Chapter 16

The Future is Now, Thanks to Determination

With our fifth Gym Badge win next on the agenda, my friends and I continued through the Lumiose Badlands, ready to return home. A lot of things happened in our adventure, and a lot would continue to happen, even in this seemingly desolate wasteland.

Serena turned her guidebook around for us to see. "We'll be out of the Badlands in just a few minutes."

"Sounds great!" her boyfriend replied with a smile.

We turned to face Clemont, who lagged behind with Lucky. He doubled over and panted. "Sorry to keep you all waiting," he panted as he tried to catch his breath.

"No trouble at all, Clemont," replied Brock. "We wouldn't leave the Badlands without you."

"Well, that goes without saying," Cocoa added. "After all, he is the Gym Leader of the Lumiose Gym."

*Clemont's POV*

Later, as we broke for lunch, I remembered the deal I made with Ash and Brianna - I myself would be their opponent instead of Clembot, and in exchange, they would earn four Gym Badges first, like I requested. Ever since we ran into each other, I learned so much from Ash - about the art of the battle, about Pokemon, and even about myself. As I prepared lunch for everyone, I began to wonder… was it enough to simply have a professional Gym Battle with him? If only I could give something back to him in addition to a Gym Badge…

There was also Brianna to consider. She had several more Pure Hearts to find. Was it possible that I had one without knowing it? I only knew of two Electric-type Pokémon who could Mega Evolve - Manectric and Ampharos. I could probably get away with Ampharos if I borrowed my father's… could I?

I was so lost in thought that I was not paying attention to what I was doing. "HEY! WHOA! IT'S BOILING OVER!" cried Bonnie.

"You're burning the chow!" Brock shoved me aside and moved the pot from the fire. Then he fanned the smoke away with a towel.

I groaned as I watched Brock take over. "Sorry, everyone. I guess I was planning my strategy for our Gym battles."

"We understand," Ash smiled. "I'm looking forward to our battle as well."

We finished, cleaned up lunch, and continued moving. As we crossed over a nearby hill, Misty squinted her eyes from the harsh sun. "What's that?" she said.

I looked past him and at the tall, metal structure in the distance. "That's the Kalos Power Plant," I said.

"My big brother designed that place!" Bonnie said.

Everyone turned sharply to me, surprised. So I quickly corrected her. "Not exactly. I just helped with the programming." I began "The Power Plant is completely solar. A satellite collects energy from the sun and transmits it to the plant via microwaves. The power gets stored in a superconductor energy storage ring, then distributed to Lumiose City."

"That's pretty cool!" said Ash, proud of his friend. But I could tell he did not completely understand.

Then Serena got an idea. "I know! Let's go check out the Power Plant up close!" The rest of us agreed to play tourist for the day.

We hurried over to the Power Plant. We stopped at a small plateau that surrounded the base of the Power Plant. I leaned my head back and gazed at the structure. It looked impressive as usual, though some commented it looked a little sinister, almost like a final boss's secret base.

"Huh?" I said as I noticed something off.

The others turned to me. 'Is something the matter?' Diancie asked.

I pointed to an antenna propped on the central prong of the building. "That's a parabolic antenna. It usually faces upward… Why is it facing down at the earth?"

"Maybe something happened," Serena suggested.

We slid down the side of the plateau and jogged towards the Power Plant. Pikachu stumbled to a stop and clutched the sides of his head. His red cheeks flickered with electricity, and he winced.

"Pikachu, what's wrong?" Ash asked with worry.

"Hey!" We turned to Bonnie, who looked down at Dedenne. "Something strange is happening to Dedenne!" Dedenne leaped from its spot in Bonnie's bag and crawled away. The same soon happened with Lucky. All three Electric-types groaned in agony as electricity bounced off their cheeks.

"What's happening?" Cocoa asked.

The agony stopped all at once. The three Pokémon turned silent. They turned their backs to us and staggered towards the Power Plant.

"Hey, Pikachu! Where are you going?!" Ash called.

Our Pokémon and whirled around. Their eyes glowed bright red. A gasp escaped from Brianna. Electricity consumed their bodies, and they unleashed a giant attack on us, which we were quick to evade. The impact kicked up a cloud of dust. When the dust subsided, we watched our Pokémon head for the Power Plant.

"What's gotten into them!" Bonnie cried.

"Come on!" Brock said, and he ran ahead. We followed him to a large rock close to the Power Plant. We hid behind it and peeked out.

At the doors of the Power Plant, a large crowd of Pokémon stood. All of them were Electric-types: Magnemite, Emolga, Electrode, Electrike, Helioptile, Mareep, and Pachirisu to name a few. Pikachu, Dedenne, and Lucky joined the crowd.

"What's happened to them?" Serena said.

I tried to piece it together as we went. "Electric-type Pokémon… and they're all gathering at the Power Plant…"

The doors opened, and the Pokémon crowd entered. We sprinted for the doors, but they closed before we got there. "Maybe the Power Plant has something to do with their strange behavior."

'Is there any other way inside?' Squishy asked.

"There might be… I've seen blueprints of this facility, though only once…" Then I had an idea. "We can get in through the air vents! They're large enough for us to walk through."

"You lead the way, Clemont!" Brianna said, and everyone followed me.

I showed them all under the bridge, where the main cooling vent was. Two vents sat underneath the bridge, each with rapidly spinning fans. "We need to stop these fans if we want to get inside," I said.

"I got this," Ash said, pulling a Poké Ball from his pocket. He called out Frogadier. "See those vents? I need you to stop those fan blades." Frogadier saluted and turned to the blades. He reached into the Frubbles wrapped around his neck and threw clumps of it at the blades. The Frubbles slowed the blades and brought them to a stop.

I was the first to stop inside. "Watch your head," I said as they followed.

As we traveled further through the vents, they became smaller and narrower. We switched to our knees and crawled down the vent. I knew the vents connected all rooms in the facility. No matter where our Pokémon are, we could reach them through here.

A ventilation gate appeared up ahead, leaking light into the dark vents. I crawled over to the gate and peered inside. I gasped when I saw three workers tied together. "There are people in here!"

The workers perked up, hearing my voice. "Is someone there?" one of them called. Before we could answer, the vent grill broke open from our combined weight.

"Who are you?" asked another. "Are you working for them?"

"Them who?" Misty asked. "We're not here to cause trouble, we're here to stop whatever really is."

Once we collected ourselves, we untied the workers. They stood up and rubbed their sore wrists.

"What's happened here?" Bonnie asked.

"This strange group of bad guys appeared and took control of the place," the third worker said. "There must have been like twenty of them, all dressed in orange. We tried to fight them off, but their Mega Evolved Pokémon were too strong for us."

"Dressed in orange?" I repeated.

"Team Flare," Ash mumbled.

The workmen continued. "They changed the program. By moving the parabolic antenna, the microwaves were transformed into some sort of hypnotic radio wave that controlled any Electric-type Pokémon nearby."

I remember seeing plenty of Manectric, Ampharos, and their pre-evolved forms in the crowd our Pokémon were in. They must have been increasing their army. "Where are they now?" I asked.

"There's a control room near the superconductor ring; no doubt they're still there. We could take you there, but the entire building's on lockdown."

"We may be able to do something from the emergency control room, though," the first worker said. "Leave the doors to us. You kids go and help those Pokémon."

"How are we going to stop Team Flare from controlling the Pokémon?" Cocoa said.

The second worker cupped his chin in his hand. "There might be a way... If we reverse the electricity flow, an overload could stop the radio waves for a bit. We can take care of that, but it will take some time. Wait until the superconducting ring turns red - that will be the signal."

"And when that happens, I'll take it from there. I'll create an electric surge that will overload the system and free the Pokémon," I said. I turned to the door. "Let's get out of here."

"We'll use brute force for this one!" Ash released his Hawlucha. "Use Karate Chop!"

"Come on out, Starmie!" Misty called. "Tackle!"

"You too, Geodude!" Brock added. "Mega Punch!"

The combined force of our Pokémon blew the door clean off its hinges and across the hall. We hurried out of the room and down the hallway. The workmen ran in the opposite direction to the emergency control room.

I led the way to the control room. "Here it is."

"We'll unlock it for you," said a worker through the intercom next to the door. "We don't know what's happening in there, so please, be careful…" The door opened. "Good luck…"

We snuck inside and hurried to a nearby pillar. We peeked our heads out. The Pokémon stood in front of the superconductor ring. We could see ours among the crowd. But before we could call out to them…

"You fools call that hiding?" a voice said over the intercom. We quickly recognised it as Team Flare Admin Aliana. "You're too late; all these Pokémon, as well as the Power Plant, are under Team Flare's control now! If you try to interfere, we'll plunge Lumiose City into the Stone Age!"

A screen appeared in front of us, showing a view of Lumiose City. A bar quickly drained, taking away the city's power. Traffic lights stopped working, and cars screeched out of control. Lights went off in buildings. Elevators stopped mid-travel.

Ash grit his teeth. "Fine. We'll do what you say." And he stuffed his PokéBall back into his pocket.

"Smart choice," Aliana said.

Ash glanced over his shoulder and at me. "Clemont, is it time yet?"

I snuck a glance at the superconductor ring, which still glowed blue. "Not yet..."

Wall panels around the room lowered, revealing more parabolic antenna. A low hum filled the air. Slowly, the horde of controlled Pokémon turned to us, each flickering with electricity. "Seize them," Aliana commanded.

Ash turned to us. "Go," she said. "We'll take care of this."

Serena took Bonnie's hand and led her away. Ash nodded, a determined scowl on his face, and hurried to Brianna's side.

"Clemont!" Bonnie called. I gripped my backpack straps and ran over to the others. I looked over at Ash and Brianna as they stood before the crowd of Electric-types. I grit my teeth.

What can I do...?

"Brianna," Ash said. "I want you to help me get to Pikachu. I need to get him back."

Cocoa and Brianna nodded, their necklaces glowing bright.

"Keystone/Mega Stone, grant us the power we need! Beyond evolution… MEGA EVOLVE!"
"The sincere love in a Trainer's heart, Mega Brianna!"
"The innocent love in a Pokémon's heart, Mega Cocoa!"
"Our hearts are one! Mega Evolution!"

Pikachu, his eyes glowing bright red, unleashed a Thunderbolt at them. Brianna stretched my hand out her arm. "King's Shield!" She created a barrier in front of them to repel Pikachu's attack.

Slowly, they crept closer to Pikachu. When we were close enough, Ash fell to his knees and reached out to his partner. "Pikachu," Ash said calmly. "I know you can hear me. I know you're stronger than this. You've got to them."

I noticed his expression change, and his Thunderbolt ceased. Just then, Lucky rammed into Brianna from the side. She crashed into Ash, they flew to the ground, and the shield vanished. Lucky stood in front of Pikachu, his teeth bared. He charged again. My friends scowled and braced themselves.

"NO!" I ran out to them, despite the Brock and the girls' protest. I jumped in front of them, and my entire body was overcome with searing pain. Lucky's teeth sank into my shoulder, which unleashed a nasty Thunder Fang.

"Clemont! Clemont!" Through the crackling electricity, I heard Bonnie's voice.

My arms were wrapped tightly around Lucky's neck. "Lucky..." I said through gritted teeth. "It's me, Clemont." Luxio released me, his expression changed.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Aliana's shouted. The humming waves grew deeper and thicker. His eyes glowed even brighter, and his ferocious scowl returned. Opening his mouth wide, he clamped down on my arm even harder and unleashed more electricity. I screamed as the pain ripped through me.

"Lucky... I'm sorry," I whispered. "This must be so painful. You must be suffering. I'm sorry." I squeezed my eyes shut. "But I won't give up. I'll never give up until you're safe. I have to be strong... like you... like Ash... like Brianna…"

I opened my eyes and craned my head to my friends. My friends stared at me in horror, her eyes trembling. Misty's arms were around Bonnie's body to keep her from acting. I could see her pain; it ate away at her, killing her inside...

I've got to do something about it. I've got to make it stop! I tightened my arms around Lucky.

The area turned red. I looked up at the superconductor ring, to see the current had changed color. "This is my chance! Clemontic Gear, ON!" My Aipom Arm extracted from my backpack and clung to the metal floor. "Keep discharging, Lucky! I'll act as a ground!"

Electricity scattered across the room and struck the parabolic antennae stationed on the walls. The red tint vanished, leaving the room dark. Lucky's discharge ceased, and the pain left my body. His eyes, along with the eyes of all the other Pokémon, had returned to normal. Pikachu and Dedenne jumped to Ash and Bonnie, who hugged them tightly.

Exhaustion swept through my body as I fell forward. Lucky jumped in front of me and caught me. I weakly rubbed his chin. "You did it, Lucky… I'm couldn't be more proud…" I said.

A glowing, light blue filled my vision. I was elevated as Lucky seemed to grow larger under my body. When it cleared, Lucky was something new. He roared loudly.

"He evolved!" Brianna shouted with pride. Dexter showed the data.

Luxray
The Gleam Eyes Pokémon
The evolved form of Luxio
Using the power of penetration, Luxray can track down hidden opponents behind walls and even locate lost children.

Lucky's body glowed with electricity, which spread across the floor and into the air. I knew right away that that was the move Electric Terrain. The electricity climbed up the walls and destroyed the parabolic antennae, ruining Team Flare's chances of taking back control. All the Electric-types were free for good.

"Now it's our turn to counterattack. Ready, Lucky?" I said. Luxray nodded.

"Let's do this, Pikachu!" Ash said, stepping to our side. "Everyone, give it all you've got! Now!"

Each Electric-type unleashed a powerful stream of electricity. The electricity gathered together and soared towards the control room, where Team Flare was. There was a large explosion, and was blasted out of the room and into the room we were in. As Alaina fell to the floor, her visor fell off her face. And all the Grunts scattered out the nearest door they could reach.

"We did it," I sighed. I threw my arms around Luxray. "We did it!"

As we were cheering. The workmen came in behind us. They saw everything from the surveillance system. "Well done, Clemont!" They cheered.

But I was rather humble. "I really am sorry for all the damage we caused," I said to them.

"Aw, it's nothing we can't fix," a worker said. "Because of you, this Power Plant, as well as Lumiose City, is safe. Thank you."

We heard a groan behind us. There was Aliana recovering from her fall, groggily rubbing her eyes. Quickly thinking, we surrounded her so she could not escape herself. But what happened next surprised us all.

She looked around at us and the generator room. "Who are you? Where am I?" she began as she eyed her Team Flare uniform. "What's going on?"

"That's what we want to know," replied one of the workmen. "Why'd you attack us? Where's your boss?"

She seemed to scurry. "Please… you're scaring me…" She stood up. "None of this is making any sense. Last thing I remember, I was helping with preparations for the wedding."

This confused us. "Who's wedding?" Brianna asked.

"Lord Damos and Lady Diantha, of course," she replied. "The royal wedding is this week."

This only confused us even more. "Lord Damos? Lady Diantha? Aliana, the king is dead. You helped your boss destroy him."

"What?! That's not possible! I would never betray the king!" We heard sparks flying at our feet. Aliana picked up the source - her visor. "What's this?"

She handed it to me after I asked her, and I looked at it for a moment. "Well, it's junk now," I began, "but it looks like some pretty advanced tech. Judging by your recent behavior, this could be some sort of… neuro-cranial override switch."

"English, please?" Misty asked.

"A mind-control device!"

As soon as I said that, the machine began to spark even more. I dropped it, and all of a sudden, a bright light seared from it. It seemed to manifest into a shape, which spoke. "… and a rather expensive one at that!"

"You!" I growled at the hologram.

Brianna turned to me. "You know him?"

"That's Dr. Xerosic, Team Flare's scientist," I explained. "We battled him at the Shalour City hospital."

She turned back to the hologram. "So you're the one who tried to kill me back there!"

"Indeed, I am," he replied, "and we would have succeeded if it wasn't for these meddling kids and the Kalos Elite Four!"

"So wait," Aliana asked. "How long was I under your control?"

"It's been about fifteen years," he answered. "I'm sure the king's daughter over here will be able to fill you in on everything you missed."

She turned to Brianna. "Daughter?!"

Our friend waved awkwardly. "H-hi…"

"As for me, Xerosic continued, "I must get back to work. This world's not gonna conquer itself." And with that, the transmission ended.

Many of us, including Aliana (if that even is her name), were amazed at the event that occurred before us. It made me wonder… how many other members in Team Flare were actual volunteers?

*Brianna's POV*

We met the workmen outside of the Power Plant, near a helicopter landing pad. They had offered to give the former Team Flare Admin a ride to Lumiose City. She bowed to us apologetically. "I'm really sorry for all the trouble I caused."

"You mean, all the trouble they caused through you," I replied. "You have no reason to apologize, Aliana."

"Oh, actually," she told us, "My real name is Evelyn."

One of the workmen turned to me and my friends. "Thank you so much for your help. If it weren't for you..."

"You mean Clemont. He's the hero of the day," Brock said.

"We wouldn't have been able to do anything without your help," Misty added.

"That's my big brother!" Bonnie cheered.

Clemont blushed. "Thank you."

The air stirred with the swish of helicopter propellers. We lifted our eyes and watched a helicopter land on the pad. One of the workmen opened the door and invited Evelyn inside. As she climbed in, she looked back at us. "I think my sisters are being used by this Team Flare as well… if you find them, please save them."

"Oh, you have sisters?" Cocoa asked.

"Three of them - Morgan, Dana, and Nita. I think they're also Team Flare Admins, like I was."

"We'll do what we can," I promised.

As I stared at the spinning blades, my heart quickened its pace. Suddenly, Clemont stepped forward. "May I come with you?" He asked, surprising us.

"Uh, yes, of course..." the worker said.

"Clemont, are you sure?" Ash said. "We'll go with you-"

He quickly stopped us. "No. I'm going alone. It will give me time to prepare for our Gym battles... as well as give me time..." He looked to Evelyn. "...to sort out my thoughts." I looked to us again. "By the time we meet again, I will give you a battle that is worthy of a Gym Leader."

Ash smiled. "We understand. We'll get stronger too, and give you a Gym Challenge you'll never forget."

He nodded and reached out a hand. "Me, too." Ash shook his hand. He looked to Serena. "Serena, please take care of Bonnie."

"She'll be in good hands," Serena said.

"I-I-I'll be fine!" Bonnie cried through teary eyes, trying to be strong for him.

Finally, Clemont turned to me. "Are you sure about this?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yes. This will also give me some time to find a Pokémon who can Mega Evolve… and possibly hold a Pure Heart."

I gave him a warm smile. "We'll see you soon, Clemont."

He nodded, turned on his heel, and made his way into the helicopter. Lucky leaped to his side. He strapped a brace to his waist to keep him in the vehicle, which lifted off the ground. We waved to him until he disappeared from sight.

Because of his bold actions, the Kalos Power Plant is safely back in the right hands. Now Clemont is on his way to Lumiose City by himself, to prepare for our upcoming Gym Battles and to reflect on everything that has happened this far. I knew it would not be long before we saw him again, but for now, the journey continues…