Rosa attacked May," Auro said to the brunette.
"Do you understand why this happened, none of us had expected Ash to unleash such tremendous power," Rosa entered the topic.
"Ash's heart and emotions have become highly connected to Pikachu and May, and because of this we are witnessing the first step in what Roxas intended to happen, except it's occurring much earlier than expected," Auro explained to them.
"Are you saying Roxas knew about this?" Nate questioned.
"Yes, he knew there would be a chance this might occur during the training. The hidden purpose behind this training is to see if they are really are prepared for the true training that might await them in the future. Roxas only wanted us to make observations regarding their secret abilities," Auro revealed to his partners.
"I'm afraid if we don't handle this cautiously Ash or May will lose control of their powers and wreak havoc on the earth. The planet still has not developed the proper technology that has allowed us to use aura at such a young age," Rosa expressed her fears.
"Which is why we're here, Roxas especially, is the most determined to ensure the well-being of the earth and the people closest to him," Auro reminded his close friends the purpose of their presence.
"So I guess we can't really do much about it at the moment except watch," Nate sighed.
"Correct we must let these events naturally unfold, as they become stronger and closer they'll learn more about their hidden power, but for now we'll stay away from it," Auro confirmed.
Nate and Rosa were uncertain about this, but Auro and Roxas had been right before, so it was best to just be cautious and let everything occur at its own pace. The sibling pair did wonder how long it'd be till the predicted day would come though, when Ash and May would fully take control of their positions as the leaders in this fight.
As the troop prepared to make a turn a bright-colored tail flashed before his eyes and felt a strong vibration course through his body when he felt the tail smack against his neck, instantly dropping on the floor, almost lifeless.
Ash and May smirked at Pikachu and they continued running through the mazelike hallways.
A pair of troops walked quietly around the hallways until they felt vines wrap around them and covered their mouths. Their eyes widened with fear as they struggled to breathe and as they helplessly tried to break free, their visions began to darken until they became unconscious, dropping like rag dolls on the cold floor. The last thing they heard before falling on the ground was two pairs of feet running past them.
A troop came to a halt and looked at an air vent. The soldier became suspicious when he saw an orange powder come out from it and took a whiff of the strange substance. Unfortunately for him, his body automatically became paralyzed and the last he heard was a female whisper and felt something karate chop his neck, knocking him out cold.
As he peacefully walked through the hallway he heard a subtle noise come from the air vent. He followed the noise through the air vent system until he got closer to an air vent. The only thing he managed to hear was low male whisper, "Drop," and before getting a chance to react a Scraggy and a teenage boy dropped on him, putting his light out.
Ash and Scraggy looked at the man carefully to make sure he was out for the count. When they had gotten their confirmation, Ash looked up at the hole from the air vent and nodded. May and Pikachu dropped down landing next to Ash while Victini hovered down.
"That's that," May said confidently.
"We're getting closer to the cell chamber; it shouldn't take too long now," Ash told the brunette.
"Then let's get moving," May answered back.
Suddenly, Victini and Pikachu's ears perked up. "Pika?" Pikachu became very alert when he heard something.
"Tini?" Victini reacted the same way.
"What's wrong you two?" Ash inquired when he saw their alarmed faces.
"Pi pikapi pikachu pi," Pikachu replied sternly and pointed at the mazelike hallways.
Ash quickly became alarmed as well and spoke with an, "Uh-oh."
"What's wrong Ash?" May became concerned with the look on his face.
"Pikachu says he and Victini hear four groups of four coming to our spot," Ash gritted his teeth.
"That can't be good," May became worried and heard faint sounds of footsteps, making a cold wind crawl up her spine.
"Looks like they're already close," Ash said seriously and took a step closer to the corner where they would make a right.
May followed behind him while Victini, Pikachu, and Scraggy prepared to cover the other corners where the squads might come from. Ash and May took a tiny peek from the corners and like Pikachu had said, they saw a group of four troops walking down their way.
"Pikaaaa," Pikachu took a deep breath as he and his two Pokémon pals detected another group of four coming from the hall parallel to the one Ash and May peeked at.
"Vi," Victini frowned as he heard them draw closer, not far behind he could hear another group of four coming.
"What should we do, they all have their Pokéballs on hand, they might react within the second they see us," May mumbled to Ash.
Ash auburn eyes contained uncertainty and squeezed May's hand, "I'm not sure May, there has to be some way out of here. We have to buy ourselves enough time to avoid the four squads coming and make it out of here without too much attention."
May squeezed Ash's hand back and took a peek from the corner. Her sapphire eyes scanned the area frantically and her heart gradually began to beat faster as the squad of four became more visible.
The same thing was happening at Pikachu's corner, but the third squad still wasn't visible, however their footsteps were getting louder. Victini could sense the fourth squad getting alarmingly closer to Ash and May's corner now; they were still not visible though.
Ash frowned and thought thoroughly about how it make it out of here, their Pokéballs were already on hand and they had nightsticks on the other hand. The black-haired teen eyes motioned left and right until he spotted what might be their key to get out of this situation.
The auburn-eyed trainer released his Snivy and received a confused look from May, "I have a plan May, when I say three we run, don't ask what it is just do as I say."
"Alright," May nodded obediently.
"Sni?" Snivy raised its eye when it wondered what Ash would have her do.
"Snivy when I say three you release one Razor Leaf at that fire extinguisher," Ash motioned his eyes to the direction of the fire extinguisher, which was just against the wall from their corner.
"Snivy," Snivy nodded.
"Ok, so just wait for my signal. May you stay calm and Pikachu, Victini, and Scraggy will follow us as well when I say three," Ash turned his eyes to the mouse, who had been listening this whole time and nodded.
"Good, now let's stay calm and wait," Ash said quietly as he got against the corner and peeked at the hallway, seeing that the squad had gotten much closer now and were just some steps away from the fire extinguisher.
"Alright Snivy, wait, I'm going to start counting and when I do you prepare a Razor Leaf," Ash murmured to the Grass-type, who just bobbed its head in obedience.
The squad walked closer and closer as Ash felt his hands get sweaty and his heart pump faster. The squad walked in unison and as they got a step closer to the fire extinguisher Ash counted, "One."
Pikachu, Scraggy, Victini, and May braced themselves for what was about to transpire while Snivy built up energy for Razor Lead. The squad took another step that echoed through the gang's ears and Ash whispered, "Two."
Pikachu got on all fours while Scraggy pulled his pelt up and Victini frowned. May clenched her fists and Snivy could feel the energy inside her gather. Ash grinded his teeth and when the squad had made their third step, getting themselves close enough to the fire extinguisher, Ash made the call, "Three…"
"Sni," Snivy glared and released a single Razor Leaf. The glowing green attack motioned like a ninja star and when it made a bullseye on the fire extinguisher as planned, a loud clink was heard through the halls.
"Huh?" the squad Pikachu had been eyeing became alarmed and looked around frantically.
"What th-!" the squad Ash and May had been observing turned to the fire extinguisher, but before they could comprehend what just happened, the fire extinguisher burst and a dense cloud of smoke appeared. The white cloud made it difficult to see the squad and their loud coughing alerted everyone roaming near their hall.
"Go," Ash told the Pokémon and pulled May as they began to run.
May's eyes were wide with surprised when she finally understood what Ash had been planning. The fire extinguisher would burst and create a cloud of smoke that would make it difficult to spot them and cause a distraction long enough to make their getaway.
"Pika!" Pikachu began to run with Scraggy and Snivy as Victini flew with the couple, all six of them attempting to stick together.
"Don't breathe, just run!" Ash warned as they were about to sprint through the cloud of smoke caused by the fire extinguisher.
Ash could hear the troops still coughing and was force to push one away when he felt the troop near him. The raven-haired teen and the others ran through the hallways as they heard the sounds of many footsteps wandering through the hallways, the boy knew they had been spotted and were in the middle of being hunted.
Ash made every right and left he could make, they had been successfully avoiding the squads since Snivy burst the fire extinguisher, but for how long could they keep this up? "Ash, where are we going?" May asked him as they ran.
"Anywhere that isn't here," Ash responded back and as they reached a corner a troop popped out in front of them with a Pokéball in hand.
"I've got you now!" the troop shouted with a grueling voice.
The gang quickly became alarmed, but Scraggy stepped up to the plate and gave the troop a Headbutt. "Scraaaaggyyyyyy!" the Fighting-type shouted and sent the troop crashing against a metallic wall, knocking him out.
"Thanks Scraggy," Ash complimented the Dark-type as they continued running.
"I heard something here, come quick!" May heard from a troop somewhere, the brunette wasn't sure how long they could keep going, but they had to make it out in one piece.
All of a sudden, Ash spotted a door in the hallway and without second thoughts barged in with the gang. "Get in quick!" the auburn-eyed boy ordered and pushed everyone in, slowly closing the door behind him.
"Let's stay quiet for a moment, this might be our only chance at getting rid of them," Ash told them and everyone automatically shut their mouths and made as little sound as possible.
They could hear the sounds of many footsteps passing their door. From what Victini could sense there might have as many as ten passing by. After a few more seconds they heard another group of troops run past their door that were just as loud and they seemed to be as much as ten as well.
We wouldn't have made it if it hadn't been for this room, May thought as she heard the amount of running feet passing through their door. If it hadn't been for Ash's clever quick thinking and the luck of finding this room, it would've been over.
"Well, we managed to get out of that one," Ash let out a sigh of relief and chuckled.
"We sure did," May said with a relieved tone.
"Pi?" Pikachu's ears perked up again.
Victini also sensed something and caused its hairs to stand up out of fear. Snivy and Scraggy also felt something odd in the atmosphere. While Ash and May smiled at each other with relief, all of a sudden, they felt tentacles wrap around them and within two seconds the tentacles began to constrict.
"Daaarn…whaaaat nooow," Ash winced in pain as his smile vanished in a second.
"Sooooomethiiiiiing's constriiiiictiiing us," May grinded her teeth in pain.
"Piiiikaaaaaaa!" Pikachu screamed in pain.
"Sniiiiiiiii!" Snivy squealed.
"Scraaaaaaaa!" Scraggy gritted its teeth as it tried to withstand the pain.
"Tiiiiiiiniiiiii!" Victini cried from the misery.
As Ash and May felt their lives being squeezed they could hear the troops outside saying something was from their room. The Pallet trainer and Petalburg coordinator became further fearful when the troops were realizing their whereabouts.
"Pikachu Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.
"Piiiiiikaaaaachuuuuuuuuuu!" Pikachu cried out and shocked everyone in the room. The lighting the mouse provided revealed the aggressor as a Jellicent, wincing in pain from the electricity. Outside the illumination was also very noticeable and all the troops turned to the light coming from the room.
"Jeeeeeeeelliiiiiiiiii…" Jellicent tried to endure the shock, but it became too much and gradually began to fade away as the gang's screaming eased.
Ash and May dropped to their knees as they tried to breathe in and out. Pikachu had an exhausted expression on and dropped like a rag doll while Victini was also on its knees along with Snivy and Scraggy.
"They're in here!" Ash heard a troop declare and his eyes widened.
The boy instantly stood up and ignored the pain he experienced from the Thunderbolt and Jellicent's wrap. He picked up Pikachu and spoke, "We have to get out now!" the boy exclaimed.
"How, we're trapped in here Ash," May slowly got up with Victini, Snivy, and Scraggy also recovering.
"Not…entirely," Ash observed the room filled with shelves of strange glass bottles and slowly walked over to a small metallic handle attached a metallic panel that was attached to the wall and he pulled it, revealing a compartment leading down.
"We have to slide down this thing, it's our only hope to get out of here," Ash breathed in and out while still trying to recover.
May and the others nodded, seeing as there was no other choice. Snivy and Scraggy jumped in together; sliding down the very minute they lunged inside the compartment. Victini hung onto May's shoulder and Ash gently helped the brunette get inside, "Careful not to get hurt on the way down May," the caring boyfriend told her.
"Same to you," May giggled a bit as she got in and began to slide down.
Ash smiled and prepared to get himself in as he felt the door knob turn. His heart began to beat rapidly once again and the boy threw himself in without wasting another moment while holding onto Pikachu as hard as he could. Once he got himself in and began to slide down, the cover of the compartment closed automatically.
The boy closed his eyes as he slid down; recalling the last thing he heard before sliding was the sound of a door opening. When Ash opened his eyes he found himself flying out of the slide and into a new much larger room, as he took a view of the place it was almost completely dark and the little he could see appeared to be a bunch of steel structures. "Ash!" the boy heard May's voice and felt a pair of vines wrap around him.
The boy looked below him and was relieved to see his beloved and friends alright while Snivy had him safely land in front of them with his vines. He smiled at them sheepishly as he held onto Pikachu, "Well looks like we made it out of that one."
May let out a sigh of relief, "I hope so, I'm just glad we're all ok." The brunette placed her hand on Ash's arm and began to rub it as she looked down at Pikachu, who smiled weakly at her, but the mouse was clearly tired.
Ash smiled sweetly at May and then at Pikachu, but as he examined the area, he was not sure what to do now and they had no clue as to where they were. For all Ash knew, things felt like they were only about to get harder from here on out.
"Now where are we?" May analyzed the area as well.
"It's almost completely dark here, I wonder why," Ash expressed his curiosity.
Victini, Scraggy, and Snivy analyzed the area carefully and thanks to their superior nocturnal vision they were able to identify their location much better than Ash or May. "Tini vi v," Victini turned to the couple and tried to explain to the gang where they were.
"Hmmmmm looks like Victini and the others have a pretty good idea as to where we are," May commented.
"Yeah, seems like they think this is a giant room full of advanced equipment. Victini, what exactly do you think this room is for?" Ash asked the little one.
Victini motioned its head in all directions and through the darkness saw multiple contraptions and structures. The Fire-type also spotted hundreds of containers with a strange fluid inside, it looked like this place might be an enormous laboratory.
"Victini tini," Victini told the pair.
"A lab huh?" May tried to identify the place as a lab, but it was just too dark.
"And a pretty big one too," Ash added.
Abruptly, Victini and Pikachu's ears perked up and the gang became alert once again. From a distance they heard the sound of doors opening and about a dozen pair of feet. "Search the entire, the intruders must be found," they heard a troop declare.
Ash, May, and the Pokémon all hid behind what appeared to be a very large a blocky computer. "Great," May whispered in frustration.
As soon as the troops had entered the room, the lights turned on and like Victini had said, the room was incredibly large. The laboratory was so large it appeared to be the of size three football fields. There also many sophisticated machines lying around with shelves filled with strange chemicals and computers were everywhere in site. The ceiling was also very high up, from Ash could tell it seemed like a 30 meters in height. There were also some stairs leading to the second levels of the room, which were connected by two bridges and had the same amount of equipment as the first.
May also spotted shelves with Pokéballs and what appeared to be sophisticated weaponry like the kind a Team Rocket operative would use. She also spotted some small buildings within in the room with very large windows on it and the brunette saw some more machines inside. What caught her attention the most though was a large metallic door waiting at the end of left side of the lab and was almost as tall as the height of the room. Why on earth would anyone have such a large door? She wondered, but she quickly let go and continued to scout the area.
As they hid they were able to spot a few troops searching the area cautiously, almost as if they were frightened to come across the gang. The auburn-eyed boy was getting tired of this cat and mouse game, but they had to find a way out of here, he turned to May and spoke, "May any ideas on how we can get out of here?"
May ignored him for a moment and took to a chance to inspect the room closely. She noticed several vantage points that could be useful for the idea she had in mind. Her eyes motioned down to the floor level and noticed the grates on the floor as well as the amount of hiding spots the room had to offer due to the multiple machines and metal furniture lying around. Her eyes turned to the bridges and the second floor, which also provided the same cover. Her eyes then turned to the lights on the ceilings. "Perfect, I've got just the idea," May smirked.
"What's that?" Ash questioned.
"We're going to play predator," May had a sly smile on her face.
Ash raised an eyebrow and wondered what that was supposed to mean. "I'm going to have Liepard put the lights out and we're just going to do what we did in the hallways, except we're going to intimidate them as well."
When May informed him about doing the same thing they did in the hallways he quickly understood, but that still didn't help him understand what she meant by intimidating them. "Alright May, you lead the way this time," Ash told the girl.
"K," May nodded and released Liepard.
"Pard?" Liepard inquired.
May turned to the line of ten lights in the middle of the ceiling and pointed at them. "Liepard, shut those ten lights out with Shadow Ball," the brunette commanded.
Liepard smirked and nodded. "Lie!" Liepard aimed at the lights and with the quick fire rate the feline had, it shot ten Shadow Ball in less than ten seconds. One second after another a small burst was heard and the lights automatically turned off, darkening the room once again.
"What was that?!" a troop exclaimed.
"The intruders are here, quick use your other lighting equipment," one of the soldiers instructed and the gang noticed about ten rays of light appearing in different spots throughout the room.
"What now, they have flashlights, they'll still be able to see," Ash told the sapphire-eyed girl.
"The room is still dark though, this is our chance," May reassured Ash about her plan.
The gang noticed a ray of light aimed in their direction and they realized that the troops were now nearing their area. "Ok, Liepard take as many out as you can, come back to us when you think the job is done," May commanded the Dark-type.
"Liepard," Liepard purred and without any hesitation dashed off into the darkness, using the various computers to its advantage as hiding spots. As the light got closer Ash began to wonder what they were waiting for until the boy heard a Liepard hiss.
"What the?" the black-haired teen heard and the next thing he heard was a body dropping and the sound of something metallic dropping as well. He also noticed the ray of light had slightly moved away from them.
"Looks like Liepard got it covered," May said seriously and came out of their hiding spot with everyone else following. Pikachu had also recovered some of its strength and found itself able to walk on its own again.
All of them saw a troop lying there knocked out on the floor with a claw mark on its neck. The flashlight he had carried was near him and Ash picked it up and examined the area with it, "Where did Liepard go?" Ash asked.
As Ash played with the flashlight and saw other flashlights still turned on across the room, he noticed that one of them abruptly turned off. "Guess that answers the question," May chuckled.
"Pika?" Pikachu wondered as he looked around.
"So, do we just let Liepard take out all the troops until there's no one around?" Ash asked his girlfriend.
"Nope," May threw another Pokéball, but this time it was Blaziken.
"We're going to do the same with our other Pokémon," May smiled confidently.
Ash turned to Scraggy, Pikachu, Snivy, and looked at Blaziken. The Pallet boy grinned confidently and nodded with a knowing look, he was now starting to understand what May meant by intimidation.
"Let's get started," Ash said with a sly beam.
May and Ash hid behind a computer with their Pokémon once they spotted a soldier scouting the area with his flashlight from the second level, they knew this was going to be tricky. It was clear that they couldn't just run to the target, they would be spotted immediately, but an idea struck her when she looked at Snivy.
She kneeled down and began to speak to the Grass-type, "Snivy, we can't afford to waste time so aim your Razor Leaf at the scout. Make sure to aim for its head. Once your Razor Leaf hits, they should be out for the count."
"Snivy," Snivy bobbed its head.
"That's not a bad suggestion May," Ash spoke to the girl.
"It seems like our only choice, this area is too opened and something tells me this guy has a Pidgeot's eye," the brunette told him.
Ash nodded in agreement and turned to Snivy. The little Grass-type came out from behind the mission and thanks to its precise vision; it managed to aim at the scout's head perfectly. "Sniiivyyy!" the Grass-type leaped into the air and released a single Razor Leaf.
"What in the name?" the soldier had sensed the impending assault and motioned his flashlight at Snivy. The man successfully spotted the Unova starter, but it was too late to do something about, the Razor Leaf hit him as hard as a baseball and the impact caused him to almost drop like a dead man.
"There goes another one," May said with relief.
"If we're careful like this I'm sure it won't be too hard, c'mon I'm sure there's at least near here," Ash ran off with Pikachu and Victini while May, Snivy, Blaziken, and Scraggy went after him.
When they had spotted another troop, Ash and May had already laid out their next step. Snivy and Blaziken eyed Ash and May from the vantage point they stood and received nods from them. The Pokémon pair looked down and saw a troop coming just below them, "Blaz," the Fire-type told the Grass-type.
"Snivy," Snivy smirked and extended its vines out as fast as lightning, wrapping them around the heel of the troop.
"What in the!" the troop shouted in fear as he was pulled in three seconds. The last thing he saw was Blaziken glaring at him and received a painful punch in the face, putting his lights out instantly.
"Sni," Snivy smirked and dropped the troop with its vines.
"One down, more to go," May said and they moved away quickly.
As they stealthily moved around, Ash and May had begun to stalk one clueless troop walked into one of the small buildings May had spotted earlier and the brunette took advantage to send Blaziken in.
"Blaziken take him out," May ordered and Blaziken shook its head, walking into the building almost like a ninja.
They all waited for a few seconds as Blaziken stalked his prey. The Fire-type towered over the man and once he got close enough he grabbed the man by his skull and slammed it against the metallic wall.
Blaziken's target had no time to even absorb the pain and was helplessly lifted up and thrown through one of the glass windows, appearing right in front of the gang. They were all alarmed by the slick trick and quickly took a look at the amount of glass the man was covered in.
"Wow," Ash said in disbelief when Blaziken jumped out of the broken window.
Without a moment's waste though, May pulled Ash and they mobilized once again to find the next target.
As soon as they left their last prey, they found another frantically moving his flashlight around. Victini could hear from their spot what the frightened troop whispered, "C'mon where are you pint-sized brats, I'm going to kill you once I find you."
"What are we going to do with this one?" Ash eyed the troop from where they stood.
"Actually Liepard already beat us to him," May said and true to her words, Ash spotted Liepard slyly moving on top of the computers adjacent to the walking soldier.
"Paaaar!" Liepard hissed at the man, who spotted the cat with his flashlight, but before being able to raise his Pokéball the purple feline had placed its teeth on the troop's neck and slammed the man's arms against the floor with its claws.
"Liepard did give me a small idea though," May murmured to Ash.
"Which is?" Ash raised an eyebrow.
"We're going to use your Snivy," May informed him.
"Gotcha," Ash smiled at her.
May continued to lead the way in this sneaky and stealthy plan and now they had Snivy get on top of another vantage point with a troop's unconscious body hanging from it thanks to Snivy's vines.
The sapphire-eyed girl quickly noticed one of the infantry men coming and spoke, "Alright Snivy, just hold on for a little while," the brunette told the snake-like Pokémon, who nodded.
As they all went to hide behind a computer, the troop began walking up the stairs to the second level and as they watched him, they noticed his hand with the flashlight was trembling. The odd thing was his back was facing the hanging troop, so he had no clue about the fright that awaited him.
"Even the captain is gone, we're doomed, doomed," the man mumbled as he shook and suddenly something bump against him.
"Huh?" the troop turned around startled, but quickly dropped the flashlight when he saw his comrade's body and the deadly injury on his neck. "Hol-!" the man was about shout in fear until he heard a faint whisper behind him.
"Lights out," Ash said in a low tone and the troop felt chicken-like hands cover his mouth. He moaned with great fear until the lack of air caused him to faint.
"Well done you guys," May came out of hiding as Snivy dropped the body and came down.
"There are less than half left now," Ash estimated the remaining troops.
"And I've got just the candidate for the next one," May focused her eyes on Scraggy.
May then ran off with the others following until they were down on the first level again. They suddenly spotted behind a troop walking ahead of them and Ash noticed that May looked down at the grates beneath their feet.
The sapphire-eyed girl smiled and kneeled down to Scraggy's height, "Scraggy, I need you to get in the grate and move inside there. Get ahead of the troop walking ahead and once you do, jump out and knock him out cold."
"Scrag!" Scraggy placed his hand on his forehead and without another word went lifted up the grate and went inside.
"May where did you get these ideas, I don't think I would've ever came up with them," Ash stated to the girl.
"I don't know either, it just struck me. I feel like I just picked up some tricks from Roxas and his friends as well the Majestic 12, it's useful to be observant sometimes," May explained to him.
Ash nodded and did realize that this wasn't the first time he had witnessed something like this. He remembered the time Roxas showed up at the Nacrene Museum and used the same methods, although it did seem theatrical, what they were doing was very clever.
The gang looked ahead and saw the troop still walking forward until all of a sudden, they saw Scraggy leapt out upward to the level of troop's head. As quick as Scraggy appeared, it kicked the troop in the neck before it could even react, but it had kicked the troop so hard, its helmet flew off and the man got sent flying against a machine.
"Scraggy!" Scraggy said confidently as he eyed the unconscious man.
"Whoa," Ash and May said with awe.
Their short shock got interrupted when they heard a loud scream, "Where are you?!" a troop nearby screamed.
As abrupt as the scream was, they heard a sudden noise of glass breaking and a piercing roar that got followed by a man's scream. "Tini vi," Victini said with surprise.
"Pika pikachu," Pikachu felt some pity for the troop who had just fallen victim to Liepard's deadly tactics.
"C'mon, there aren't any troops left in this part of the room," May told them and ran to the bridges where there was a troop in sight, aiming its flashlight down at the first level.
"Careful," Ash warned the group as they hid behind computers to avoid the flashlight, but when the light wasn't aimed at them, they moved like ninjas in the darkness, not once alarming the troop ahead.
"Ash, use Snivy to bring that troop down," May instructed to her boyfriend.
"Right," Ash nodded and frowned at the man who was about to aim his flashlight at them once again. "Vine Whip Snivy," Ash pointed at the troop standing on the bridge.
"Snivy!" Snivy extended its vines out and in seconds wrapped them around the man who became alarmed. "Sni!" Snivy pulled the man off the bridge and sent him flying down to the first floor.
Ash, May, and the Pokémon winced a bit when they heard the sounds of bones snapping when the man hit the ground, but they knocked out yet another prey. Their moment of victory quickly came to an end though when they heard a man behind them scream, "You two are going to get it now!"
Ash and May eyes widened when they saw this one because unlike the other troops, this one had two kunai on hand and prepared to throw them at the pair. "May, watch out!" Ash prepared to make the jump while Blaziken braced itself for a lunge until Liepard came down from below with a glowing dark paw.
"Liepaaaard!" the Liepard made a cougar-like roar and slashed the troop before he could hit his targets.
"Gah!" the troop exhaled in pain and dropped his weapons and dropped unconscious. When he collapsed forward Ash and the others saw the large slash marks on the man's back, Liepard's claws had cut through the black cloth.
"That was close," May sighed, having felt tremendous fear when she saw the kunai aimed at her.
"I think that was the last one," Ash said in relief.
"I hope so, I feel like this mission is a bit more difficult than the last," May gave her opinion.
"Yeah, we can't afford to be spotted here and we actually have someone to save this time," Ash explained.
Out of the blue, the floor began to shake and they heard the sound of something opening. Although it was dark, their ears allowed them to trace the source and May had remembered the large door she spotted earlier. Something in her gut told her she was about to find out what was on the other side of the door.
Ash and the others all stared in the direction of the large metallic door and as it slowly opened to large yellow eyes began to glow, illuminating the room like flashlights. From the lighting the gang got, they somewhat got a view of what this new challenge was.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Ash gritted his teeth.
"Me too," May said with a terrified tone and held onto Ash's arm.
The Pokémon prepared for all the necessary measures as the door kept opening and the illumination provided by the mysterious arriver became stronger. Its two illuminating eyes towered over the entire room and the figure seemed to be near the height of the room, but its shape still remained a mystery. The only way the gang had been able to identify the figure in the darkness was through its moan, "Gooooooluuuuuurk," and immediately knew they were in deep trouble.
Its bright eyes enlightened Ash and May with fear, only one question ran through their heads now. What are we going to do? The inquiry rang through the couple's minds at the same time.
Sorry to have kept you waiting, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was all mostly action and stuff; nonetheless I do hope you excuse my grammar and enjoyed it. Thanks to some readers of AW I found the inspiration to keep going because after how sloppy the previous chapter went, I felt like my style of writing was getting messy and this is my attempt at getting things back the way they were. Next chapter will be simpler in terms of training, but like I said, I hope you liked this one. I tried not to make Ash and May too smart because they're just starting out, so they can't be complete pros after just one day. I'll post up the next chapter next weekend so stick around; I won't let you guys down. Thanks for all the support guys, remember to REVIEW, PM, or ANYTHING, FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS WELCOMED. Till next time!