Chapter 58: Stranger Things
"So, this is the famous Area 28," Iris crossed her arms as she and Axew admired the dry, mountainous landscape from a cliff. Her friends, including Nate and Rosa, stood beside her as they also took in the sight.
"What's famous about this place?" May asked her with a puzzled look.
Before Iris could respond, Cilan interrupted and caused Iris slight annoyance. "Allow me to answer. Area 28 is famous for being the site of strange activity from UFO sightings to strange wormholes popping up. There have been dozens of accounts from the locals over strange happenings in this area that remain unresolved to this day," the green-haired gym leader explained with significant enthusiasm.
"You seem really into this stuff Cilan," Ash smiled over his friend's eagerness.
"Of course, because aside from being a Pokémon Connoisseur, I happen to be a Science Connoisseur," Cilan grinned confidently over his vast expertise.
"Oh boy," Iris sighed and became annoyed.
"Ew ew ax," Axew sighed in annoyance as well.
"Science Connoisseur?" May wasn't sure if Cilan was just making stuff up at this point.
Cilan bobbed his head, "That's right, I make it my business to say informed about the latest in scientific research and development. The world is always changing, so I keep myself posted on all the latest scientific findings."
"Then you must know that Area 28 is the former home of Professor Icarus," Nate indicated to Cilan.
"Rumor has it that all strange activity in Area 28 was related to the secret work Professor Icarus conducted out here. Makes sense since it's so remote and quiet," Rosa added to Nate's comment.
Iris, Ash, May, and their Pokémon seemed lost, but Cilan nodded. "I am familiar with Professor Icarus's work on dark matter. In fact, I finished reading a book on his studies not too long ago. However, the strange sightings in Area 28 continue to be reported long after Professor Icarus abandoned his lab," the green-eyed connoisseur mentioned.
Nate agreed with what Cilan said, "All that is true, but we have reason to believe that Professor Icarus conducted research that went beyond dark matter. Even though Professor Icarus no longer resides here, we suspect the effects of his research continue to impact the area."
"What kind of research would that be?" Cilan became intrigued, as did the other teens.
"We believe Professor Icarus secretly studied the science of dimensions and interdimensional travel. That is as much as we know right now. We're here to confirm that," Rosa summarized the objective of their mission.
"That's incredible, I would have never imagined!" Cilan was blown away by the revelation.
"I am guessing Professor Icarus's abandoned lab is the one down there," Ash spotted a rusty, rundown structure.
Nate and Rosa nodded. With that said the group got moving and ventured down to the lab. When they reached the entrance of the laboratory, they found that it was in even worse condition upon a closer look.
"Tini vi," Victini hovered closer to the entrance, noting the rust and dirt eating away at the building.
"Pika pika," Pikachu listened and smelled for signs of life, but the place seemed abandoned.
"There's not even a door, they really left this place to rot," May noted as they walked into the steel building.
"I'll say," Iris agreed as she picked up rusty lab tools and wiped the dirt off them.
"Genesis and Roxas wanted us to be thorough in our search, so make sure to check everything that you see, including old books or vials," Nate instructed as he walked beside Rosa.
The lab was made up of two floors, so the group decided to split into pairs. Ash and May would take the second floor, Iris and Cilan would search in the west wing of the first floor, and Nate and Rosa would inspect the east wing of the first floor.
Pikachu and Victini followed Ash and May as they proceeded to take the rusty metal stairs. When May took her first step, the metal creaked loudly and the stair broke, giving the brunette slight chills. "You know Ash, this place is pretty creepy," she said a bit nervously as Victini urged her to watch her step.
"The sooner we find what we are looking for the sooner we can leave," Ash also felt uncomfortable because of the creepy atmosphere. They moved up the stairs carefully as they entered a room filled with books.
It was evident that no one had stepped into this room in ages. The corners were filled with cobwebs and dust had piled up on everything. May sighed at the sight of so many books, "I guess we're going to have to go through all these to find something huh."
"They did say to be thorough," Ash also sighed.
Pikachu and Victini ran off to get started. Aside from the dozens of bookshelves, there were several desks laid out with charts and graphs related to the study of dark matter. "I am sure Cilan is enjoying himself right now," May teased as she picked up some of the graphs but failed to understand anything.
"Take a look at this Iris! Professor Icarus was working on developing a flying saucer using propellers. The man is brilliant!" Cilan fanboyed over a mini saucer he found on a desk alongside a design chart of the life-size model the Professor attempted to build.
"Flying saucers, dark matter, sounds like the guy was ahead of his time," Iris inspected the saucer that Cilan handed her. She wiped off some of the saucer's dirt and found that it was titled "Icarus". The purple-haired teen put it down and lamented, "Nothing on interdimensional travel though."
"Axew," Axew dug through old drawers of research, but nothing was of interest to the pair.
Cilan thought to himself, "It kind of makes you wonder if Professor Icarus really made any headway in terms of interdimensional travel."
Iris also wondered as she continued to shuffle through old research journals. "If his studies on it were as secret as Nate and Rosa say, then it makes sense for him to have hidden any information on it. Finding anything about it is not going to be busy as we thought," Iris concluded.
"Iris, you're a genius and that means something coming from a Science Connoisseur," Cilan snapped his fingers.
"Oh really?" Iris glared at him, and the gym leader laughed shyly. Cilan noticed something silver shining on the wall and pulled out a handkerchief. He began to clean off all the dirt that accumulated there, revealing a silver keypad.
Iris raised an eyebrow, "A keypad?"
"What do keypads normally open?" Cilan tested the girl.
"Doors!" Iris snapped her fingers.
"Ax!" Axew cheered over Iris's hunch.
The future Dragon Master took Cilan's handkerchief and began wiping down all the dirt that built up on the wall beside the keypad. Luckily, Cilan had two more tissues and helped Iris clean the wall with Axew.
When they finished wiping off all the dirt, they discovered a large metal door. "I never would've imagined there was a doorway underneath all that dirt and dust that built up," Iris tossed the dirty handkerchief.
"It's like you said Iris. If the research on interdimensional travel was that secretive, then Professor Icarus would have never let it out in the open like this for us to find," Cilan thanked her for the conclusion. He then bent over and saw the keypad only received 4-digit codes to unlock. The boy rubbed his chin with puzzlement, "The only thing we need now is a code."
"How about 1-2-3-4," Iris said cheerfully and keyed the combination, which was immediately rejected with a red-light indicator.
Cilan sighed, "I don't think he would have made it that easy."
"Worth a shot," Iris grinned with slight embarrassment.
"We'll have to keep looking for clues," Cilan instructed as he pulled out his magnifying glass, eager to continue playing detective.
"Right," Iris said and carried on with her search with Axew.
"Achoo!" May sneezed as she opened what was probably her fiftieth book. The brunette rubbed her nose as she spoke slightly annoyed, "I swear, I've been sneezing nonstop since we entered this room. All the dirt and dust are not doing us any favors while we check these books."
Ash felt sorry for his girlfriend because he also sneezed as he searched through the books. "I know May, hang in there," he walked over to her with another book and gave her a pat on the back.
"We've already passed the 'I' section of all these alphabetized books, and there's nothing on interdimensional travel," May closed the book she had just finished searching.
"Chu," Pikachu lowered its ears, feeling sorry for their poor luck.
"Vi," Victini hovered over some uninspected bookshelves and thought there had to be a better way to find clues. The Legendary Pokémon closed its eyes and began to outline itself in its psychic powers. It had never attempted this technique, but the Fire-type believed now was as good a time as any. Using its psychic abilities, it opened its eyes and could sense which books were last touched by the Professor. Victini's eyes glowed blue as it noticed several dozen books had blue markings on them, indicating that they had been the ones most recently touched by the Professor.
Ash, May, and Pikachu noticed Victini's behavior and wondered what it was doing. "Is Victini using its psychic powers to find clues?" May followed the Fire-type as it inspected certain books.
"Seems that way," Ash also followed the little Pokémon.
Victini searched thoroughly through the shelves until they noticed one book had more markings on it than any of the other books. It glowed a brighter blue than any of the other books in the room. "Ti!" the Pokémon exclaimed and pointed at it.
"This one Victini?" May pulled the book out as Victini nodded eagerly.
"This seems to be just another book on dark matter, are you sure?" Ash flipped through the pages with May.
Suddenly, a piece of paper slipped and fell to the floor. "Pi," Pikachu picked up and looked at it curiously. "Pikachu," Pikachu couldn't interpret the paper but handed it to Ash.
"Is this an essay?" Ash appeared as confused as Pikachu.
"'Two roads diverged in a yellow road'…it's a poem Ash," May rolled her eyes as she read through it.
"Oops," Ash closed his eyes in shame and laughed. When he was done, he thought back to the poem. "What's a poem doing in a book about science?" he pondered.
"That's what I'd like to know but look at it. Do you notice how four of the letters are bolded in red?" May noticed upon closer inspection.
Ash looked over her shoulder and rubbed his chin thinking about it, "Yeah, that's odd."
"This can't just be a coincidence. We should take it just in case and regroup with the others," May put the poem in her pocket.
"Right," Ash agreed with her.
The two went back downstairs and reunited with Iris, Cilan, Nate, and Rosa. "We didn't have much luck in the east wing, but Iris and Cilan told us they discovered a door that requires a passcode to unlock," Nate updated May and Ash on the situation when they regrouped.
"We searched everywhere in the west wing for the code, but no luck," Iris lowered her head in defeat.
"We didn't find any clues on interdimensional travel, but we found this poem that might mean something," May revealed the poem to the others.
"A poem found in a science library. How curious," Cilan became further intrigued by the mystery.
"There are four letters bolded in red on it too, why would Professor Icarus do that?" Ash mentioned.
Nate and Rosa looked at it with Iris and Cilan. "If you put the four letters together it means 'STAR'," Rosa realized.
"Do you think this could be the passcode?" May asked her friends.
Cilan continued thinking, "The keypad we saw only takes numbers, not letters. It's not coincidental that the keypad takes four digits, and this poem is marked with four letters though." Cilan counted with his fingers for a second while the others thought about what he was doing. He smiled confidently, "I've got it, it's all in cipher. It must be."
"You mean the letters represent numbers?" Rosa tried to follow Cilan.
"Correct!" the green-eyed trainer responded.
Iris still seemed puzzled though. "If it's in cipher though, then how could we input 'STAR' if the keypad only takes 4 digits from 0 to 9? Most of the letters in 'STAR' have designated numbers that are double digits, so the passcode would technically be '1920118' but that's way too long for the keypad," the girl said as she thought about the code in her head.
"Not unless it's ciphered in reverse," Cilan lifted his index finger to counter Iris's argument.
"That would still leave the letter 'A' as the 26th number, wouldn't it?" Ash made a valid point.
"Right Ash. In that case, we will have to hope that Professor Icarus didn't commit to the full pattern and kept 'A' designated as '1'," Cilan hoped that this would be the case.
"That might be it," Nate thought Cilan was onto something.
"Then let's give it a try," May said happily. The friends made their back to the west wing where Iris and Cilan found the door.
All of them hoped that Cilan's theory was right. If they were wrong, they would have to spend more hours searching for other leads. "Here goes," the green-eyed boy nervously keyed in the combination. "8-7-1-9," he said out loud as he pressed the keys.
The keypad stalled for a few seconds, then flashed green. The door in front of them automatically opened and revealed a set of stairs leading to the basement. "It worked!" Iris cheered.
"Good job Cilan," May smiled at the gym leader.
"You're really smart!" Ash also gave him praise.
Victini, Axew, and Pikachu also cheered for Cilan since he successfully cracked the code. Nate and Rosa teased that they could use Cilan more often for detective work and the group had a quick laugh.
"Let's go," Nate stated as they began their descent to the Professor's secret room.
When they reached the bottom, they were surprised to find highly advanced technology and a giant flying saucer centered in the room. "Wow, he actually did get to building it!" Cilan's eyes turned into stars.
"Let's look around. What we are looking for has to be here," Rosa ordered, and the group spread out. They continued finding graphs and data related to the saucer, but then Ash noticed a board filled with graphs that calculated the possibility of interdimensional travel.
He saw a pile of charts and a book nearby titled, "Icarus's Journal". "Hey guys, I think I've found something," Ash called his friends to come to him. They walked over to Ash and were surprised to find that Professor Icarus was indeed researching interdimensional travel.
"Guess we were right again. Man, I hate when we're right," Nate crossed his arms as he inspected the math behind Icarus's studies.
"He also left this journal detailing his time working on this stuff. Let's take a look," Ash presented a purple journal to them.
Cilan asked Ash if he minded handing the book to him and Ash gave it to him. Cilan turned the pages as they all listened intently. "Whoa, check this out. 'My work in dark matter and space travel has regrettably attracted some unwanted attention. I should've been more careful conducting my research out here, but now we are here. Giovanni of Team Rocket had learned of the strange activity in Area 28 that was the fault of my own. He was fascinated by what I had accomplished, but he was more interested in research on another subject. I did not like the man, but he gifted me a substantial amount of money to continue my work on dark matter. I couldn't refuse. Team Rocket's leader wanted me to explore the possibility of hopping through different dimensions and see if humans could do so. I had long heard of Pokémon being able to hop through dimensions, but he wanted me to make it feasible for humans. He had but one rule, I was to conduct the research without asking any questions. I obliged.
Regretfully, I had done it. We were able to successfully open the first hole into uncharted territory. My work only worsened the strange activities reported in Area 28. People began to file reports of random wormholes opening and closing across this area. I was afraid of what might happen if a poor soul happened to leap into one. The last straw was when I witnessed Team Rocket's cruelty toward Pokémon firsthand when they visited the lab once. They attempted to capture my Elygem for their own nefarious purposes and I reminded Giovanni that this was not part of the deal. The Rocket leader punished his grunts for trying to take Elygem, but he also warned it was the last time he'd intervene. I could no longer work under their conditions. I am going to grab my things, take Elygem, and get as far away from Unova as possible. Maybe it's time for retirement?
If anyone finds this journal, it means I successfully left the lab and Unova. I will forget the work that I did for Giovanni.'" Cilan ended the reading and closed the journal since that was the last thing Icarus wrote.
Ash, May, Iris, and Cilan were astonished by the facts they had learned. When they looked at Nate and Rosa though, they noticed that their faces had gone pale. "What can this all mean…?" Nate's eyes were wide as he stared into nothingness.
"The implications of interdimensional travel by humans are huge, especially if Giovanni has the means to do it," Rosa felt fear travel through her body.
"By extension, Ghetsis and Omega might learn how to do it as well," Cilan added to their conclusion.
"This is not good," Iris clenched her fists in anger.
"Does this mean they aim to do more than just take over our world?" May thought of the unimaginable.
"We have to stop them. We can't let them get away with this," Ash clenched his teeth as he thought about the endless misery the villains could cause.
"Indeed, Giovanni should be stopped," a creepy voice filled the room, and the teens became alarmed.
When they turned around, they found the Shadow Triad standing before them. "Ghetsis will not be pleased with the information Giovanni has been hiding. Our master will be thrilled to know that humans can now willingly travel across multiple dimensions at a whim. Soon everything will come under our control," the leader of the Shadow Triad declared.
"Not while we're standing!" Ash countered.
"We need to report this to Roxas immediately. Ash, May, Iris, Cilan, stop the Shadow Triad for good," Rosa instructed, realizing that there was no time to waste.
"You got it," Iris spoke on behalf of the teens as Nate and Rosa used aura to speed past the Shadow Triad.
The Shadow Triad smirked at Rosa and Nate's prompt exit. "They are only delaying the inevitable. We will see our vision come to fruition," one of the ninjas stated. The Shadow Triad saw no need in stopping Rosa or Nate from escaping.
"We'll settle for playing with you children right now and once we are done, we will destroy all evidence of interdimensional travel. Ghetsis would not want Omega to catch wind of something that could give us the advantage," the leader of the Shadow Triad stated.
"That explains why they're here. Ghetsis wants to be in the driver's seat," Cilan frowned but noted that the alliance between Giovanni, Ghetsis, and Omega started to show its cracks.
"Iris, protect that journal with Axew and Victini. We'll take care of the Shadow Triad," May commanded as she, Ash, and Cilan stepped up to defeat the Shadow Triad for good. Iris made sure to hold onto Professor Icarus's journal so the Shadow Triad couldn't snatch it.
The Shadow Triad laughed and prepared for battle. The three ninjas called upon, Banette. Accelgor, and Bisharp to defeat their enemies. May released Sawsbuck, Ash brought out Krookodile, and Cilan unleashed Crustle.
The 6 Pokémon glared at each other in a standoff, ready to do everything to win. "Bisharp, use Night Slash on Sawsbuck!" the leader of the Shadow Triad ordered. The Steel-type Pokémon lunged at Sawsbuck with full force. The other ninjas commanded Accelgor to use Focus Blast on Krookodile and Banette to use Shadow Claw on Crustle.
"Sawsbuck, dodge and use Double Kick!" May countered. As Bisharp prepared to slash Sawsbuck, the Grass-type crouched to dodge the swing and spun around to buck the Dark-type. The extremely super-effective move sent Bisharp flying backward as it barely managed to recover its footing.
"Krookodile, use Dig and then Aerial Ace on Accelgor," Ash stretched his arm out the moment he made his command.
Krookodile threw its sunglasses in the air and went underground, successfully avoiding Focus Blast. "Fool, Accelgor is too fast to be hit by your croc," the ninja remained confident that Accelgor could not be touched.
"I know that, but Aerial Ace never misses," Ash smirked at his opponent. The ninja widened his eyes as Accelgor dodged Dig, but Krookodile then delivered an Aerial Ace right on the mark. Accelgor was sent crashing towards the ground as Krookodile landed coolly and had its sunglasses land back on its snout.
"Crustle, use Protect!" Cilan announced. When Banette got close enough, its Shadow Claw clashed with Protect and the Ghost-type could not break through the defense. "Now use X-Scissor," Cilan followed up with his next move, taking advantage of the fact that Banette was at close range. Crustle's protective dome disappeared and released X-Scissor, making Banette cry out in pain.
The Shadow Triad stood shocked as their Pokémon struggled to regain composure. "They've gotten a lot stronger since the last time," the Shadow Triad leader acknowledged.
"Give up, while you still have a chance," Ash clenched his fists. The raven-haired boy gave them an ultimatum, but the ninjas refused.
"Bane!" Banette used Psychic and tried to throw the Bug-type at Krookodile and Sawsbuck. Ash and May ordered their Pokémon to dodge Crustle. Cilan had Crustle use Protect again to land safely after being thrown.
The Shadow Triad clenched their fists, refusing to be defeated. Accelgor fired a Sludge Bomb at Sawsbuck, but the deer used Camouflage to blend with its surroundings and avoided the Sludge Bomb. Accelgor may have been fast, but it could not spot Sawsbuck in time and was sent crashing against the metal wall with Take Down.
Bisharp sprinted towards Krookodile with the intent of using Low Sweep. Unfortunately for Bisharp, Krookodile went underground again. Bisharp flipped off the ground to stop its failed Low Sweep, but it was too late. "Krook!" Krookodile burst out of the ground and hit Bisharp while it was still in midair. The red croc sent the Steel-type crashing against the ceiling and then it dropped.
Cilan had Crustle use Rock Slide on Banette, but the Ghost-type used Psychic to control the falling rocks and aimed them at Crustle. Crustle's trainer had it use Shell Smash as the rocks closed in. Ash and May were caught off guard by Cilan's move since this would make Crustle more vulnerable, but the gym leader had a plan. After Crustle cracked its block, its attack power increased exponentially. "End this with Rock Wrecker!" Cilan declared. Without wasting another second, Crustle unleashed an enormous boulder that destroyed the incoming rocks and hit Banette head-on. The Ghost-type was smashed by the giant rock against the wall before dropping to the floor.
The Shadow Triad saw their 3 Pokémon lay defeated before them. Ash, May, and Cilan stood victoriously before them with their Pokémon. "Retreat," the leader of the Shadow Triad commanded as they recalled their Pokémon and prepared to escape.
"Not this time!" Iris shouted and Victini sprang from behind. The Fire-type used Psychic to keep the Shadow Triad in place and slammed them against the wall, causing the three ninjas to faint as well.
"Good one Victini," Ash gave Victini a fist bump, making the little legendary smile and Pikachu patted them on the back.
"Let's bring them to justice," May crossed her arms, smiling smugly at the defeated Shadow Triad.
"Get Looker and Officer Jenny on the line, so they can retrieve them. I think today has been a sweet victory," Cilan also crossed his arms as they stood proudly over their foes.
Zero and Hunter J stood on the same cliff the friends were spotted at before entering Professor Icarus's lab. They had bugged the lab before the teens had arrived and managed to listen in on the discussions they were having since the moment they entered.
"They saved us the work of figuring out Giovanni's secret. Not only that, but Ghetsis wanted in on the action," Zero chuckled as he took his earbud off.
"Omega never did trust either of them. He secretly played against them as well, but now we know what Team Rocket has been hiding. Indeed, now we can spare ourselves the trouble of torturing Rocket or Neo Plasma grunts for any info," Hunter J evilly commented as she put away her earbud.
"He'll want to hear about this immediately," Zero sternly stated. Hunter J told him to move out and the two disappeared into a dark portal they had summoned.
Roxas slammed his fist on the table, "You're positive about all this?"
"Yes, if we are going to strike. We have to do it now, we can't afford to waste any more time," Nate said ominously.
"We can't let this kind of development fall into Omega's hands," Rosa backed Nate up.
"Agreed. Roxas, it's time," Auro stopped leaning against the wall, joining Nate and Rosa in the call for action.
Roxas took a deep breath as he looked up at the ceiling of the White Treehollow, which had been their base of operations this whole time in Unova. "Let's do it then," Roxas looked back down at his friends.
All of a sudden, the four friends felt their bodies constrained by powerful psychic energy. Their bodies were outlined in blue, and they couldn't move a muscle. "I am afraid it's too late to make your move against me," Omega stepped out of the shadows with Metagross, who used Psychic to immobilize the trainers, and 3 of his minions.
"Damn it," Roxas clenched his teeth as he saw his adversary smirk at him.
"How did he…find us?" Rosa struggled to speak.
"Genesis wasn't as sneaky as you thought. Silver, Cloud, and Genesis managed to slip through my fingers, but I managed to track their movements enough to deduce your hideout. Ironic, you spent all these years trying to track my base of operations and it took me mere days to find you. The game is not in your favor," Omega gave a low chuckle.
"My lord, shall we take them to the base?" Archer pulled his black hood down to reveal himself.
"Yes, with the loss of the Light and Dark Stones, we can't afford to delay the inevitable. Let's begin setting the stage for the grand finale," Omega ordered Archer, who obeyed.
