There is some drug use and bloody violence in this chapter, just a warning.
-:-
CHAPTER 12: Alekhine's Gun
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In the dark alley within Goldenrod City's southern slum, Pierce led Giovanni, Ariana, Jessie and James to a hidden doorway. Once inside the building, he brought them to the top floor and stopped just outside of a closed room.
"Giovanni, Ariana, right this way," Pierce said as he inserted a key into the door and opened it.
Giovanni nodded to Pierce and entered the room, followed in similar fashion by the others. Pierce closed and relocked the door once they were all inside.
The base Pierce had spoken of was, in actuality a mostly empty storage area. Three laptop computers were set up on some tables at the end of the room, where three other people were waiting. Jessie and James hung back, their faces glistening with nerve-induced sweat.
"Giovanni, sir!" the older of the two women happily said. Her age was given away by the streaks of gray in her thick, dark green hair, but she was also bound to a sophisticated computerized wheelchair. Using a trackpad located next to the red digital keyboard on her right armrest, she maneuvered herself up to Giovanni. "Good to see you all here in one piece. We've gotten the base together, as ordered." She took an ornate pipe and lighter out of the pocket on her floral-necked lab coat, then lit the pipe and deeply inhaled from it before adding, "It's a modest affair, I know, but it serves its purpose."
"Rosalie, what of the Meteonite?"
Before Rosalie could answer Giovanni's question, Jessie and James jumped in front of him and interrupted. The worry they both felt was overwhelming, and when added to how close they both felt to what they wanted, they were both left fighting back tears in front of their superiors.
"Boss, please forgive us, but we can't wait anymore!"
James immediately continued Jessie's thought by saying, "Meowth has been missing for too long! Do you three know where he is?!"
Giovanni clenched his fist, but calmed when Ariana grabbed his arm.
"Don't get mad at them, it's not worth it. They just miss their teammate… which is understandable."
Rosalie smiled warmly. "My, my, you're quite eager, aren't you? Luckily, I think I have some good news. Trevor, Ada, come here."
Responding to the scientist's gesture, the other two Team Rocket members who had been waiting with her approached. Both of them were wearing black variations of Stacia's uniform, complete with the same parallel columns of gold buttons on the chests. Trevor wore pants and boots with his uniform while Ada wore a one-piece, knee-length dress and sneakers.
"Go ahead and tell them what we got," Rosalie directed after a moment of Jessie and James just staring eagerly up at them.
"W-well…" Ada shyly said. Out of nervousness, she scratched at her sky-blue hair as she spoke. "…Team Rocket has… someone on the inside of Polaris. Based on what he's told us… Meowth is somewhere in this city."
"Really?"
"Is that really true?"
Amused by Jessie and James's passion for saving Meowth, Trevor laughed and brushed some of his long brown hair from his face. "It's called the Purine Base, apparently. We know that it's one of Polaris's major facilities and that it's in this very city, but we don't know exactly where. Apparently, the exact location is kept a secret even from Polaris's members."
"It would stand to reason that they also took the Meteonite there," Ariana concluded, disgust evident on her face and in her voice. "If we find Meowth, we find the Meteonite."
"Correct, Executive Ariana," Rosalie confirmed. "We know that wherever the Purine Base in Goldenrod City is, Polaris has definitely taken both Meowth and the Meteonite there."
"Then we should find out where they are, march right in and take what belongs to us!" Jessie boldly proposed. She accentuated her point by balling up her fist and striking it against her chest.
"Patience." Trevor urged, before smirking mischievously. "We're working on a plan for when all our forces are ready, but mark my words, we will look for Polaris, we will find them, and we will beat them."
"W-we can't b-be… too reckless. Polaris is… already planning something in this city."
"Do explain," Giovanni ordered.
Rosalie took a long drag from her pipe and exhaled the smoke, then entered a command into her wheelchair's computer. A red-and-black digital screen was projected in front of her, and an intense look filled her somewhat-bloodshot eyes as she looked at it.
"A post went up on the Polaris website," she explained. "It says that a 'day of the people' will take place in Goldenrod City in three days… well, two, once midnight passes… and it will include a speech presented live in person by Ghetsis's deputy Zinzolin. We suspect they might be planning to use the public protest as a cover for some other deed."
Giovanni did not respond right away. Instead, he walked across the room to a large chair that was set up near a wide window, sat down, and leaned to his side as he thought.
"I agree," he finally said, "they're likely using it as a distraction. We can try to implement our own operation to derail theirs. Rosalie, Ada, Trevor, keep gathering intelligence from our man on the inside while we wait for our remaining field agents."
"Yes, sir!" all three of them responded.
"What about us, dear Boss?" James asked, resisting the urge to fall to his knees and beg.
"You two will wait here," he rumbled dramatically. "I have a very specific job in mind for you."
-:-
On the eastern end of Azalea Town, a short distance from both the main population and the town's entrance, stood the Slowpoke Well. While on the surface it merely seemed to be an unassuming stone tube piercing the earth, at the bottom of the well was an expansive cave, the environment of the Pokémon that loaned the well its name.
The next morning, having recovered from her sudden bout of illness the night before, Olivia had gone to the Slowpoke Well with Silver, looking to capture Pokémon. It was home to more than just Slowpoke, and she had found a Pokémon she wanted to catch. Silver stood back, leaning against a wall and watching as Olivia battled the Pokémon with her Roselia. She overwhelmed it quite quickly and threw a Poké Ball at it, at which point she could only stand by and watch as the ball shook on the ground.
"Come on…" she thought, clenching her fists and teeth. "I have to get more Pokémon if I'm going to get anywhere!"
The Poké Ball pinged just then, almost as if it was responding to Olivia's pleas. She didn't react right away, instead, she simply stared at the now-still sphere, letting what had happened sink in.
"I… I actually got another Pokémon…" she uttered, slipping to her knees behind Roselia. Tears briefly welled up in her eyes as she realized that it was the first Pokémon she had captured after finding out the truth about her father. A feeling of confusion came over her, and it didn't go away even when Roselia tried to hug her leg.
"It's just capturing a Pokémon…" Silver said as he walked up to her. "I don't understand why you're so worked up over it."
"Sentimental value!" Olivia shot back. "The Pokémon I caught before this was… I caught it while being driven by something I don't have anymore. This is really the first time I've caught a Pokémon for myself and not for my dad…"
"I will never understand the attachment someone like you gets to a father figure," he harshly stated. "I have no need to be seen as worthy in my father's eyes, and if you ask me, you should get over it too."
"Shut up! What right have you got to tell me what to do? My dad meant everything to me and now he's completely gone!"
Silver opened his mouth to answer, but didn't speak a word before he froze. After remaining still for a moment, he sharply lashed his head around, listening for something.
"Collect your Pokémon and come here," he whispered. "I heard something. Someone's here."
Olivia quickly heeded Silver's advice, picking up the Poké Ball containing her new Pokémon and returning Roselia to her own. Once she moved up alongside Silver, she quietly asked, "What's going on?"
"I heard someone moving around. Be careful."
Silver stepped out from the wall and took several paces forward, intending to peer down a nearby tunnel to see if he could make anything out. However, as soon as he reached the tunnel, someone came running out and collided with him.
"What are you..." Silver froze when he saw who he was looking at – a man wearing a black uniform that bore a red 'R' insignia. Almost instantly, his mood turned to pure rage. "You, Proton!"
Proton initially reacted with surprise to his encountering Silver, stepping back with a wide-eyed look on his face. He quickly shifted to a more sarcastic tone, however, with his expression changing to a manic grin to match.
"Well, well, look who the Meowth dragged in!" Proton chuckled menacingly. "It's the return of the prodigal son!"
"Shut it!" Silver growled, sweeping his arm before himself. "Tell me what he's got you doing here right now!"
"Maybe you should go ask your daddy yourself. I'm sure he'd like to see you!"
"Silver, what's going on?" demanded Olivia. She felt her stomach beginning to turn.
"Nothing you need to get involved in," Silver answered through clenched teeth while arming himself with one of his Poké Balls. "Get out of here. Go find Looker and tell him what's happening."
Proton shrugged and turned up his hands. He hadn't immediately noticed Olivia, but her presence barely fazed him. "So sorry, little lady, looks like you just got stuck in the middle of this. Thank Silver for getting you caught in the sights of the scariest and cruelest guy in Team Rocket!"
Before either Olivia or Silver could react, Proton opened one of his own Poké Balls, releasing a Shuckle. Much like his trainer, the Shuckle wore a crazed, menacing look.
"Hold her down, Shuckle! Wrap!"
Taking aim squarely at Olivia, Proton's Shuckle reared back and shot his front legs from his shell like tentacles. Repulsed by the idea of even being touched, she recoiled and started to run, but a huge shape towering over her shielded her from Shuckle's grasp.
"Feraligatr," Silver shouted over Olivia's gasp, "Ice Punch!"
Using his right arm, Feraligatr delivered a forceful chop strengthened by freezing air to the tentacles wrapped around his left. Shuckle recoiled from the chill and pulled his legs back into his shell.
"Tch… giving us a hard time like always, Silver?" Proton spat, his face curling in disgust.
"More like beating you and taking you down again!" Quickly turning to look at Olivia over his shoulder, Silver again yelled, "Go! Get out of here and go get Looker!"
Olivia wanted to run, but she found her body slow to respond to her mental commands due to her fear in the moment. The only immediate response available to her was to back up slowly and just try to put some distance between herself and the danger.
Proton laughed, his sadistic grin returning. "Boy, Silver, aren't you a hero? Some hero when you don't even bother telling her how close she really is to us!"
"Go!" Silver roared at Olivia, ignoring Proton's mocking.
"O…okay!"
Olivia's mind and body finally clicked together, allowing her to turn and run. As she fled she could hear the crashes and explosions of an unfolding battle behind her, but she could not pay much attention to it. She just knew she had to get away as quickly as possible.
-:-
"The Pokémon World Tournament is soon to begin!" the stout, thick-browed man on the Azalea Town Pokémon Center's television announced. " Pokémon Trainers from all around the world are gathering here at the Realgam Tower in Orre, and I, Freddy the Scoop, will be there to bring you all the exciting action!"
The lobby of the Pokémon Center was fairly empty that morning. Azalea Town wasn't often visited by large amounts of traffic, instead, it was usually the case that only a few trainers at a time would come for their Hive Badges and leave as soon as they got them. Only a small handful of people, including the nurse, were in the lobby while Matt, Looker and Nikolai were there watching television and drinking coffee.
"It makes me happy…" Nikolai mumbled, staring at the screen.
"What's that?"
Shifting his gaze sideways to look at Matt, Nikolai answered, "…that Pokémon can bring people together over such distances. I want the world to be a place where people and Pokémon can grow together through their interactions with each other. That's my ideal formula…"
"I can appreciate that. I mean…" Matt noticed Looker staring intensely at the two of them, but didn't pay it much attention. "…if that kind of thing came to pass, perhaps it would be therapeutic to Olivia's mind. I've noticed that she really opens up when Pokémon are involved."
"So where is Olivia, anyway?" Matt and Nikolai's conversation was interrupted by Nekou swaggering in, with yet another beer can in her hand despite the early hour. She sipped at it, then continued, "I expected her to be out here with you."
"So you finally woke up, huh?" Matt said with a wry grin. "Don't worry about her. She felt better after last night, so she went with Silver to the Slowpoke Well to catch a new Pokémon."
"The… Slowpoke Well?" In an instant, the cool, flippant attitude present in Nekou's expression evaporated, giving way to a hardened, dismayed look. "With Silver?"
"Yeah, when she brought up the idea, I didn't want her to go alone but I did want her to strike out on her own a bit. Looker was the one that suggested Silver go with her."
"But… the Slowpoke Well? What made you think that shit was a good idea?"
Matt shrugged. "It's open to the public, so she's not going anywhere she shouldn't. What's the worst that could happen?"
As if on cue, at literally the moment Matt closed his mouth, the Pokémon Center's doors slid open and Olivia came crashing through.
"Matt!" she screamed out, not realizing where her group was yet. "Nekou! Mister Looker!"
Nekou immediately pitched her beer can into a nearby garbage pail with great skill, then hurried to Olivia. The three men were left standing behind her, confused and worried about what had upset her.
"Olivia, calm down!" Nekou implored her young friend, who collapsed into her arms. "Tell me what happened!"
"I… I caught a new Pokémon… but then we ran into him…"
"Who is 'him?'" Matt questioned, not noticing how Nekou shuddered upon Olivia's revelation.
"And Silver, what is the location of his being currently?"
"It was a man called Proton, who was wearing a Team Rocket uniform. Silver knew him, I think. He tried to capture me when we ran into him but Silver stayed behind to battle him."
"If the Team Rocket has started some sort of operation of sorts," Looker pondered while holding his chin, "it is being my duty as an International Police agent elite in rank to stop it!"
Stopping only to shoot Nekou a brief, venomous glare, Looker sprinted for the door, leaving Matt, Olivia, Nekou and Nikolai no choice but to leave their coffee behind and follow.
Bright, blazing sunlight greeted them as they reached the outdoors, forcing them to try and hastily adjust their vision. Having gotten outside first, Looker got used to the morning sun before any of the others, and ran off to the east while shouting nonsensically about Team Rocket. The others were able to follow him after a brief moment.
As soon as the stone entrance to the Slowpoke Well came into view, it became clear that the conflict had escalated. Proton had fled to the surface with Silver in pursuit, and the two were now fighting out in the open. Silver's Feraligatr had just delivered a finishing blow to Proton's Shuckle, and having recalled his Pokémon, Proton was starting to flee using a jetpack strapped to his back.
Just as his jetpack's rockets ignited, Proton caught sight of Looker. Shooting the detective a sarcastic grin, he saluted and yelled, "Missed me again, didn't you?"
"Stop! International Police!"
"Oh, come the fuck on!" Nekou groaned in exasperation. "You seriously think that he'll stop for that?"
Proton lifted into the air and, without hesitation, turned to Ilex Forest to the west and began to fly off.
Silver, however, would have none of it, even as Matt, Looker and the others just watched the Rocket Executive flee. "Feraligatr, shoot him down, right now!" he shouted, pointing at Proton. "Dragon Pulse!"
Locking his gaze onto the shrinking figure in the sky, Feraligatr opened his mouth as widely as his large jaw would allow. A cluster of blue light took shape just within, which within seconds fired like a cannon of energy. The attack managed to hit Proton with pinpoint accuracy, and though none of the group could hear him swearing his luck, they were able to see his jetpack fail, sending him falling into the forest.
"What are you all waiting for?!" Silver demanded, recalling Feraligatr as soon as his work was done. "Let's go after him! I'm sure that's not a problem for any of you, is it?"
Silver didn't wait for an answer to his question. He just turned and ran, his body overflowing with more than enough energy to run all the way across Azalea Town and into Ilex Forest. Matt, Olivia, Looker and Nikolai all followed immediately while Nekou brought up the rear, scowling viciously all the while.
-:-
In his laboratory, Dr. Zager was frantically entering commands into his computer while Galvantula skittered around in the background, alarmed by the sound of his voice.
"Proton? Proton, come in!" Overcome by frustration, Zager slammed his fist down on his desk. "Of all the times to lose communication..."
Returning to the thermal imaging of Ilex Forest, the scientist found himself unable to do much more than stare at the readouts it displayed. Since the night before, multiple bursts matching the signature of Meteonite energy had been detected there, but there was something else, another kind of energy flowing through the area that truly put his nerves on edge. He kept watching the time-lapse reading of the forest over and over, searching for an answer he wasn't sure was there.
-:-
Even though it was the middle of a clear morning, Ilex Forest was still a gloomy place. The one saving grace that the group had was the availability of a long but clear and distinct path to follow. The relatively small number of travelers that came through the area were still enough to convey the need for a road; without it, the forest would be nearly impossible to pass through.
"He's got to be nearby here," Silver said. "He didn't get far into the forest before I shot him down."
"Pardon me for chiming in, but maybe it would help to have a Pokémon search? You have a Gengar, as I recall."
Silver was caught by surprise by Matt's suggestion, but he thought about it and quickly realized that the idea was a smart one. After removing Gengar's Poké Ball from his belt, Silver opened it, releasing the ghost. Gengar grinned widely and laughed, happy to be doing something.
"Gengar, look through this immediate area for a man wearing a Team Rocket uniform," the red-haired trainer directed. "If you find him, bring us to him immediately."
Gengar nodded and said his name to confirm that he understood what Silver wanted him to do, then drifted off into the woods. However, Silver let out an angry sigh and sharply turned to his companions.
"I could use a little help, you know. I don't expect it from all of you but I'm sure at least one of you will put in the effort."
"You know, you could just say please," Olivia muttered, though she did let her Minccino out. Almost immediately, the Normal-type Pokémon fretted about cleaning up some nearby leaves using her tail.
"For as rude as he was happening to be behaving in the manner of, Silver does occur to have a point," Looker commented. "Matt, what Pokémon have you got in possession on your person?"
"Right now? I'm carrying Heatran, Sigilyph, Eelektrik, Golurk, Roggenrola and Drilbur."
"A Psychic-type ought to be of use…" Nikolai listlessly said.
"And she can fly, too. I agree." Matt reached into his bag, intending to take out the Poké Ball containing Ayingott, his Sigilyph.
Just as he put his hand on it, though, an unexpected interruption broke in. A loudly-screeching horde of Zubat and Hoothoot, numbering about thirteen total, emerged from the trees. The Hoothoot had dull, tired looks in their eyes, and despite having no eyes to share it, the Zubat were carrying themselves in the same agitated manner.
"Look at their eyes," Nekou growled, "or at least the Hoothoot, anyway. And nocturnal Pokémon out in the daytime?"
"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Matt asked without looking at her.
"Yeah, I am. They're under Meteonite influence, just like all those other Pokémon… like the ones in Union Cave."
"I can feel something influencing their minds…" added Nikolai, standing with his arms spread.
Some of the Zubat and Hoothoot took notice of Olivia's Minccino sitting on the ground before them and became even more angered. Before she even realized what was happening, she found herself being targeted by multiple Air Cutter and Night Shade attacks.
"Stop those with Swift!" Olivia quickly commanded.
Minccino lashed her tail forward, spraying a wave of stars to shield herself. Most of the white and purple energy waves coming her way were dispelled, but a few still got through. She was only struck by the Air Cutters, though, as she was immune to the Ghost-type Night Shades. Scratched in several places and dirty from the dust kicked up around her, she fled back to the safety of Olivia's arms.
"Minccino, it's okay…" she whispered to her Pokémon, gently stroking Minccino's head.
"I'll take care of this. Ayingott, make your mark!"
The Sigilyph burst from the Poké Ball she was contained within. Right away, she noticed the injured Minccino in Olivia's arms and realized the Zubat and Hoothoot were to blame. She confronted the gang by angrily chirping at them, but they were too far gone under the Meteonite's influence to fully notice.
They did, however, perceive Ayingott as a threat. The Hoothoot hung back while the Zubat encircled her, preparing to attack.
"Ayingott, that's nothing to you! Wipe them all out with Psychic!"
Much to Matt's surprise, Ayingott hesitated. She didn't wait for long, but it was enough that Matt and the others noticed. When she attacked, she used her psychic power to surround all of the Zubat with blue light before tossing them away.
"What happened?"
Nikolai stepped up alongside Matt, but didn't look at him, instead covering his eyes with his hat. "I sense that your Sigilyph is unhappy with something. Not you, but… there is something weighing on its mind."
Matt looked back up, struggling to identify in his mind what it was that he had done wrong, only to see that the Zubat had somehow quickly returned to surround Ayingott once again. Meanwhile, Silver had sent out his Alakazam, and the two of them were trying to cut down the Hoothoot with electric bolts Alakazam was launching from the spoons he held.
Suddenly, a Swift attack struck some of the Zubat, breaking their formation around Ayingott. Matt turned in surprise to see that Olivia's Minccino had regained her courage and was rejoining the fight, having climbed out of her trainer's arms.
"Thanks for that, Minccino," he said, though he was looking at Olivia. "How about we do this together?"
"All three of us?" Nekou interrupted, holding a Poké Ball in her hand.
"You know what, that's a good idea," Matt said with a smile. "Let's go for it, all of us! Manticore, make your mark!"
"Join them, Marie!"
Matt's Roggenrola and Nekou's Sneasel stepped up alongside Minccino after taking form. Marie looked to Minccino and growled sharply, smiling to encourage her companion. Manticore, however, didn't wait for Minccino and Marie or even for any orders from Matt. As soon as she saw the swarm of Zubat, she jumped into battle, shooting a stream of four rocks at them. The Zubat scattered but reformed with some speed.
"Manticore, I didn't tell you to use Rock Blast yet!"
"Looks like it hasn't gotten much more obedient since you caught it," Nekou remarked. "Fine. As always, woman must clean up the mess created by man, huh? Olivia, let's team up and do this. I want you to use Swift again."
"Alright," Olivia answered, nodding. "I trust you. Minccino, do it! Use Swift!"
Nekou watched as Minccino followed Olivia's direction. Once the stars of Swift were in the air, Nekou followed with, "Now, Marie, use Ice Beam on Minccino's Swift!"
While sharply hissing, Marie looked up at Minccino's Swift attack and fired rays of blue, freezing energy from her claws. The ice surrounded the stars on contact, turning them into sharp-edged weapons that slashed through the Zubat horde. Many of them dropped to the ground, unable to continue after being cut down by the combination, leaving only three severely weakened Zubat still airborne.
"Let's put an end to this all at once! Ayingott, hold them still with Psychic, and Manticore, hit one of them with Rock Blast!"
"Marie, take one of them out with Knock Off!"
"Minccino, you finish the last one off with Aqua Tail!"
The last three Zubat had attempted to attack again by opening their mouths wide, but Ayingott pinned them with her psychic power, rendering them unable to do so. Marie jumped at the trio as soon as they were frozen and smashed the middle Zubat into the earth with her right arm. Manticore followed up by taking aim at one of the others and shooting three rocks at it, and just as Olivia intended, Minccino smacked the last down with her glowing tail.
At the same time Matt, Nekou and Olivia were defeating the Zubat, Silver was finishing off the Hoothoot on his own using his Alakazam. The owl Pokémon proved to be little of a challenge to the powerful Psychic-type.
"Alakazam… you did well." Holding up a yellow-and-black Ultra Ball, Silver recalled Alakazam back to its confines. Just as he did so, though, Gengar returned and began pulling on his arm. The ghost Pokémon gestured into the brush, prompting Silver to turn around – only to see a figure rushing through the forest not far away. "There he is! He was hiding right in front of us!"
"Silver, be waiting!" Looker's call was in vain, as Silver, overcome with his wish to capture Proton, dashed off into the bushes to give chase after recalling Gengar. With no other options, Looker turned to the others and said, "We shall make note to meet up at the other end's exit of the Ilex Forest!" before hurrying off after Silver.
"What is going on?" Matt wondered out loud as the detective departed.
"Fuck if I know," Nekou said with a shrug. "But I'd be willing to hazard a guess that it's Polaris's fault. Those Zubat and Hoothoot were clearly under the influence of Meteonite energy, but there shouldn't be any way for that to be possible. There were no meteor strikes in this area."
"Nikolai, what did you mean by Ayingott being unhappy with something?" Matt questioned.
"I haven't pinpointed it just yet… let's walk with the Pokémon and perhaps I will figure it out."
"I like that idea."
With their plan set, the group continued down the road, walking with Ayingott, Manticore, Minccino and Marie alongside them.
They didn't notice the twelve pairs of small, yellow eyes watching them from the bushes.
-:-
A large, metallic airship piloted by Colress was flying over the western ocean, heading in the direction of Goldenrod City. He was seated at an expansive control panel within the craft's cockpit, and while flying it, he was also carrying on a videophone conversation with Getriebe and Jeunes.
"Everything's all in order here," Jeunes stated, smirking. "Two days from now, we'll be able to execute the operation just as planned."
"The research has been promising," Getriebe added. "If my calculations are correct, the Meteonite will work exactly the way we want."
"I'll be there in plenty of time," answered Colress. "Nothing will get in our way. Between the power of the Meteonite and the public support Mister Ghetsis's speeches have been gaining for us, Polaris will reach its objective soon enough. What are you two currently doing?"
"We've nearly finished scanning our stocks of Pokémon into the Purine Base's databanks," Getriebe explained. "Once our indexing is complete, we'll send the data to the Adenosine Base so you can use it."
-:-
"I figured it out," Nikolai abruptly announced while the group and their Pokémon were continuing down the road in Ilex Forest. "I know what your Sigilyph is distressed by."
"Oh? What is it?"
"Your Sigilyph does not like its nickname. It wishes to be given a new one."
"Wait, I don't understand," Matt replied, raising an eyebrow. Ayingott didn't seem to dislike that nickname before."
"I feel it may have been waiting to see on its own if you would change its nickname… now that Sigilyph has decided that you aren't going to be doing that, it's beginning to act out."
"I guess that makes sense," Nekou remarked, walking with her arms crossed behind her head. She then glanced back to Olivia, only to notice that she had her head down. "What's wrong?"
"Something doesn't feel right," Olivia sullenly said. "I feel kind of sick again… and I really want to see my mom for some reason. All of a sudden I really miss her."
"We'll call her when we get to Goldenrod City, okay?" Matt was attempting to reassure Olivia, but in his own mind, he was nervous. Anabel's poor state when they'd contacted her the day before didn't give him a good feeling.
"Wait, do you hear something?" Nekou suddenly said.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Matt focused his hearing, and Olivia focused hers as well. Both of them quickly heard loud voices coming from some place nearby, which evidently was what Nekou was referring to.
"I hear it, too..." Nikolai uttered. "Let's go find out what it is…"
Matt, Nekou, Olivia and Nikolai ran further down the road, seeking the source of the voices. They quickly came upon a young boy and girl, both dressed in sky-blue school uniforms and carrying lunchboxes.
"Are you two okay?" Matt addressed them.
Reacting to his accidentally overaggressive tone, the pair reeled back. "Stop! Don't take any more of our Pokémon!" the boy cried.
"We didn't take any of your Pokémon to begin with," Nekou rebuked. "What's going on here?"
"Who are you?" questioned the girl.
"Just some traveling trainers, as you seem to be," Matt answered, gesturing to Ayingott, Manticore, Marie and Minccino. "If I frightened you before, I'm sorry. Please explain to us what happened."
"Our Ivysaur disappeared into Ilex Forest... we were looking for it and now we can't find our way out anymore!"
"Did it run away?" Olivia wondered.
"Y-yeah, it did…" The girl sniffed before adding, "but when it ran away, right before it ran away it was struck by a beam of red light."
Matt, Nekou and Olivia all gasped and looked at each other in shock, and though Nikolai's reaction was far more muted, the surprise in his eyes gave away that he had a similar feeling.
"You guys are all thinking what I'm thinking, right?"
Nekou closed her eyes in disgust at the answer she had to give to Matt's question. "No doubting it, it's a Meteonite strike. But this isn't like the others, this is fucking deliberate…"
"There's children here!" Matt hissed before softening his tone. "But what do you mean?"
"If that's the worst thing they ever hear, they lived some pretty sheltered lives," Nekou said with a shrug. "Consider the past Meteonite strikes… the one in Union Cave, I mean. Only Ground-type Pokémon were affected. Meanwhile, today we've seen Flying-type Pokémon and now Grass-type Pokémon affected, plus, did you hear what she said? Their Ivysaur was struck by a beam of red light before it ran off. Someone in this forest is using a Meteonite and deliberately controlling certain Pokémon with it."
"What are you talking about, lady?" the girl whimpered. "Who took our Ivysaur? You know, don't you?"
"Not for certain, but… I have a good suspicion about it. Come on, we have a Psychic-type Pokémon, we'll help you search for it. We're heading through the forest anyway."
"How do we know we can trust you?" The boy was suddenly growing angry, and he stood glaring up right into Nekou's eyes. "They've been talking about Team Rocket being around here lately. You could be one of them! This could all be your fault!"
"If someone from Team Rocket stole your Ivysaur, you would have known it," Nekou coolly dismissed. "Those guys… they're way too showy for their own good. They wouldn't have taken it in the way you described."
"I think… I think you can trust her…" Matt put in. "She's right, after all. Team Rocket's members run around in those uniforms with the huge red 'R's on them. You didn't see one of those, did you?" The boy shook his head, prompting Matt to say, "Then please, trust us. Come along, Ayingo…um… I'll think of a new name for you soon, okay? Let's just help these kids find their Ivysaur and see if we can't get down to the bottom of these Meteonite attacks."
"Sigi, sigi," Ayingott chirped, her cry filled with equal parts enthusiasm and frustration.
-:-
Elsewhere in the forest, Silver and Looker were still sprinting after Proton, who was unable to shake them despite his best efforts to vanish into the underbrush.
"Stop, you piece of scum!" Silver shouted through the trees at his target. "I swore I'd take all of you down, and I'm keeping my word! You won't escape!"
"Be halting! The long arm of the law can manage to work to reach anywhere!"
Proton didn't say anything, but he did glance over his shoulder at his pursuers. He realized that they were slowly closing in on him, meaning he wouldn't be able to keep running forever.
"Oh, if ever I've needed some luck, now would be a hell of a time for it!" he thought to himself.
Much to his surprise, however, his wish actually came true. Over a dozen Psybeam attacks suddenly burst from the surrounding bushes, striking the ground all around Silver and Looker. They had to stop their chase as they were surrounded by Venonat, Butterfree and Masquerain. Proton, meanwhile, knew this turn afforded him the chance he needed to escape.
"Damn it, we lost him!" Silver growled as soon as he realized he couldn't see Proton anymore. "We'll have to track him down all over again... but we can't do that until we deal with this problem."
"I am finding myself in complete agreement with you, Silver."
Some of the Butterfree and Venonat broke from the horde and moved forward, aiming another round of their multicolored Psybeam attacks at the two humans, who swiftly jumped aside to get out of the way. Silver quickly sent out his Gengar to face them, while Looker brought out his Toxicroak.
-:-
Far north from the unfolding events in Ilex Forest, another incident was about to take place. Another of Polaris's airships descended to the ground near the vast autumn forests surrounding Ecruteak City, and after its stairs unfolded, Ghetsis stepped out. The crazed dictator's cape blew in the gentle wind surrounding him as he set his intense, wicked gaze upon the city before him.
"Ah, Ecruteak City…" After looking from the west half of the city, which was urban and developed, to the east, which was still filled by a small number of older, traditional wooden buildings, he closed his eye. "A city of contradictions that proves the sins of the Tenganists… what a fitting place for my ascension to my rightful throne as the King of Harmonia…"
After pulling on the button fixing his cape around his neck, Ghetsis turned and walked toward a nearby pagoda, sitting alone at the northern edge of the city against the forest. His cane made a loud tapping noise with every step he took on the stone roads of the city's traditional half. When he reached the building, he stopped only for a moment to grin to himself before stepping inside. To announce his presence, he simply slammed his cane against the wooden floor.
From the halls of the temple, three elderly men dressed in black robes emerged. They all regarded Ghetsis with a mixture of confusion and anger in their eyes.
"We are the Wise Trio…" one of them said, stepping forward, "…and I am Masa, the head Sage here. What business have you with us, intruder?"
"Now, now, there is no need for such hostility, for I am but a simple sage like you," Ghetsis answered, smiling disarmingly. "I have simply come to talk about some very important business with you."
"What business would that…"
"Master Masa…" one of the other two Sages interrupted.
"What is it, Koji?"
"I recognize this man…" The fear evident in Koji's voice grew with each word he spoke. "This is the man who represents Polaris… Ghetsis… Harmonia…"
"So my secret's out, then." Ghetsis opened his eye again, but never stopped smiling. "I guess it's time to dispense with the formalities."
His eyes widening, Masa pulled a Poké Ball from his robes. He then gestured to Koji and the third Sage, who did the same. "Koji! Gaku! Prepare to defend Bell Tower! We won't let him destroy another of our holy sites!"
"You foolish Tenganists… Pokémon cannot stop me from reaching my destiny."
Ghetsis banged his cane against the floor again. On cue, the Shadow Triad materialized in front of him with swords in their hands. Before they even knew what was going on, Masa, Koji and Gaku were cut down. The last thing the three Sages ever saw was Darkness, Pestilence and Chaos wiping splashes of blood from their uniforms while Ghetsis towered over them, his face twisted into a sadistic grin.
"We're establishing a base here until the event," Ghetsis declared. "Darkness, Pestilence, go fetch the prisoners from the transport."
"Sir!"
After the pair of Shadows warped away, Ghetsis looked to Chaos and gestured at the fallen Sages with his cane. "You, Chaos, get rid of them. Dead men don't put up a fight so I know you can handle this."
-:-
Much like she had been since arriving in Ilex Forest, Séduire was hiding up in one of the trees. Using the holographic display on her Meteonite cannon, she was observing the movements of Matt and the others as they went through the forest.
"Yes, come to me… you're almost here…" Taking a deep breath, Séduire shifted her weight on the branch. "I think I'll give you a gift to welcome you home…"
With a flick of her hand, Séduire moved off of her surveillance of Matt and onto a control panel for her weapon itself. She smiled to herself as she programmed a command into its system.
A short distance away, Matt, Nekou, Olivia and Nikolai were continuing down the road with their Pokémon still out and the brother and sister accompanying them.
"Ivysaur!" the boy called out into the depths of the forest. "Where are you?"
"Come on, please come back!" his sister shouted in the opposite direction.
"Nekou, are you absolutely sure that this is another Meteonite event? This doesn't feel like the other times."
"I'm certain of it, no fucking doubt," Nekou mumbled in response to Matt's questioning. "You're not taking one thing into consideration. I told you someone's doing this deliberately. They might be controlling the Pokémon too, and if that's…"
Suddenly, Olivia stumbled and fell against Nekou, leaving Nekou to hold her up. The entire search party stopped its trek through the forest immediately.
"Olivia, what's wrong?" Matt said in alarm.
"I don't… I don't feel so good…" Olivia tried to push herself off Nekou's side and onto her own feet, but she felt her body becoming weak.
"Don't worry, Olivia, I'll hold you up." Looking to Matt, Nekou scrunched up her face and said, "Find those kids' Ivysaur so we can get out of here. Olivia's sick again."
"I would if I had a lead to go on!" Just as he finished speaking, Ayingott tapped his shoulder to garner his attention. "Huh? What is it?"
"Glyph!" Matt's Sigilyph screeched, gesturing to the bushes a short distance down the road.
"I don't understand…"
"Matt… I think we have company," Nikolai warned.
The entire group turned to where Ayingott had indicated and stared intensely at the brush, awaiting whatever would emerge. Moments later, another group of Pokémon leapt out to attack, their eyes filled with the same tired look all the other Pokémon influenced by the Meteonite possessed. It was a team comprised mainly of several Paras and Carnivine clustered together.
However, one of them stuck out, having no other companions like him. In addition to the other Grass-types in the swarm, a single Grass-and-Poison-type Pokémon was present.
An Ivysaur.
"There's our Ivysaur!" cried the boy, a look of great relief coming across his face. Without hesitating, he started running towards the group of Pokémon, not realizing what danger he was in.
"Stop!" Nekou screamed. "It's not safe!"
Dramatically underlining her point, the Ivysaur, without even briefly hesitating, attacked his trainer by launching a number of sharp-edged leaves at him. He avoided being hit by barely an inch, jumping back in a panic.
"Ivysaur, what's with you?"
"Right now, that's not your Ivysaur," Nekou coldly said. She tapped the side of her glasses, activating their computerized scanning. "The entire energy flow in this forest is in flux, from the looks of it. That's why all these Pokémon are acting like this… whoever is behind this has caused a lot of damage with repeated Meteonite blasts."
"Can you make Ivysaur go back to normal?" the girl questioned while shielding her brother.
Before she could get an answer, three of the Paras attacked the group with Energy Ball, forcing them to jump to the sides of the road to avoid the glowing, crackling spheres.
"We might be able to, but we have to defeat them first. Charlotte, come out and help!"
Matt fumbled in his bag for the Poké Ball he wanted, and when he found it, he simply opened it in his hand instead of throwing it. His Eelektrik materialized, floating a few feet off the ground.
However, as soon as Charlotte appeared, Manticore turned away from the swarm of Grass-types to face her. The Roggenrola's memories were stirred by seeing Charlotte. She specifically remembered what had happened the day she was captured on Route 30, when she was outside Mr. Pokémon's house. It had been Charlotte that Matt used to capture her.
Overcome by anger, Manticore charged at Charlotte, striking her midsection with Headbutt.
"Manticore, stop it! Charlotte's your ally now!"
Paying little heed to her trainer's order, Manticore hesitated for only a second before beginning to charge at Charlotte again. Unwilling to take another hit for Manticore's rage, Charlotte started to generate electricity around herself. Matt managed to head off the conflict by recalling Manticore, just in enough time to make sure Charlotte's Charge Beam hit only the ground.
"Why… did that just…" Olivia weakly said.
"Seeing the Pokémon that was used to capture Roggenrola caused it to become enraged," Nikolai quickly answered. "We do not have time to deliberate on such a thing. These Pokémon… are in much worse condition."
"Manticore wouldn't be so great against Grass-types anyway," Matt realized. "Charlotte, I'll leave this to you!"
"Marie, you go too!"
"Minccino… do your best…"
Much to the surprise of his companions, Nikolai even took out one of his Poké Balls. "I cannot call upon my friends in this forest while the energy here is so off balance… it wouldn't be safe. At the very least my personal Pokémon can be protected…"
With that, Nikolai threw the Poké Ball, releasing his Stantler. The Normal-type Pokémon stood tall next to his comparatively short allies.
Unwilling to let the appearance of opposing Pokémon intimidate them, the horde of Grass-types attacked again. Their offense was fractured; while the Paras remained at a distance and used Energy Ball again, the Carnivine opted for a much more direct approach by lashing out with vines from under their leaves. The Ivysaur, meanwhile, erratically shot more sharp leaves at the group.
Charlotte, Marie, Minccino and Stantler did their best to dance around the attacks barraging them. Charlotte's ability to twist through the air served her well in her defense, while Minccino and Marie danced around on the ground, Marie with much more skill than her lesser-trained friend. Stantler, on the other hand, didn't have as much mobility and ended up getting knocked down by one of the Carnivine with Vine Whip, but he recovered quickly.
"It pains me to say but… the only way to stop these Pokémon is to defeat them."
"Nikolai, wait, I have an idea. You said you could protect your Stantler because it was your personal Pokémon… is that because you can recall it?"
Nikolai's eyes widened at Nekou's suggestion. "Why did I not think of that earlier?" Turning to the children, Nikolai quickly said to them, "Hurry, try to recall your Ivysaur!"
"I hope it works," the sister said, taking out a Poké Ball of her own. "Ivysaur, return!"
A beam of red light shot out of the core of the Poké Ball when the girl pointed it at Ivysaur. However, the seemingly simple plan had one major problem – Ivysaur didn't want to be recalled, and jumped back out of the way to avoid the beam that would bring him back.
"We're going to have to hold it down," Matt quickly decided. "Charlotte, Thunder Wave!"
Still twisting her body through the air, Charlotte turned toward the Ivysaur and released a weak pulse of electricity from her body. After getting hit by it, Ivysaur became still as the electricity paralyzed his muscles.
"Quickly! Do it now!"
"Ivysaur, return!"
This time, the girl had the fortune she and her brother needed. With Ivysaur held down by the paralysis, she was able to recall him safely into his Poké Ball.
"Ivysaur…" her brother sighed in relief.
"But how do we make him get better?"
Four Paras decided to break from the horde and rushed the group, their claws drawn back in preparation for a series of X-Scissor attacks. Matt pulled the young siblings aside and stood in front of them, while Nekou and Olivia hid behind Nikolai's Stantler. As for Nikolai himself, he simply ducked into a nearby bush to avoid them.
"Come with us," Matt said to the siblings. "We're going to the Pokémon Center in Goldenrod City, if we ever get out of this. You can get Ivysaur help there."
"I don't get it," Nikolai coughed as he stumbled from the bush. "Why are their attacks so erratic?"
"They aren't in their right minds," Nekou sharply replied. "Whoever is manipulating them with the Meteonite is causing them to go insane. Either way, though, I've had just about enough of this. Marie, do whatever's necessary! Fuck them up!"
"If you can… Minccino…"
Together, Marie and Minccino leapt at the horde of Grass-types. True to her nature, Marie took the initiative to attack first, showering the entire crowd with her Ice Beam. With many of the Pokémon stunned, Minccino swept in and cut through the group with Tail Slap, rattling the heads of whatever she could reach even further.
"Matt… your Sigilyph knows Psychic." When Matt nodded, Nikolai continued, "Hold the Pokémon together with it. I don't like having to do this, but it can't be helped."
"Alright. Aying…well… I guess we'll figure out your name, but for now… Sigilyph, Psychic! Cluster them together!"
Encouraged by Matt's willingness to acknowledge her concerns, Ayingott focused on the horde of Pokémon. All three of her eyes began to glow with blue light, which then surrounded the Paras and Carnivine as they were forced together by her power.
"With them held together like that… this ought to affect them all. Stantler, use Stomp!"
Stantler ran a short distance to build up speed, then leapt into the air and came crashing down onto the cluster. Nikolai's theory was right; though Stantler had directly hit a Carnivine, the shock from the blow radiated through the entire group.
"Let's put an end to this, Charlotte. Acid Spray!"
Locking her gaze onto the writhing cluster of Pokémon, Charlotte choked up a large ball of green poison. When it made impact on its target, it exploded, scattering the Pokémon around the area. The combined strength of all the attacks was enough to cause the Pokémon to faint.
Just as Matt and the others breathed sighs of relief, though, a whole new problem erupted. The dozen pairs of yellow eyes, which had been watching them the entire time they were in the forest, finally revealed themselves as twelve Pawniard rushed from the growth, followed by a single Bisharp.
"What now?!" Matt shouted.
As the Pawniard surrounded the group in a circular formation, Nekou saw that one of the Pawniard closest to the Bisharp had scratches on its head and immediately realized what was happening.
"Fuck, they've been following us ever since Route 29, haven't they?" she growled while rolling her eyes.
"The same ones from before?" Matt said, shaking his head. "I should have realized it. But what do they want now? Last time we were disturbing them and they were under… wait, are they being controlled by the Meteonite again?"
"No…" Nikolai interjected. "I can feel the Bisharp's wishes… it wants to fight with you again. One on one. This is its sincere desire, not the influence of some outside power."
"Uh… okay, I guess… can you tell it I don't have my Seismitoad on me right now? If it wants a rematch it might want to fight the same opponent again."
"Bisharp! Bisha sharp!" the Steel-and-Dark-type Pokémon immediately said in response, having heard what Matt had said.
Nikolai chuckled gently and smiled as he turned to Matt. "It says it doesn't care."
"Well then, that's certainly a change in attitude from the last time we met, isn't it?"
-:-
Having escaped from his pursuers, Proton was able to once again establish contact with Dr. Zager, though only through audio. The scientist was rapidly typing into his computer while speaking to his subordinate, the reason being that emergency messages were popping up continually on his screens.
"Dr. Zager, tell me what's happening!" Proton shouted over the transmission. "I can't do anything here if I don't know what I'm dealing with!"
"Proton, listen to me and listen well. That temporal distortion is unstable and increasing. Get back in there, find out if a Time Gate is opening, and do whatever you can to bring it under Team Rocket's control! We cannot risk Polaris capturing such a potent energy!"
-:-
"Ugh…"
Matt didn't have a chance to choose a Pokémon for his rematch with the Bisharp before he heard Olivia groaning behind him. He turned around just in time to see her collapse to the ground, clutching her stomach.
"Olivia, are you alright?" Nekou said, rushing to her side. "What's wrong now?"
"It hurts…" Olivia whimpered, "It really hurts!"
"There's something very, very wrong with her…" Above everything but his worry for Olivia, Matt felt powerless. He wanted to do something to help her, but with no idea what was wrong, there was nothing he could do. The feeling of helplessness made his entire body shake. "Clearly, we're in the middle of something very bad… we have to get out of this forest right now, no more delays."
Realizing that Matt was intending to leave without fighting her, the Bisharp started screaming and waving her arms, but he wasn't going to change his mind, instead helping to hoist Olivia's increasingly limp body onto Nekou's back. Bisharp fired a wave of electricity into the ground as an attempt to get their attention, but Matt had no intention of wasting any further time.
"Look, Bisharp, I'm sorry! Believe me, I would fight with you to your heart's content, but I just have more important things to do!" A realization flashed through his mind. "If something happened to one of your Pawniard, wouldn't you want to take care of them?"
Matt's question cut deeply into Bisharp, and she took a step back. She understood his words and was forced to realize that he was right.
Suddenly, Matt, Olivia, Nekou, Nikolai and the siblings could hear the bushes rustling behind them. They all turned just in time to see Looker and Silver emerge onto the road.
"What happened to you two?" Matt questioned.
"Escaped, that Executive of the Team Rocket managed to achieve."
"Once we lost sight of him, Looker said to find you four again." Turning up his nose, Silver said, "What the hell is going on here?"
"Some old friends of ours," Nekou sarcastically replied, "but we don't have time to play with them right now. Olivia's getting really sick."
"Then we must be beating haste to the Pokémon Center within the heart of Goldenrod City!"
When Matt and the others turned around, they saw Bisharp wave her arm at her army of Pawniard. Her shrill cry was an order to them, and in complete obedience, they broke from their circular formation and lined the road, intending to let Matt's group past.
However, there was one individual present who had other ideas.
"The International Police…" Séduire growled to herself from her hiding place in the trees. "I won't be letting them get in my way of what I want!" Picking up her cannon, she opened the command window and scrolled until she reached the targeting program. A crosshairs formed on the holographic projection window, and she took aim at the back of Bisharp's head. "Target locked, and… fire!"
Electricity cracked from all over the small Meteonite in the weapon after Séduire pulled the trigger. A bright beam of red light shot from the cannon, and when it hit Bisharp, she started to convulse.
"The fuck is that?!" Nekou exclaimed in surprise, though that shock faded when she looked at the readings on her glasses. "Wait… the Meteonite's energy? Whoever's behind this is right here!"
"Yes, that's the same beam that got Ivysaur!" said the young boy.
When the ray of light faded, Bisharp stopped convulsing and looked up to the group. Her eyes were tired and blank just like all the other Pokémon when they were affected by the Meteonite's power.
"Looks like you're getting your fight after all," Nekou whispered to Matt.
"You're right," he said back, reaching into his bag. "We have to put a stop to this once and for all. That Meteonite has done nothing but cause trouble."
Much to the surprise of Matt, Nekou and the others, Bisharp didn't attack. She merely stood still for several seconds, then turned and started to run off down the road to the north while out of the group's sight, Séduire was rushing in the same direction.
"Come on, let's chase it!"
"Nekou's right," Nikolai concurred. He took out a Poké Ball and recalled Stantler into it. "We must free that Bisharp. Recall all of your Pokémon so they are not at risk."
"Good thinking."
Matt recalled Ayingott and Charlotte, then Nekou did the same with Marie. From her position on Nekou's back, Olivia weakly raised her arm and sent Minccino back as well. With all of the Pokémon recalled to their Poké Balls, the group set off in pursuit of Bisharp. The Pawniard army tagged along, willing to do anything to free their leader.
None of the group knew what they would find when they caught up with Bisharp, but any worry they had for that impending discovery was pushed aside by a simple sense of urgency. Bisharp was heading in the direction of the forest's exit, so following her would bring them closer to Goldenrod City and thus closer to getting Olivia the help she needed.
No amount of mental preparation would have been sufficient for what they found in the next clearing, however. A large, glowing, amorphous cluster of energy was writhing around in midair, seemingly increasing in size in small bits. Standing before it, side by side, were the brainwashed Bisharp and a young woman wearing a colorful uniform and holding a hand cannon.
"Who are you?" Matt gasped, stopping abruptly as he came into the clearing. "And what is that?" he said as he stared up at the energy.
"Can't say I know what this is," Séduire whispered, gradually turning her head in shaky motions to look over her shoulder, "but I know who I am, and I know who you are. It's so good to finally see you again, Matt…" She licked her lips, then wiped a small bead of saliva from her mouth. Her excitement over finally seeing Matt was so strong that she felt she would explode.
"Wait, that voice…" Within moments, all the color in Matt's face had drained away. He knew exactly who it was underneath the Entei mask adorning Séduire's face.
"A mask… you're one of Polaris's Chromosomes of the Sacred Helix, aren't you?" Taking Séduire's insane grin as a confirmation of her suspicion, Nekou continued, "And that weapon… there's a Meteonite in there, isn't there? You're the one who's been terrorizing this forest!"
"Right and right. The name ugly whores like you are allowed to use for me is Séduire, the Fifth Chromosome." Twisting her head back in Matt's direction, Séduire grinned even more widely. "But I'm sure Matt knows my real name. He's allowed to call me it. I want to hear it right now."
"Matt, who is…who is she?" Olivia whimpered.
"Be quiet!" Séduire screamed. "You took him from me too! He's mine and mine alone! Now say my real name!"
Matt was paralyzed by what he saw before him. He did know the name of the person behind Séduire's mask, but he was so horrified by even having to consider it that he was frozen into still silence.
"Psycho ex-girlfriend or something?" Nekou sighed. "I don't even care that she called me a whore, because she's so obviously compensating…"
"Shut up! I told you to all shut up! You're nothing but trash! Matt, tell them who I am! Tell them about all the good times we had together! Tell them about how I'm a part of you that you can't live without!"
"You… you have no idea," Matt mumbled back to Nekou.
"Hold it right there, Séduire!" a voice shouted from above the trees.
All of the assembled people and Pokémon looked up to see Proton descending into the clearing used his repaired jetpack. As soon as he landed, he gazed intensely and scornfully at Séduire. He knew he had to defeat her and that now was his best chance to do so.
"So the gang's all here, huh?" Séduire complained, looking from Matt's mostly confused group to Proton and back. "Not that they weren't already, but if you crooks are going to attack me, do it out in the open."
"Still your tongue, girl," Proton scolded her. He turned to Nekou, then the others, then finally explained, "This energy is the formation of a Time Gate, which, as the name says, is a gateway that will allow traveling through time. This energy is so powerful that…" He shifted his gaze back to Séduire before finishing, "…I cannot allow Polaris to capture it!"
"Then I will take it for Polaris's goals, as long as you Rockets don't get it! In the name of Polaris, Father… and the love between Matt Chiaki and me… I will take it! Go, Bisharp!"
Quickly reopening the control menu for her weapon, Séduire issued Bisharp forth to fight for her. Proton responded without a word, instead choosing to simply throw a Poké Ball from which a Weezing emerged.
"Well? So what's it going to be?" Proton taunted. He spread his arms wide and shouted, "I'm right here, wide open! Bring it on!"
"You think I'm just going to let you trick me like that…?" Séduire was nearly convulsing because of the intense anger she felt. "If I fight you head-on, that's what you want… so I'll open another front!"
Séduire lashed around to face Matt's group and entered a command into her weapon, sending Bisharp mindlessly toward them.
Nekou scowled as she watched the controlled Pokémon rushing in her direction. With Olivia on her back, her mobility was reduced, so reaching for her Poké Balls was difficult. While she was attempting to figure out a solution, however, she was cut off when Matt stepped in front of her, clutching a Dusk Ball in his hand.
"I'm putting a stop to this right now…Tanya, Earth Power!"
In a flash, Matt's Heatran emerged from the ball she resided in. Her massive body was large enough to block the entire group from Bisharp's attack. Such defense wasn't necessary, however, as she made the ground beneath Bisharp's feet burst open from overflowing energy.
"Matt, you're being very bad right now," Séduire growled as Bisharp was pushed back toward her. "Stop acting out. This isn't you."
"But you're acting like yourself, just like always…" Having gotten Séduire sufficiently distracted, Matt thrust his hand forward. "Go, now! Disable that device she has!"
The army of Pawniard responded with a flurry of cries, leaping toward their target by using Matt's shoulders and Tanya's back as springboards. They all had their blades drawn, and before Séduire could react, she found herself set upon by them.
"Aah! Get off!"
Desperate to throw off the small Pokémon that were nicking her all over her body, Séduire thrashed around, but in the course of doing so, several Pawniard managed to cut some exposed cables on her weapon. Instantly, it powered down, causing Bisharp to return to normal, with the blank look vanishing from her eyes. The Pawniard, upon seeing their leader freed, retreated from attacking Séduire to support her.
"You think this is over?" Séduire roared. "I'm not done with you yet!"
"You really have to give this up, please," Matt plead with her, his eye changing from a look of anger to one of genuine concern. "Even if you're calling yourself Séduire or whatever now, and you're mixed up in whatever it is that Polaris is doing, none of that is changing who you are or making me change my mind about you. Look around you. What was terrorizing this forest today supposed to achieve, exactly?"
Behind her mask, Séduire's eyes were boiling with frustration and anger. With every passing second, her goals, which Matt had accurately stated, were becoming more and more out of reach. She had one option left, and when she picked up the one Ultra Ball in her possession, she decided to take it.
"Pyroar, go!"
A Pokémon unlike any Matt had ever seen before took shape when the ball opened. The Pyroar was a black-and-brown-bodied lion with a great mane of red and yellow surrounding his head. He stood proudly before his trainer, unafraid of even the Heatran opposing him.
"The fuck?!" Nekou exclaimed.
"A Pokémon from the region called by the name of Kalos," Looker revealed. "Unknown to this country as of this day."
"Are we really going to do this?" Matt sadly said. "You know I have to stand against you if you choose this."
"No, you just need to be reminded of where you belong." As she spoke, Séduire twisted her head sideways, falling ever deeper into her delusion. "Pyroar, Hyper Voice!"
Matt, Nekou, Nikolai, Looker, Silver, Proton and the siblings could only cringe as Séduire's Pokémon opened his mouth and roared as loudly as he could. Weezing didn't like the noise either, but Tanya, the Pawniard and Bisharp were able to shake its influence.
Even with how successful her first assault was, it wasn't enough to satisfy Séduire's bloodlust. Locking her gaze onto Nekou and Olivia, she said in a completely broken voice, "It's you. It's your fault. You took him… so the first step is getting rid of you! Pyroar, jump up and hit those two with Flamethrower!"
Pyroar's movements were so quick that he was already in the air before Matt could react. He realized that Tanya wouldn't be able to stop an airborne enemy, and was overcome with a feeling of helplessness. "Stop this right now, Cassy!"
Nikolai and Silver got ready to send out Pokémon to protect Olivia and Nekou, but they were too slow, as was Proton's Weezing, who tried to hit Pyroar with Thunderbolt but failed to do so before a jet of fire was bearing down on them.
"Fuck this!" Nekou snarled before stumbling aside, just barely avoiding getting engulfed by Pyroar's flames. She ended up falling backward to the ground, but Olivia escaped injury. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
All of a sudden, Olivia screamed and pushed herself off of Nekou's back. Everyone in the clearing turned to stare at her as she stepped backward.
Her eyes were filled with glowing light, and her body was moving in erratic, jerking motions.
"Olivia, what's happening? What is this?!"
"It hurts really bad… Nekou, Matt… someone… help me…"
"I'm not standing around anymore," Matt resolved. He ran toward Olivia, reaching in his bag for a Revival Herb, which was about the only thing he could think of to try and cure her illness. However, it was all in vain, for as soon as he drew near to her, an invisible force repelled him.
"What?" he gasped from where he had fallen onto the ground.
"We must do something!" Nikolai shouted.
"But what?" Looker replied.
Olivia suddenly screamed again as her body twisted to force her gaze skyward. The light glowed from not only her eyes but her entire body, and it caused the energy of the nearby Time Gate to warp and distort. Right before the eyes of everyone who had gathered around it, the Time Gate collapsed and its energy flowed into Olivia's body. Her bloodcurdling scream continued until every trace of the Time Gate was gone, at which point she instantly fainted and collapsed to the ground.
"What just happened?" Silver wondered, dumbfounded.
Both Matt and Nekou ran to Olivia while shouting her name in a futile attempt to wake her up. Nekou picked her up once she could, and Matt put his hand on her neck.
"Good, she's alive," he said after feeling her pulse. "Come on, Olivia, wake up…"
"This isn't something we can fix on our own," Nekou asserted, her heart pounding in her chest. "We have to go, now."
"You're right. Olivia, please be okay…"
Nearby, all Séduire could do was watch in increasing jealous anger as Matt cared for Olivia with Nekou's help. She didn't even notice Proton preparing to escape again.
"Well, that Time Gate's gone, so I have to be taking my leave now. Until we meet again, sayonara!"
Proton lifted off into the sky with his jetpack and disappeared. Unwilling to let him get away, Silver shouted to the sky and then sprinted off down the road, with Looker following once again.
"I won't lose what's rightfully mine…" Séduire suddenly blurted out, even as she recalled Pyroar. "I won't, I won't, I won't… Matt, you said my name… why won't you just accept that you belong with me and not with those fake whores?"
"You stop that right now," Matt scolded her. "Say what you will about me, but they're not fair game for your jealousy."
"Yeah," Nekou chimed in, "and call me a whore if you want, but Olivia didn't do anything to you. She's just a kid."
"You refuse to see what I'm trying to tell you, Matt…" Séduire abruptly reached up and tore off her mask, revealing her youthful face and fiery red eyes that matched her hair. "Look at my face! Look at the one you belong to, me, Cassy Natsuka! Realize your mistake! You must!"
The fear was gone from Matt's mind, replaced by a crushing sense of simple disappointment and dismay. "I already told you… I don't like you. None of what you've done is going to earn favor with me."
"But what about all those years we spent together?!" Cassy screamed. "Do those mean nothing?"
"It may have taken me a while, but I finally realized that you were just controlling me for your own desires… I wasn't anything to you besides someone to control."
"And what do those two give you that I didn't?" Cassy demanded while gesturing to Nekou and Olivia.
Matt sighed, realizing how futile his efforts to get through to Cassy were. "Olivia is an innocent girl, keep her out of this! And Nekou? Well… I just have fun traveling around with her! That's right, it's fun! With you keeping me under your thumb all the time I couldn't have any fun back then!"
As soon as Matt said that, the color drained from Cassy's face and her eyes were covered by a blank, glazed-over look. "Is that so," she said with an unnerving calm. "I'll just have to fix that, then… I'll rip them apart, limb from limb!"
Having descended into complete madness, Cassy turned and started running toward Nekou and Olivia. Nekou seemed unfazed by this, however; she simply put Olivia gently down on the ground and then stood to face the threat.
"Really?" she muttered. "You're easy."
Cassy didn't even see Nekou flick her wrist to produce her switchblade, nor did she even realize Nekou had it until she was already falling with a gash cut into her left leg. She looked back at the subject of her jealous hate and silently swore at her.
"Nekou!" Matt screamed. "Why did you… did you mortally wound her?"
"I just cut her leg in self-defense," Nekou answered. "She attacked me. It's a minor wound, anyway. Come on, we have to go."
"But can we leave her here?"
"She's right on the main road, and the injury isn't that serious. She'll be fine. We have to get Olivia help right now, though, because she's in much worse shape."
Nekou nodded to Nikolai and the siblings, and they gave their wordless assent to her plan. Matt was reluctant, looking back and forth to Cassy several times, but finally accepted that Nekou was right as well. Together, they all headed down the road once again.
Cassy, meanwhile, was sobbing hysterically on the ground. She wrested a phone from her uniform and dialed a short number into it.
-:-
A short time later, Matt, Nekou, Nikolai and the siblings encountered Looker and Silver once again. The detective and his partner had lost track of Proton completely, so they went to the exit of the forest, where the two groups merged. They then boarded a train at the edge of Goldenrod City that would take them to the Pokémon Center in the central area of the city.
The seats on the train were arranged into rows facing each other. Matt and Nekou were right next to the window in their row and facing each other, while Nekou had the still soundly-sleeping Olivia in her lap. Nikolai, Silver, Looker and the siblings were beside them.
"Look at that," Matt remarked as he peered out the window to the Goldenrod slums below. "I don't remember Goldenrod City looking like this the last time I was here."
"There's been significant urban sprawl," Nekou answered. "It's pretty damn gross if you ask me. The poorer residents have been forced to live in those slums while the wealthy live high on the fucking hog in the central area. Nobody even knows those people are there, with how little they get talked about… but on the other hand, a lot of the residents of central Goldenrod aren't bad people, either, they're just trying to survive. The city has a lot of spirit. It's just a very small minority ruining everything for everyone else."
-:-
A red-and-white ambulance had entered Ilex Forest and was driving to Cassy's location after she called for it. Two thin men sat in its cab.
"This is the last call for our shift today," the driver said to his companion. "A stabbing."
"Alright, that ought to be simple enough. I'm looking forward to going home. Haven't had a lot of time with the wife lately, what with all the fights breaking out in the slums."
"Yeah, it's been ugly. You see our victim yet?"
"Um…" spotting Cassy in front of the vehicle, the assistant pointed out through the windshield. "There! There she is!"
Before they could even get out of the ambulance, a sudden lightning strike hit the truck, causing it to explode. Cassy could only watch in horror as her help vanished into the flames.
But then she heard footsteps approaching her. Her heart stopped due to her overwhelming nervousness – she'd just seen the ambulance explode in such a way that nobody could have survived, so she had no idea who the one approaching her could be.
"Hello, Séduire."
Cassy rolled over and looked up in shock. Standing over her was a tall, lithe man in a tight black bodysuit accessorized with a Sigilyph mask. It was the Tenth Chromosome, Geminus.
"You… you did that…" Cassy gestured to the burning ambulance, "didn't you?"
"Yeah. See, we couldn't have you going to the police and spilling our secrets, you know? But don't worry, I'll take care of you. I was watching you all this time."
"Please, do it," Cassy begged, resigning herself to her fate. "I failed completely, I couldn't even get back what is mine… put me out of my misery."
"Why would I do that when I can give you everything you want? You can have the world you desire. All you have to do is believe in me."
"Why should I trust you? I don't even know who you are."
"Yes you do."
With that, Geminus lifted the front of his mask, revealing his face to Cassy. She went white as a sheet from the utter disbelief and shock she felt.
"Yes, Séduire, just believe in me like you want to. I will make the world we deserve."
"…yes, you're right…" she uttered, completely mentally broken.
-:-
That night, Matt, Nekou and Olivia had a room in the Pokémon Center in central Goldenrod. Unlike many other Pokémon Centers, the one they were staying at was a huge building, more like a hotel than the simple inns the others resembled, so their room was quite spacious.
Matt was sound asleep, as was Olivia, who had recovered from her illness by the time they reached their destination despite still being overwhelmingly tired. Nekou, on the other hand, had other plans.
Once confident she wouldn't be noticed, she carefully climbed out of her bed and threw her uniform over her shoulders. She didn't even stop to button it up, as she didn't care that her nightgown was visible underneath.
Quietly going to the door with a can of beer in her hand, she slipped out into the empty hallway. As she walked down the hall she opened the can and drank it. Within a minute she reached a row of phone booths and furtively entered one.
She then picked up the phone, crushed the empty can and tossed it into the nearby pail, and dialed a number.
"Unique password: Sneasel claw," she said into the phone once it was picked up. "I've finally arrived in Goldenrod City. My investigations of Polaris's plans have been going well. Yes, I'll be able to attend the meeting tomorrow. Yes, I know, one more day until their protest. We will have to be very careful."
-:-
"Oh man, that whole thing in Ilex Forest was insane!" Proton complained.
The green-haired Executive had fled to Goldenrod City and reached the Team Rocket operating base. The other members were still there awaiting orders, while Giovanni sat at the window, petting Persian.
"Dr. Zager told us some of what happened," Ariana said, facing Proton. "You can't be blamed for your failure to capture the Time Gate. It wasn't a central mission anyway. Just as long as Polaris does not have it."
"They don't, don't worry about it."
"Giovanni," Rosalie interrupted from her position at the computer bank, "I have news."
"Proceed."
"It has just turned over past midnight. Only one day remains until Polaris's big event."
"Ah yes, thank you." Giovanni did not turn around as he spoke. He instead kept staring at Goldenrod City's nighttime skyline from his vantage point. "Team Rocket's forces are finally assembled. Our operation will also now get underway."
END of CHAPTER 12