[CONFIDENTIAL] From the files of Dr. Kaminko.
Item No. 099: Infinity Energy
Publicly Released Information:
A mysterious power source of disputed origin, said to be the energy source of a weapon used by warlord AZ in the Kalos region during its great war.
Confidential Information:
To power his machine, AZ used the life force of countless Pokémon. Years later, the Pokémon Association obtained AZ's Ultimate Weapon from the hands of rebels and made multiple copies of it, planning to use them to harness Infinity Energy to power society. Chairman Rose in particular was ardent in obtaining Infinity Energy to power up the Galar region.
Kaminko's Notes:
EXO HQ is one of the many sites used to house an Infinity Energy machine and the Pokémon Association has diverted EXO's resources to enhance the device to absorb life force from Pokémon and human beings alike from even further away.
[END OF FILE]
Chapter Nine: Infinite Energy
"To be honest with you, it could have happened to anyone," Eusine shouted, head deep under the hood of his car as he worked on the engine.
"Yeah, look at all this traffic," Kris commented, gesturing at the emptiness around them.
"Hitting a parked car in the middle of the end of the frickin' world," Lyra said, shaking her head. "Impressive to pull that off!"
Kris, Lyra, Yellow and Eusine had been driving on Route 36, south of Ecruteak City and near Johto's National Park. Eusine had been so excited to tell the group, mainly Kris, of what he had been doing since they had last seen each other so many months ago, that he had almost crashed straight into a parked car just laying on the empty road. To his credit, he hit the brakes in time to avoid damage to the people inside a car, but the car's engine did not appreciate the collision.
However, as he was fixing the car, with Yellow handing him tools by levitating them to him without even moving a muscle, Eusine was still chatting excitedly about what he had done.
"The Society gave me a very important task," he said proudly, before pausing, the smile fading from his face. "Well, so I thought at the time. They had me running around the Decolore Islands in search of Suicune… while also making sure to keep asking me for donations for whatever they were planning. Trust me, if I had known-"
"I'm sure you weren't aware," Yellow said kindly.
"Yeah, I doubt they ever cared for you so much, they were just after your money!" Lyra said cheerfully.
Somehow, this did not make Eusine's mood any better, but he didn't let it stop him from talking. Shrugging, he went back to his car, continuing to talk:
"But anyway, I may be rich and unemployed, but I'm not stupid!" Eusine proclaimed. "After I kept getting vague requests to stay on the islands, I decided on my own to drive back to Johto. I realized that our older leader, Elder Li, was long dead, and his place had been taken in by this woman that nobody let me talk to…"
"It must be Sird," Kris said, mainly to herself. "But she's already basically in charge of the whole country. Why does she need to control some tiny, super-elite secret society on top of that? Just for the fun of it?"
"Maybe she's bored?" Lyra suggested.
"Yeah, they had some new recruits join in that I have never met," Eusine continued, "and nobody, not even Morty, told me anything about their operations recently, where all their money - my money - is going, or even where the hell Lance, Cynthia, Wallace and the other big guns were."
"What happened in Kalos and Galar," Lyra pondered. "We thought they were trying to take out Champions, but if Lance and Cynthia are working for them…"
"My theory is this," Yellow offered. "They're giving these Champions two options. Join, or get destroyed. As powerful as the Committee is, their biggest strength is also their biggest weakness: nobody really cares about them on a personal level. But charismatic and popular Pokémon League Champions make it easy to recruit people on your side."
"Why haven't they done that already?" Kris wondered. "Why am I not seeing recruitment posters for the Aether Foundation or Holon Security, promoting that 'Cynthia is one of us and you can be as cool as her' or something like that?"
"I think they're waiting for something," Yellow said. "They're only setting things in motion."
This left an awkward silence hanging above everyone, until Eusine seemed to have finally fixed the problem. He giddily closed the hood of the car and jumped on the driver's seat, turning the ignition key. To everyone's relief, the engine turned on with its familiar loud rumbling.
"Nice!" Eusine yelled and patted himself literally on the shoulder. "Everybody in, the E-train is moving! Next stop…. uhh?"
"Maybe the Magnet Train is still operating," Kris theorized. "It's a long shot, but it's also our best chance to get back to Kanto and give information to the others. And it's the biggest city in Johto, there has to be some people in there!"
With everyone in the car, Eusine continued to drive southward towards Goldenrod City. After half an hour, even Eusine's chatter seemed to die down and everyone began drifting off to their own thoughts - or, in Lyra's case, to sleep.
"What a barren wasteland," Eusine said dramatically all of a sudden, after a long silence. "You'd have to be a psychotic madman to venture out here alone."
"I guess," Kris commented as she stared outside, half-listening.
"Yeah," Eusine said. "So, do we pick up that hitchhiker?"
Kris stared at him. "Say what?"
Eusine pointed in the distance while slowing down, and indeed, a man was standing steadfast with his thumb up in the air - on a completely empty and deserted road with no humans in sight.
"Pull over," Kris said suddenly, recognizing the man.
The last time Kris had seen him, he had looked quite different. But it was undoubtedly Blake Hall, a middle-aged man in an expensive black suit, with long black hair tied on a ponytail, a thick black mustache and black sunglasses covering his eyes. As Eusine slowed down and pulled over next to him, Kris and Hall stared at each other for a little bit.
"So…" Hall said slowly. "Am I getting in or what?"
~o~O~o~
Location: Silph Co., Saffron City, Kanto
Jupiter and Mars opened the double doors of Silph Co.'s head office, allowing Blaine and Leaf to enter the place. Making sure no one had seen them, they then closed it behind the two, with Blaine taking in the sights of the office.
Blaine had visited the place a few years back, and the office reception area was as lavish as Blaine remembered, with its large fountain with a statue of Silph's logo, a stylized letter 'S', in the middle. However, the plants were wilting, as if they hadn't been watered for a while, and the reception desk was empty.
"Are you sure your info is correct?" Leaf asked Blaine.
"You doubting me?" Blaine grunted as he inspected the room for any alarms, active security cameras or the like.
"No," Leaf said bluntly. "I'm doubting them."
"Hey, without us, your buddy Kris would have to stay in that hospital bed permanently!" Jupiter argued.
"I doubt that," Mars commented, "where would she get the money for that?"
Jupiter rolled her eyes, not saying anything.
"Anyway, you can trust us, science girl!" Mars said, transparently covering not remembering Leaf's name. "The word on the street is that somebody tried to bump off the president of this company, so they evacuated the whole place and moved most of their day-to-day work to their branch office in Vermilion City."
"Nobody comes in or goes out around here," Jupiter said with a nod. "Perfect place for you to do whatever sick things you are up to."
Tired of listening to the two, Blaine handed Jupiter and Mars their payment for the job. Promising them more work in the future, Blaine closed the door behind them and locked it from the inside.
"Power is on, water is running and there is food in the cafeteria," Blaine remarked. "A perfect place to set up our operations! The best thing about it is that, thanks to those two, all the surveillance equipment should be off. Nobody will think to find us here!"
"Yeah, your operations," Leaf sighed, hoisting up the heavy case she was carrying. "This completely insane plan of yours about Iris."
"She agreed to it, didn't she?" Blaine said like it was nothing to be concerned about. "When will she and Wes be back with Elm, by the way?"
"Shouldn't be more than an hour," Leaf said, glancing at her PokéGear. "For the record, it's not that I don't think the plan will work. I just think that Iris doesn't deserve to be a target like that."
"No," Blaine said seriously. "She doesn't."
When Blaine fell silent again and resumed checking the room for bugs with a scanner, Leaf sighed and glanced at the elevator.
"They have an R&D lab on the fifth floor, right?" Leaf asked. "I guess I will continue working on the DNA Splicers there."
As Leaf was heading for the elevators, Blaine suddenly put his hand on her shoulder.
"You can do it," he told her softly. "You're way more knowledgeable about Pokémon biology than I am. And I created Mewtwo! We're all counting on your work to save us."
Smiling at Blaine over her shoulder, Leaf left, and Blaine continued his scanning. He was blissfully unaware that what he said, while Leaf appreciated it, was also giving her an intense amount of pressure.
He didn't have time to think about it anyways, as there was suddenly a rapid knock on the door. Blaine readied his question mark cane, wondering if (and hoping that) it was Jupiter and Mars coming to ask for more money. Blaine inched himself to the door along the wall, not showing himself to whoever was behind it.
"Who is it?!" Blaine grunted, holding his cane up.
"Just me," said the familiar voice of a young woman, "but I'm glad it's you at the door, doc."
Sighing in relief, Blaine opened the double doors with some difficulty, having to use one arm to do so. As expected, Hilda was on the other side, coming in quickly, half-dragging along someone whose face was obscured by a hooded cloak. Blaine quickly shut the doors behind them.
"I've been worried about you," Blaine said. "But first things first-"
"I got a plane ride from Skyla, and she told me about what you guys were doing," Hilda spoke quickly. "Don't worry, nobody's leaking info."
Blaine rolled his eyes, though Hilda couldn't see it on account of his sunglasses.
"I mean… who in Arceus' name is this and why am I not ramming this cane into his backside yet?!" he snapped. "I thought you of all people could keep our secret hideout under wraps!"
"You'll be thanking me," Hilda said, pulling the hood off.
Blaine raised his eyebrows. It was Cheren Black, former EXO employee and overall shady individual. He had a ball gag in his mouth and his hands were tied behind his back with a rope. Blaine decided not to even question how Hilda had captured him, but the 'why' was still up in the air.
"Should I prepare an extra bed?" Blaine said, smiling at Hilda.
"This one will be fine with a chair… a hard one, preferably," Hilda said as she held Cheren roughly by the shoulder. "I think you'll be happy to know that I will start pumping some info out of him as soon as the others get here."
Blaine smiled at Hilda, and the two escorted Cheren to a conference room on the third floor before locking him there, using an office desk to block the door just to be sure. As they looked at Cheren through the conference room's windows, Hilda handed Blaine a bunch of paper documents as well.
"Oh?" Blaine said curiously as he took the documents. "You got another gift for me?"
"I think you'll appreciate this," Hilda said. "From the private files of Dr. Kaminko."
Blaine almost dropped the documents, having to use his one arm to hastily grab them.
"You're kidding!" he gasped. "Hilda, this is fantastic! I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say this is some world-shaking information. The way things are going right now, I mean that literally."
"Yeah, yeah, enjoy," Hilda said breezily as she stretched her arms. "I'm thinking of taking a shower and a short nap. Wake me up in 38 hours."
"Hilda," Blaine said as the girl was about to walk away.
Hilda turned to look at the older scientist.
"You got these from Kaminko's desk, didn't you?" he said quietly.
Hilda just looked at Blaine, her earlier cavalier attitude gone. As the two made eye contact, she nodded.
"You know, one of Alder's men found him in his office," Blaine continued carefully. "He had a crossbow bolt in his neck. Nobody particularly minded thinking that it was a self-caused accident. But if you know anything…"
Hilda looked away from Blaine. "It was him or me in that situation," she said, though she sounded uncertain. "But… every time I think about it, I…"
Blaine just nodded, looking attentive as Hilda suddenly transformed before his eyes, looking scared.
"Blaine, I've done some pretty bad things," she said weakly. "Back at Navel Rock… I may be responsible for several deaths. And killing Dr. Kaminko, I - I could have done something else! He's an old man, I'm a trained fighter! I could have, I dunno, disarmed him, or-"
"Don't even think about that for a second!" Blaine said gruffly. "Your life is too precious to be toyed with. Far more than that scumbag's. It was him or you, and I'm certainly a lot happier that he was the one to go!"
Hilda shook her head, not certain about anything anymore.
"Besides," Blaine said in a low, growling voice. "I… I know what it feels like to take a life. I didn't start studying Pokémon biology until I was in my late 20's. That's a lot of years just wandering around Kanto, and then Orre - which, as hard as you may find this to believe, was not exactly the picture of safety back then."
Hilda chuckled a bit at Blaine's attempt to lighten the mood.
"A lot of things can happen in that desert," Blaine said as he gazed at the ceiling, lost in memories. "Things I want to forget, but I force myself to remember."
Shaking his head, Blaine gave Hilda a serious look.
"If you want to call it quits," he said, "I'm not going to-"
"Don't be stupid," Hilda sighed. "I signed on to this and I'm going to stick by it until the end. I did a lot of damage being a stooge to the Pokémon Association. I haven't undone enough yet."
"Perhaps with these documents, you will," Blaine said warmly. "Maybe we can find your friend together with these, and get justice for the ones you have lost."
Finally smiling a bit, Hilda joined Blaine as the two found an office to start browsing the documents in.
~o~O~o~
Location: Northern entrance, Goldenrod City, Johto
With the center of Goldenrod City impractical to access through car, Eusine parked his prized red sports car outside the gatehouse leading to the center of Goldenrod City. Kris remembered how, more than a year ago, she was sneaking past Team Rocket members in this very same gatehouse as Goldenrod City was under siege.
Now, there was nobody around. The center, full of high-rise office buildings, shops and parking garages as far as the eye could see, was completely abandoned. The biggest city in Johto, completely devoid of life. Signposts had been left around to warn people to evacuate immediately - and Kris had a good idea why.
As Kris, Lyra, Yellow, Eusine and Blake Hall made their way through the abandoned streets of Goldenrod City's once vibrant center, Hall finally seemed to be ready to talk, being tight-lipped for the whole trip.
"All right, it's safe here, I think," Hall said as he looked around him carefully. "I've been trying to make my way here for a while now. And I was kind of hoping to bump into one of you."
"You look much less like a hobo than last time," Lyra praised, but Kris raised her hand to silence her.
"Well, I haven't been exactly lounging around since we last saw each other," Hall said nonchalantly. "I made a promise to you and I'm keeping it. I've been compiling all the data I could find from several Pokémon Association locations. This is the last one."
"What do you expect to find here?" Kris wondered, also looking at the desolation around her. "Everyone has left."
"I happen to know that's false," Hall said simply. "In the event of a disaster of this scale, certain people have access to a fortified bunker hidden in the Underground Pathway. I believe it's connected to the very same area Neo Team Rocket used in their attempted takeover of Goldenrod City."
"I know where that is!" Kris said excitedly. "You mean… are we gonna take the fight to some Pokémon League bigwigs?"
"I like the sound of that!" Eusine exclaimed. "Lead the charge, old man!" he told Hall.
Hall disregarded Eusine's comment, continuing to explain. "I know what they're planning. Why they isolated Lavender Town, why they built EXO's base in that specific location. And thanks to some sloppy attempts at covering their tracks, the Pokémon Association has given me all the evidence I need to support this."
As the group stopped, Hall handed Kris some documents. Lyra and Eusine peered over Kris' shoulder while Yellow, too short to do so, listened calmly.
"Infinity Energy…" Kris said slowly, noticing those words being repeated on the first page several times.
Yellow gasped quietly, but no one minded that, as they were too busy reading the document.
"I've heard of this," Lyra commented. "It's what the Devon Corporation was studying a while back, related to some experiments done a long time ago in Kalos."
"That's barely scratching the surface," Hall scoffed. "Infinity Energy is impossible to achieve. Everything has its limit. But there is a resource that the Pokémon Association has been trying to harness since its inception to make that a reality - the lives of Pokémon."
Everyone stared at Hall except for Yellow, who closed their eyes, deep in thought.
"Repeat that one more time," Eusine muttered. "The lives of-"
"Thousands of Pokémon have been sacrificed just for the sake of testing these Infinity Energy machines that they're going to roll out soon," Hall said. "But it's not enough. The way they are positioning these machines, it's becoming clear what their actual intention is. One of those documents is a report of a test thirty-five years ago in the Holon region, one of the first ones. Anti-Association separatists had gotten their hands on the machine there, but a saboteur working for the Pokémon Association activated the machine, costing hundreds of human lives. As it turns out, that's even more potent of a resource for them."
"No way…" Kris exhaled.
"I wish I could be more shocked about this," Lyra said, "but they literally made me wear a brainwashing suit just recently."
"But what about the Ultra Beasts, and Kyurem, and all of-" Kris stopped to wave her hand around the empty streets. "-this?"
"I don't know, but I know these suits might have some knowledge," Hall said grimly. "We can go and beat it out of them."
The group quickly found the entrance to the Underground Path, a tunnel connecting parts of Goldenrod City to each other for fast travel under the shops and overpriced apartment buildings of the center. The pathway was usually full of vendors, young gangsters hanging around and Pokémon trainers having battles, which the police would usually break up on the surface. Now, the tunnel was empty, though the lights in the ceiling were still on. The city must have been powered by some kind of autonomously operating generator.
Hopefully it's solar or hydroelectricity, not that other thing, Kris thought to herself, unable to stop thinking about this 'Infinity Energy'.
What wasn't functioning, however, was any sort of alarm system. As they found the door Hall had pointed out for them, Kris called out Croc to work its magic on the door by smashing it open with one punch. The next tunnel they entered was darker, forcing Lyra to provide light with her Pokétch.
The group walked for a long time past various heavy doors until they arrived at the one Hall had specified. At first glance, it looked like access to yet another storage facility. But as Croc used its strength to open the heavy, bulkhead door using the wheel lever, they were greeted not by a dusty storage unit but a fabulous-looking lounge with a roaring fireplace, comfy sofas and shelves stocked full of dry foods and books.
But what Kris did not expect was five corpses of people in suits, all laid on the floor. At least Kris assumed they were corpses based on the puddles of blood on the floor and bloodstains all over the walls and furniture.
Yellow seemed to be taken aback, eyes wide and unwilling to step into the room. Eusine covered his mouth with his hand theatrically, backing away. Lyra, in the meantime, took a few steps forward, looking at the carnage with genuine interest.
"What happened to them?" she asked, musing out loud. "This seems like a locked-room mystery. I like those."
Taking a step forward as well, Kris gave Lyra a quizzical look.
"I mean, it sucks that they died, of course," Lyra added. "But they were hardly great people anyway. And I meant that mysteries in general are interesting. Obviously."
"You scare me sometimes," Kris said, shaking her head. "Who are these people anyway?"
Hall's expression had turned sour. "This is the Director of Johto's Radio Tower," he commented, poking one of the bodies with his leg. "The rest seem to be Pokémon League officials. But why would someone be gunning for them… unless they want to bring down the Committee."
"You know something about the Committee?" Yellow asked Hall serenely, though they were trying to avoid looking at the bodies.
Hall nodded. "I'm guessing most of you are too young to know how the government works in this country," he said, then glanced at Eusine. "And this guy is too rich to care, I'm guessing."
"Not rising up to that!" Eusine said, standing in a corner to avoid the bodies and sounding nauseous.
"Every district gets people selected to the Pokémon Association, which runs the country's various governmental institutions, including the Pokémon League," Hall explained. "These people, in turn, assign various individuals to various offices based on their merit. For example, in Kanto, the Champion - well, I guess the ex-Champion now, Lance, is one of those people, handling various administrative duties on top of his duty as a League Champion."
"But the ones actually in power behind the scenes are the Inner Committee," Hall continued. "Only people in high enough positions in the Association such as myself really know of them, and even then I don't know exactly who is in there. Powerful people like that Galarian Chairman of the Pokémon League, I'm 100% sure. But only recently I discovered that Sird, Chairperson of the Council for Peace and Pokémon Coexistence-"
"Is that really her title," Kris interrupted with a scoff. "We get it, she's evil."
"Yeah, that too," Hall said quickly, "but she's also the one actually in charge of the Inner Committee. And she's been like that for a while now."
"Sird belongs to the Circle of the Torn World, a group of individuals who have extended their lifespan by worshiping Giratina," Yellow explained.
"And she runs the Legendary Pokémon Society now," Eusine said in disgust, still facing the wall.
Hall looked at the body of the Director. "There is no reason why the Committee, scum as they are, would work together with Giratina," he mused. "Unless, Sird is planning to-"
Hall dropped the papers he was carrying as a long, shadowy arm suddenly coiled around his neck and lifted him in the air to the ceiling. Everyone gasped and stared as he struggled to breathe, legs kicking the air wildly, his fancy sunglasses dropping and shattering as well.
The black mass in the ceiling that Kris had assumed to be shadows suddenly assumed a form with a widely grinning face and red eyes - a Gengar. But since when has Gengar been able to project those long shadowy arms?
Kris got an answer to her question as the door suddenly slammed shut as Morty entered the room, barefoot and shirtless. What would have once been a very interesting sight to Kris was terrifying, as the once handsome and cool face of Morty was now twisted with an ugly, bloodthirsty look.
"Morty!" Eusine exclaimed in shock, gesturing at the bodies. "Did… did you do this?"
"Let him go!" Kris yelled at Morty and snapped her fingers at Croc. "Croc's beaten your Gengar once before! Now your ghost is nothing more than a snack to him!"
"Can't do," Morty said quietly as he stared at Hall. "And yes, Eusine, I did. They were on my list, you see. As is him. As are all of you."
"Kris," Hall grunted, making eye contact with Kris for the first time. "You have to-"
But Morty extended his arm, and somehow, a shadowy projectile appeared from his palm and hit Hall right in the face. As Gengar loosened its grip, Blake Hall fell - he was dead before he hit the ground.
"Another one crossed off the list," Morty said, neither his expression nor his tone changing as Hall died. "Which one of you wants to be the next?"
"How can you do this, Morty?!" Eusine cried desperately. "I'm still having a hard time understanding this! You and me, we were-"
"Oh, so it's you who wants to be first?" Morty interrupted coldly. "Let me just remind you, there is no you and me, Eusine. Not anymore. Madam Sird has shown me a far better way. She will continue the Elder's work and create a better world, and you're standing in the way!"
As Morty ranted on, Kris felt a breeze sweep past her feet, even though they were in a sealed room. The breeze caused the papers Hall had dropped to slide right next to her feet. With Morty distracted, Kris could crouch slightly to pick up the documents, smiling as she could hear Yellow's intense concentration behind her.
"What has she done to you?!" Eusine wondered. "How did you do that?!"
"This is my own doing!" Morty shot back. "I have trained and meditated my whole life, but in the eyes of the Society, I was still second-rate. Just a Gym Leader among Champions and Elite Four members. But my training and my bond with my ghost-type Pokémon have allowed me to harness the powers of darkness! Our new leader merely pushed me in the right direction"
Morty pointed at Yellow.
"You may think having a psychic with you will save you," he said, "but those paltry powers do nothing against what I have managed to control. This is power flowing from the world of spirits! No other human has accomplished what I have!"
"No other human being has betrayed me like you have, Morty," Eusine said, taking a step towards Morty, stepping perfectly between him and Kris.
That was all the opening Kris needed to grab the papers Hall had dropped. With a snap of her finger, she had Croc open its massive mouth as she held the papers there.
"Not another move!"
Morty was just about to attack Eusine when he looked at Kris, his eyes narrowing a bit when he saw what was about to happen to Hall's documents.
"I knew these were important," Kris said, glaring at Morty. "And I bet even you don't know the full story of what's in here. You're just foolishly throwing your life away for Sird's sake - and getting nothing out of it!"
"Throwing my life away?" Morty repeated. "When this is done and when you're nothing but a distant memory, me and the rest of the Society will rise above mere mortals and rule the perfect world together!"
Morty was about to fire his dark energy projectile, but had to turn around when he heard footsteps behind him. Then, only seconds later, Morty was suddenly thrown violently across the room and pinned against the wall, somehow staying in the air.
Kris, Lyra, Yellow and Eusine backed up as someone entered the room. It was a pale man in a suit, his face partially obscured by his hat. He was wielding a similar tuning fork -like device that Silver was using, which was vibrating so fast that its tip was just a blur, making an ominous humming sound the whole time. The closer the device got to him, the more dark purple electricity crackled around Morty, who was struggling to move as an invisible force was seemingly pinning him against the wall.
"I'm sorry, Morty," said the man in a deep, familiar voice. "I hate to burst your bubble. You got your power from Sird, and she drew it from Ultra Space. I bet you had to undergo a special kind of procedure to get this ability, didn't you?"
Kris couldn't believe it, but it had to be true. Standing in front of them now, eyes focused on the helpless Morty, was Giovanni, Silver's father and former leader of Team Rocket.
"No doubt Sird would want to extend your abilities and make you a full-fledged Ultra Beast," Giovanni said, reveling in his mocking words, smiling slightly as he looked at Morty. "But thanks to the power already given to you, this device allows me to interfere with your body's electromagnetic field and the space around you."
"You…" Morty gasped, turning his head to look at Giovanni with great effort. "Both of you… you have… betrayed-"
"Farewell," Giovanni said and thrusted the device forward while pressing a button which increased the intensity of the vibrations.
Kris heard two crackles next. First, the sound of interdimensional energy leaving Morty's body. Second, the crackling of Morty's bones before he dropped lifelessly on the floor. Satisfied, Giovanni turned off the device and turned to leave without saying a word. For a while, Kris could only stare after him. But as Giovanni turned around the corner, Kris realized she had to say something and tried to run after him.
However, Yellow had grabbed her hand. Yellow had a strange, hard-to-read expression on their face. Yellow, too, was looking after Giovanni, holding Kris in a surprisingly firm grip.
"Don't follow him," Yellow said. "Let's focus on getting out of here."
Kris wanted to ask why, but the look on Yellow's face changed her mind. Forced to leave the bodies of Morty and Blake Hall behind, Kris, Lyra, Yellow and Eusine left the Underground Path and soon resurfaced.
The trip to the Magnet Train station didn't take long. However, once there, Kris' mood soured considerably. As with the rest of the city, the station was vacant, but unlike with the Underground Path, the lights were off as well and there was no power. Not that power would have helped any as the train also was not at the station. Either it was stuck on the Saffron side or somewhere in the middle, but there was no taking it now.
As the group exited the station, they debated their options. Except for Yellow, who was even more quiet than usual.
"It's obvious," Eusine said as if he had a stroke of genius. "We follow the train tracks to Saffron. We simply cannot get lost! And no need to worry about getting hit by a train if it's out of commission."
"Yeah, great plan, dude," Kris deadpanned. "We barely have enough food and water as it is, especially if our Pokémon have to battle again, and what you're suggesting is at least a three day hike."
"I bet the HSF have sabotaged the railway, actually," Lyra said and turned to Yellow. "Hey, but maybe you can talk to some Pokémon again? Could be cool if we can ride to Saffron on a Stantler."
When Yellow still didn't respond, lost in thought, Kris shot this idea down.
"And offer them what?" Kris pointed out. "Air? We're still short on rations. Don't you have any on you, Eusine?"
"I needed to make space for hair gel, sadly," Eusine said, and Kris could not be sure if he was kidding or not.
"You guys," said a voice from nearby, "should keep it down, everyone in the city can hear you."
Kris smiled as she saw Gladion sitting on a bench next to the station, feeding Type:Null from his hand. Though it was a mystery as to how Type:Null was eating, seeing as a helmet was covering everything except its eyes, Kris had long since learned not to question these things.
"Hey, Gladion!" Kris said excitedly. "You got any-"
"Only enough for me and Type:Null, and you shouldn't be concerned about that now," Gladion interrupted harshly. "I've been traveling back and forth between Goldenrod and Ecruteak for a while, trying to find you guys. I was asked to do so by Blaine."
"Why?" Kris asked.
Gladion stood up, and acting as the whole thing was terribly bothersome, pointed up at the tallest building in the city - the Radio Tower.
"It's… 11.37 right now," Gladion said, checking his watch. "If you get to the director's office at the top of the Radio Tower by noon, you will find your way to your friends. I couldn't quite understand how it works, but I did my job, you got the message."
"That's excellent!" Kris said. "Now the five of us can go to the others and we can reunite with-"
"Not me," Gladion said and quickly patted Type:Null two times on the back, signaling that it was time to go. "I wouldn't have come here to pass a message to you guys if I didn't have other business here. Lillie is still being held somewhere, and I'm going to free her. Maybe I'll have better luck here."
As Gladion hopped on Type:Null's back, Lyra stepped forward.
"Let us know if you do, and we'll do our best to help find her as well!" she said sincerely. "We're with you a hundred percent, Gladion. Even if you hadn't helped us a lot before, we will still help you!"
Gladion nodded. "There's one other thing Blaine asked me to tell you," he said seriously. "Those people you came here to meet, the Legendary Pokémon Society? They're… working with the enemy!"
Kris and Lyra glanced at each other, almost laughing at Gladion's dramatic tone.
"Yeah, we know," Kris just said.
"Oh," Gladion said, slightly embarrassed. "Uh… Type:Null, it's time to go!"
And then, without saying anything to the group, Gladion and Type:Null headed south to places unknown.
"What a moody lil fella," Eusine commented, and Kris finally laughed at this very concise summation.
However, now they had a lead, and the four headed a few blocks to the west to find the Radio Tower. As they were about to reach it, yet another thing happened that forced all of them to hide in an alley.
Something so large flew overhead that it briefly blocked out the sun, but it didn't make the noise that a plane would. It was a large draconic Pokémon, its black wings looking like they couldn't support its bulky body. Its scales were mostly black and dark gray, while its head and upper body were partially covered in thick, icy armor. Everyone stared as the dragon Pokémon flew over them, but seemed to be heading north and didn't seem to notice the small humans down below.
"Kyurem," Kris whispered.
"Kyurem-Black," Lyra corrected.
"Same thing as far as I'm concerned," Kris grumbled.
"That thing has been flying over Johto a few times in the past few days," Eusine said thoughtfully, surprising Kris that he wasn't wetting himself in fear. "But unlike Celesteela, it hasn't caused any random destruction."
"Maybe it's looking for us," Lyra said, voice a bit shaky as she watched Kyurem as its visage became slightly smaller as it flew further away.
"Lyra, you read my mind," Kris muttered.
"I wish," Lyra sighed.
Yellow wasn't watching, however, as their eyes were closed. In fact, Yellow probably didn't need to use eyes to see what was happening. However, their whole body became tense all of a sudden.
"Something is dropping from its back," Yellow said and opened their eyes. "We gotta keep moving!"
"Something?!" Lyra wondered out loud. "Like bombs or something?!"
"Worse," Yellow said. "Let's go!"
Kris knew better than to second-guess Yellow, so all four quickly rushed towards the Radio Tower. Unfortunately, the door was boarded shut, but Kris was ready to put Croc to good use, only for Yellow to stop her from opening its Poké Ball.
"Let me," Yellow said seriously. "Save their strength."
Extending their arms and focusing intently, Yellow began to psychically peel the boards off the door by one. Kris even had to whistle in appreciation as the strong nails in the boards came flying off and the boards fell on the ground. The whole thing was done in less than a minute, and while Croc probably could have been faster, Kris appreciated Yellow saving the effort for them. No doubt Yellow also knew that battles for today would not be over yet.
"HOPPING HO-OH!" Eusine screamed just as Yellow removed the last board. "What is that?!"
Kris, Lyra and Yellow turned, seeing what Eusine was seeing. Something had been dropped by Kyurem all right. Before them stood an alien-like Pokémon with a red and blue body. It had two long tentacles growing from either side which reached all the way to the ground. In the middle of its chest, the Pokémon had a slightly glowing purple crystal, while its face had neither a nose or a mouth, just horrible, unblinking sunken eyes. Kris recognized Deoxys, but this was a specific form of it: it had spikes jutting out of its knees and its head shape was spikier too. This had to be its attack form, something Blaine and Elm had told her about.
Seemingly regretting his cowardly scream, Eusine took a step forward and whipped out the metal spike from his sleeve while reaching for a Poké Ball with his free hand.
"Ah, I remember seeing this one on TV," he proclaimed. "You fought this one before, right? Well, you have no worries this time, as Eusine is here to-"
"To run away!" Kris yelled, pulling Eusine back by his cape. "Get in the tower. I'll deal with it."
"Yeah, you'd just trip on your cape or something!" Lyra said pointedly.
"All of you!" Kris clarified. "Get inside!"
Kris was finally able to let Croc out. As soon as it was out of its Poké Ball and laid its eyes on the Deoxys, Croc was about to charge into action.
"Stop!" Kris yelled at the Feraligatr. "Hold on!"
Croc barely contained himself, snarling and exposing his teeth at the Deoxys. Croc remembered fighting one controlled by Domino a few months ago. The Deoxys had been completely overpowering, with Croc only surviving as Kris managed to break Domino's hold of the alien Pokémon. Kris wondered if Sird had gotten her hands on the same Deoxys as the one stranded in Ultra Space.
"Get inside!" Kris shouted, and this time, Lyra, Eusine and Yellow all obeyed. "Croc!" Kris said. "Keep it busy, but don't get too close! Start with Hydro Pump!"
But Croc instead exposed its claws and took a few steps as if to try and challenge Deoxys to a boxing match. Kris had to order Croc again to finally make it listen, blasting Deoxys with a powerful stream of water, though Deoxys could easily avoid and make its way towards Croc.
"Keep your distance!" Kris yelled at the Feraligatr as she started running to circle around it, grabbing something from her bag.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for her to find the device she was looking for: a red, almost toy-like machine that looked like a combination of a camera-equipped PokéGear and a toy handgun. Croc, in the meantime, was jumping out of the way of Deoxys' psychic attacks as well as it could.
Kris managed to get just behind Deoxys, about three meters away, but barely managed to lift the device when the Deoxys turned around in a split-second, as if it had just snapped itself to rotate 180 degrees. Before Kris knew it, the Deoxys' psychic attack lifted her off the ground and sent her flying ten meters away before she painfully hit the cobblestone street below.
Kris scrambled to get back up and aim the device again. She only had to aim roughly in the direction of the Deoxys' core and pull the trigger. The flashing purple crystal in the middle of Deoxys' chest was almost taunting her with how good the target was. But then Kris felt something constrain her arm and legs and she was suddenly pulled upwards while Deoxys began to gather an energy ball between its tentacles.
Kris' mouth still moved, however.
"Croc, stay back!" she ordered. "Blast it from afar with a Hydro Cannon, do it!"
But Croc was not even listening. In its fury, it rushed towards Deoxys, and with one smooth, fast movement, grabbed all four of its tentacles in its hands and yanked them right off. Croc may not have obeyed, but this shocked Deoxys enough to drop Kris. Pushing herself upright using her legs alone, Kris pointed the device at the Deoxys and pulled the trigger.
While Kris couldn't see anything happen, the device made a sound as if it had just sprayed something. The Deoxys stopped entirely when the device's invisible energy beam hit its target, the purple crystal in its chest stopping its blinking. The crystal then began cracking, then shattered away entirely, followed by Deoxys' body disintegrating completely in a violent burst.
Still shaky after what had just happened, Kris looked up at Croc, who was roaring and proudly celebrating the victory. It hadn't gone according to plan, but Croc had still saved her, so instead of being angry at the disobedience, Kris gratefully patted the Feraligatr's arm before guiding it into the Radio Tower.
More disobedience awaited when Lyra, Yellow and Eusine turned out to be waiting for Kris in the lobby, immediately expressing their concerns. What Lyra said alerted her, however.
"Kris, you okay?!" she said in shock, looking terrified. "Your jacket!"
"Uh, is this the time to care about my fashion sense?" Kris said, confused by the statement.
"No - look!"
Kris looked, realizing there were bloody smears all over her jacket. She must have scraped her elbow and back pretty badly on the street after Deoxys attacked her. At least, she hoped that's all it was.
"I'm fine," Kris said quickly, "just fell in the middle of that. What time is it?"
"11.50," Eusine said, glancing at his expensive-looking wrist watch. "Where do we go next?"
"Take the left-side elevator over there," Kris said, pointing at the end of the lobby, remembering what the Radio Tower was like under Team Rocket's control. "We take it to the top floor, that's where the Director's office is."
The group moved towards the elevator, but it was unresponsive, no matter how many times Eusine punched the call button.
"In an effort to save power, all non-essentials must have been shut down," Yellow observed. "The lights in the building seem to be operational, however, so perhaps the equipment at the Director's studio works too…"
"We have to take the stairs then," Kris grunted, feeling the pain in her shoulders and back worsen. "Let's go!"
The door leading to the staircase was locked, but Yellow's powers opened it quite easily, robbing Croc of the opportunity to smash the lock itself. The four people and the Feraligatr then walked up the stairs as fast as they could, quickly becoming out of breath as they made their way through one floor after the other.
Halfway to the top, however, Croc suddenly stopped and started growling, looking at something through the window. When Lyra peeked to see what was so interesting, nobody expecting anything but a Pidgey flying around, she shrieked in surprise.
A Deoxys, just like the one Kris had just destroyed, was floating right outside the window, looking directly at the people inside. Even worse, another one, this one much more lean and aerodynamic, with only two tentacles instead of four, was zooming around the building a bit further away.
"We have to keep moving!" Kris shouted. "Croc, c'mon!"
Croc reluctantly followed as the group continued running, but they only made it one floor before the window shattered behind them and Deoxys nonchalantly floated inside.
"Croc, keep it away!" Kris pleaded with the Feraligatr. "But don't be a hero! Come back to us if it's too much! It's okay to run!"
Croc wasn't really listening after the first command, roaring at Deoxys and raising its claws as it attacked the alien Pokémon. Hoping she could get back to Croc on time before something horrible happened, Kris ran up the remaining stairs, the others following closely behind.
When the group finally reached the top floor, they left the staircase to a small corridor where they found the door to the director's office.
The director's office was very spacious, but unlike when Kris had last seen it, it was also full of strange, high-tech gizmos Kris couldn't understand the meaning of - though a lot of those seemed to have nozzles and camera-like devices pointing directly at the center of the room.
"Silph Co to Radio Tower," a voice rang out from a speaker on the director's desk. "Silph Co to Radio Tower, over. I repeat, Silph Co calling Radio Tower. Anyone there?"
Kris and Lyra recognized the voice immediately.
"Elm!" Lyra gasped and rushed to the desk, pressing a button to talk into the microphone. "Elm, we're here! How did you-"
"We'll explain later!" Professor Elm's hasty, nasally voice said through the speaker. "It's a good thing you - I've been trying to reach you for hours - um, err, right. Please step into the center of the room, it should be marked with some tape. The devices will turn on at exactly 12. You will be transported out of there in… 7 minutes! The Director had set up this machinery to travel between Kanto and Johto to attend some meetings, but we'll make better use of it now!"
Noticing the center of the room, the group moved there, Eusine helping Kris walk. But Kris was restlessly looking out the door.
"Croc!" she yelled, not wanting to leave the Feraligatr behind. "Croc, come back here!"
And come back the Pokémon did - it was thrown out through the door, taking out a chunk of the wall on both sides as a psychic shockwave tossed the now-unconscious Feraligatr like a rag doll. Kris had to withdraw the Pokémon before it suffered more damage.
And following the Feraligatr was Deoxys, slowly hovering towards the group with malicious intent. Kris pointed the device at the Deoxys limply and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened - either the Deoxys was too far or the device had run out of juice. Desperate, Kris reached out for the Mask of Ice, but once again, putting it on her face did nothing.
Lyra sent out Scorch while Eusine sent out his Alakazam. As Alakazam put up both a Reflect and Light Screen, Deoxys was slowed down for a bit, but Kris knew it could break through in seconds.
"Isn't there anything you can do?!" Lyra pleaded with Yellow. "Scorch, Flamethrower!" she ordered her Pokémon quickly.
But Deoxys easily blocked the stream of fire as if it was a slight breeze. Eusine ordered Alakazam to use Shadow Ball, but the results were the same.
While Yellow did not look confident, they still stood up and raised their arms. Yes, Kris thought. Now we got a chance.
But Yellow couldn't do anything - not put up a barrier or use their telekinetic powers to hurl Deoxys away or anything like that. As soon as Yellow tried to use even a fraction of their powers, they suddenly coughed up blood while more blood poured out of their nose. Eusine was once again quick to the draw, catching Yellow as they fell and almost hit their head on the floor.
"Is this normal?!" Eusine wondered in panic. "Some kind of blood attack?"
"Crap…" Kris muttered, cradling Yellow and wiping the blood off their face with the sleeve of her jacket. "Powers been overused. I'm so stupid!"
There wasn't much time for self-pity, however - Eusine's Alakazam was just knocked out by Deoxys, though the barriers it created remained. Scorch was still keeping Deoxys at bay with its fire attacks, but too much of that and the whole Radio Tower would get melted.
"Lyra!" Kris shouted, staring at Lyra who was staring at Scorch and Deoxys fighting with a horrified look on her face. "Lyra, you need to use the mask! You're the only one who can!"
But it turned out, Lyra already had the mask in hand. She knew what she needed to do. But all she could do was stare at the battle.
"I can't!" she cried, eyes glued to Scorch getting thrown against a wall by a psychic shockwave. "You saw me with the Expansion Suit! I am not letting something else control me!"
"It's not gonna control you!" Kris argued. "Lyra, please!"
Lyra held the mask higher, but still didn't put it on.
"Either you do that, or we all die!" Kris shouted.
As she said that, the barriers set up by Alakazam shattered as Deoxys turned its attention to the humans, Scorch collapsing out of exhaustion. Gasping, Lyra suddenly dropped her hesitation as she put the mask on her face.
Kris remembered her transformation feeling like it lasted forever, but Lyra changed in seconds, a heat wave coming out of her body and pushing Deoxys slightly away as Lyra's feet suddenly left the ground and she began floating a few inches off the floor. Her hair turned a deep red. Instead of a black cloak, Lyra received a white one while she seemed to become surrounded by flames, even receiving flames around its neck like her Typhlosion.
As Lyra's feet touched the ground again, Scorch suddenly glowed and her flames burned more intensely. She easily got up as if nothing had happened, ready to fight. Deoxys seemed to be confused for a second, only to be suddenly pushed out of the office when Lyra extended her arms and hit Deoxys with a fireball, the ensuing blast and explosion blowing off one of Deoxys' tentacles and a chunk of its torso.
"...hear me?"
Kris heard more coming from professor Elm - he had been talking the whole time Kris and the others had been panicking about Deoxys, but couldn't hear what was happening in the office. Kris rushed to the microphone to press a button.
"Uh, yeah, we read you!" Kris said quickly. "We need a bit more time, though!"
"Kris!" Elm shouted, but Kris had already left the office. "The process will begin in five minutes. The equipment can't handle a second power surge!"
Kris rushed out of the office, watching as Lyra worked her magic with the Mask of Fire. She seemed to be using the movements of her arms alone to control the stream of fire, and whatever Deoxys could block, Scorch would make up for by attacking from the other side. Eventually, two streams of fire collided from the front and back, hitting the crystal in the Deoxys' chest and destroying it for good, disintegrating the alien Pokémon.
But another one was already on the way, slowly floating in through the broken window. This seemed to be the faster, slimmer variation, with only two tentacles instead of four. Once again, Scorch and Lyra fired a simultaneous blast of fire, controlling it and spiraling it around the Deoxys, but this time, the psychic-type dodged with incredible reflexes.
This Deoxys moved so fast it was as if it had disappeared, reappearing behind Scorch all of a sudden. But Lyra didn't even need to shout out a command to make Scorch go on all fours, releasing a stream of fire from its body and pushing the Deoxys away.
However, the Deoxys was still kicking, and to make matters worse, it used Double Team, splitting into a dozen copies that formed a circle around Lyra and Scorch. The masked trainer and her Pokémon tried their best to hit the real one, but their fiery blasts hit copy after copy.
Before the real one could be targeted, the fast Deoxys was able to launch an energy sphere at Scorch, finally bringing it down. Lyra was now alone against it, desperately trying to burn it, but in the end, all she accomplished was the downfall of the copies.
Then, as she was about to attack the real one, Lyra fell on her knees. Kris rushed to her as she saw her hair returning to its normal brown, the cape and the flames around her disintegrating as the mask slipped off Lyra's face.
"Lyra!" Kris shouted in surprise as she reached the dumbfounded girl, shaking her by the shoulder. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Lyra panted, "but it's not working anymore. I feel like - feel like I just ran fifty miles."
"How would you even know that?" Kris cracked, but Lyra was not smiling, just looking at the floor in shock.
"I failed us," she whispered.
Kris looked up, the Speed Forme Deoxys turning menacingly towards them. And to make matters worse, something else was flying through the rooftops of Goldenrod City, making its way towards the Radio Tower. Another Deoxys?
Kris looked behind her, Eusine cradling Yellow in his arms. Though Yellow was moving weakly, indicating they were still alive, they clearly couldn't do more than that. And she knew she would not be able to use the Mask of Ice at all. What else could they do?
As Deoxys slowly approached, Kris managed to grab the anti-Deoxys device with her sweaty hands and aimed. She knew there was nothing left in the device, but she pulled the trigger anyway.
And then the Deoxys in front of her was destroyed as a blue ball of energy struck it right in the crystal.
Kris' mouth opened in shock as she saw what had fired the sphere. Lyra managed to get herself upright as well, leaning on Kris for support.
Mewtwo was floating by the destroyed window in its Mega Evolved, muscular form, surrounded by a pale blue aura. Mewtwo had helped them before, but Kris still remembered her first encounter with the Pokémon, how scared she had been of the silent, eerily human-like creature with tremendous power, how it had effortlessly defeated all of her Pokémon that time. And that was before Mega Evolution.
Kris and Lyra slowly withdrew back towards the office, but Mewtwo didn't make a gesture to attack them. In fact, the aura around its body was dissipating. Kris noticed Mewtwo's body was full of cuts and bruises, bleeding from several places. Maybe it had been fighting against Kyurem and the Deoxys before?
Before Kris could ask anything of the Pokémon, Mewtwo reverted to its normal form and fell face first on the ground. Kris and Lyra could only stare at it, but were quickly brought back to reality by Elm's words echoing from the intercom.
"Sixty seconds," Elm said. "Get ready."
"What do we do with this thing?" Kris asked Lyra, gesturing at Mewtwo.
"We can't leave it here, can we?" Lyra said, sounding completely drained after withdrawing Scorch. "Poor thing is gonna be a sitting duck for Kyurem. And having it on our side would make a great difference."
"That's all the reason I need," Kris grunted, grabbing Mewtwo by its feet. "Help me drag it to the room."
"Ladies, we gotta move!" Eusine reminded.
"45 seconds," Elm spoke.
With great effort, especially with Lyra complaining how much her body hurt, Kris and Lyra dragged Mewtwo to the center of the room where Eusine and the barely conscious Yellow awaited. And they made it just in time, too.
"Ten seconds," Elm said. "Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five."
"Where are we even going?!" Eusine wondered, his voice raised by an octave. "This is insanity!"
"It's better than where we are right now," Kris muttered, holding onto Mewtwo while Lyra was holding onto her.
"Four. Three. Two. One. Stand still!"
The camera-like devices glowed and crackled with electricity, and soon all Kris could see was light.
But it only lasted a second. When Kris could see again, she was not at the Radio Tower again. She hadn't felt anything unusual, but the scenery before her was very different. It was filled with machinery just like the Radio Tower director's office, but it was a sizable boardroom instead. And they were not surrounded by hostile Pokémon anymore, but all their friends: Iris, Wes, Blaine, Professor Elm operating the machinery with his computer, Hilda and even Leaf were there, cheering at the successful teleportation, Elm wiping sweat off his brow.
Iris was the first to arrive, rushing to tackle Kris and Lyra and grabbing them both in a hug, almost weeping her greetings.
"You made it!" she said quickly. "So many things happened! We fought an Ultra Beast and we saw Sird in Pallet Town and we set up shop here and then Blaine planned - wait, what's wrong with Yellow?"
Getting her head together, Kris, along with Eusine, lifted Yellow on their feet. Understanding what was happening, Wes quickly came to help Eusine carry Yellow away.
"Yellow will need some medical care," Kris said. "And so will this one."
"Dialga's Dong!" Blaine exclaimed as he saw the Pokémon that had arrived with them. "How did-"
"I assume you know how to deal with - him?" Kris said, gesturing at the unconscious Mewtwo.
"Get him to the container one floor down," Blaine grunted at Elm. "That's not exactly why I had it brought here but it'll do. If we can get Mewtwo to top shape, we might just stand a chance against those Ultra Beasts."
Elm did as ordered, assisted by Hilda, and the two carried Mewtwo away. Kris turned to look at Iris.
"What did Blaine plan exactly?" Kris asked her suspiciously. "Some of his schemes haven't gone so well."
"Hey!" Blaine snapped.
"Did Gladion pass you the warning about the LPS?" Iris asked.
Kris glanced at Lyra before turning back to Iris. "Uh, yeah, we got it," she said, too tired to explain everything right away.
Iris nodded. "We need to flush them out to confront them and find out what's going on," she said seriously, "and to show the world what they really are."
"And to do that," Blaine said, putting his hand on Iris' shoulder, "we will have an unforgettable shindig in the honor of our new Unova League Champion!"
Kris stared at Iris in wide-eyed shock while Lyra looked over her shoulder.
"Where?" she asked, clearly confused.