The ringing of a bell stripped Moxy of her sleep. She groaned while checking the clock at the far end of the sleeping quarters. It was eight in the morning.
"Ugh, I hate this," she complained before sitting upright in her bed. Moxy rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She didn't feel like getting up.
But she recalled her talk with Aiden, and all her fatigue vanished. He had something in store for her. A new mission? A new hideout?
"C'mon Sylvie!" she said excitedly, maybe a little too loud. The pokemon still laying in the bed was suddenly jolted awake. Sylveon's feelers flurried around her, and one of them smacked Moxy straight across the face.
"Ow!" Moxy groaned, rubbing the wound. The smack was surprisingly strong for a ribbon. Sylveon's eyes went wide, and she was quick to lick Moxy in apology.
Smiling, Moxy gave her a quick rub on the head before getting up and walking in the direction of the showers with Sylveon at her heels. The sleeping quarters were filled with other members preparing themselves for a new day. Moxy glanced behind her, and she saw Sylveon make wide arcs around the others, even when some tried to pet her. It seemed she still didn't trust any of them, even after the six months they'd been here. Moxy was disappointed, for she had hoped Sylveon would be just as friendly to them as she was around Charles or Espeon. Entering the shower area, she washed her face quickly and brushed her teeth. After she was finished, she headed out, and Moxy saw Aiden talking with another grunt by the exit.
"Aiden!" she called out. He was in the middle of saying something when he noticed her, and he gestured the grunt away.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," he greeted with a smile. "Feeling better?"
Moxy nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
Sylveon walked in between them and took a seat at Moxy's feet. Her feelers swayed above her like a quartet of Ekans, all pointed at Aiden.
"So," Aiden started, raising an eyebrow at the glaring pokemon. "Are you ready to go?"
Moxy grinned. She was finally going on a mission. "As in right now? I haven't had breakfast yet."
"We'll eat on the way. Make sure you pack all your belongings and meet me at the front."
Pack all my belongings? She tilted her head. Before she could ask him what he meant, Aiden turned away and disappeared into the bright tunnel.
Shrugging, Moxy made her way to the locker room. Pokemon weren't allowed inside the locker room, so Moxy ordered Sylveon to wait outside before entering. Her square locker, 4343, was among the numerous lockers lined against the walls of the rectangular room.
Upon unlatching the rusty lock, light peeked inside, and it was filled to the brim with things she had garnered over her time there. Mostly trivial things like souvenirs or old electronics she no longer used but still held enough memorable or monetary value to hoard. She rummaged through the mess and took out the more important things: a high-tech wristwatch, a compass, and a dusty old journal.
In the back of the darkness of her locker, she spotted a tiny, white box. Hesitantly, she pulled it out and opened it. A thin, gold bracelet rested upon a velvet cushion. It was the one Charles had given her for her birthday. Like clockwork, her mind drifted back in time. The orphanage, the fights, the storm, the events of her horrible day toppling over each other like dominoes and ultimately leading to her affiliation with Team Magma.
Moxy tossed it back inside furiously, and it collided with some junk near the back. She placed a finger on her temple. It pained her to think about him. She wondered if she was doing the right thing leaving him behind instead of trying to fight her case in a courthouse. She looked back inside the locker, and a glint of light caught the edge of her vision. The silver exterior of the object in question reflected off the buzzing, fluorescent lights above her.
Moxy was once again entranced by the beautiful silver necklace she'd stolen from the antiquities store. Before she entered Team Magma, she had to take off all her jewelry and give it to an electronics technician to be checked for hidden trackers or microphones. There was no point in wearing it afterward; she never left the base, and jewelry got in the way of her training. She completely forgot about it.
And for good reason. The necklace had ruined her life, in some aspects. If she never went out that night, she would probably be sipping Tapu Cocoa's in a pokemon center with Charles right now.
She pulled it out, the etches in the silver smooth as she examined it. Her face saddened. She couldn't deny its tantalizing beauty. She wrapped it around her neck. As soon as she linked the necklace, she felt a cold breeze touch her face. She thought she could make out a faint whisper behind her, and her head swiveled towards the exit. No one was there.
Dismissing it, she walked up to a dusty mirror on the left side of the lockers. A frown appeared on her face when she noticed her thighs looked a little bigger than normal. She was getting too comfortable eating pizza every day. But she looked at the necklace hanging from her neck, and her rosy smile came crawling back. She was gorgeous.
I guess it's worth something, at least, she thought before turning around and shutting her locker.
Leaving the room, she found Sylveon sitting directly in front of the door. She bounded to her feet upon seeing Moxy, and her bunny-like ears were raised high. Sylveon began to lead Moxy to the tunnel, her feet moving too quick for Moxy to keep up.
When they reached the tunnel, she and her pokemon stopped and stared through its inky darkness. The lights in the tunnel were mysteriously shut off, and the lack of their constant buzzing sound made it easier for her to hear the ominous echo of plinking water. Sylveon looked back and forth between the tunnel and Moxy, unsure what her trainer wanted to do.
Moxy stopped one of the grunts walking around. "Weren't those on a few minutes ago?" she asked him, pointing to the tunnel lights. His eyes seemed to be unfocused like he was more interested in the steel bolts on the floor rather than her.
"Yeah."
Moxy nodded and waited for him to continue explaining. However, the grunt just stood there awkwardly, unsure what else to say.
"Um, right." she smiled, and before she could thank him, the grunt just trudged off as if their conversation never happened. With a frown, Moxy pulled a flashlight from her utility belt and clicked it on. Its small lense cast a tiny light that desperately tried to penetrate the pitch-black.
Moxy shrugged. Some light was better than no light. With a nod, Sylveon reluctantly followed her inside, opting to stay behind Moxy rather than in front. About halfway through the dark tunnel, they discovered the same man who patrolled the base the previous night. A gloomy lantern hung in his hand and his face was buried in an electrical control box while he muttered angrily to himself. Moxy had to look twice to see the dark form of his Mightyena slumped beside him, the darkness shrouding it perfectly.
As Moxy walked past them, the Mightyena's snout twitched. Suddenly, its red eyes shot wide-open, and it jumped to its feet before barking at the girl and her pokemon, startling everyone present.
"Easy there, she's a friendly!" the man sputtered, shooting his hand onto his pokemon's scruff. He seemed to be physically straining to keep his grip as the Mightyena growled through a scary row of ivory fangs.
"Is everything okay with him?" she asked, taking a step back from the berserk pokemon. Her hand felt around her chest pocket, and she was relieved but confused when her fingers rimmed at the edges of her Team Magma ID card inside. It was supposed to have a distinct scent that canine pokemon could detect and tell she was friendly, or at least that's what she understood when Aiden explained it.
The man squinted his eyes from the bright flashlight pointed at his face. "He should be. He seemed fine with you yesterda- Woah!" his Mightyena lurched forward, and the man almost lost his balance. His strength was surprising to Moxy. Sylveon quickly jumped in front of Moxy, her feelers outstretched while she barked back a retort.
The man pulled on Mightyena's scruff hard enough that the pokemon let out a pained whimper. "Stop it! That's one of ours! Keep that up and it's back in the ball!"
Moxy made a wide arc around it, Sylveon still in between them. Once they were a considerable distance away, she and Sylveon footed it around the next corner.
Her eyes had to adjust to the bright lights in the main room ahead. Like clockwork, the grunts were working. Coffee trays littered the desks where some grunts analyzed graphs and data on their computer screens. Others were cleaning or talking with their comrades. There was a breeze from the open entryway that led out of the base, and it was much more refreshing than the ventilation in the cave. Aiden stood in front of it, where he and two other grunts conversed in hushed tones.
Aiden saw Moxy, and he waved in her direction.
And his eyes suddenly widened in terror as he shouted, "BEHIND YOU!"
Moxy spun around, and her heart swam up to her throat. A quadruped silhouette lashed out at the girl with cruel claws, its red glare piercing through the darkness.
The heavy beast immediately floored Moxy, its four legs keeping her pinned to the metal surface as it unhinged its wide, salivating maw. Its razor-sharp fangs sunk into her without warning and her head lurched forward from the pain that erupted in her left shoulder.
"AHHHHHH!" her high-pitched scream filled the air, and she punched the hulking beast in a desperate attempt to get it off her, with minuscule success.
In an instant, the creature was tackled off Moxy's body by a form enveloped in a pink glow. However, as it was pushed off, she heard fabric being torn apart, and a sharp pain emanated from her stomach.
"Oh no..." she muttered upon seeing a clawed perforation in her shirt. Blood began to gush out of her stomach like a well of water, and she clutched her wound to stop the bleeding. However, the blood seeped through her fingers. She could feel her life force draining, and the warm liquid from her cold wounds soaked her hair.
She turned her head and saw Sylveon standing beside her, barking wildly at the Mightyena from the tunnel. The beast's black fur was singeing with pink smoke as it wobbled onto its feet. Blood dripped from its bared fangs, and its hostile glare was focused on Moxy's feeble form rather than her protector.
Moxy tried to give Sylveon an order, but she coughed up blood instead. The Mightyena howled before dashing towards them, its fangs glowing white. Sylveon shaped her feelers into an X-like pattern, patiently awaiting the attack.
It was about halfway towards them when the temperature in the tunnel suddenly dropped. A blast of icy wind whooshed right over Moxy and smacked the Mightyena straight in its chest. Bits of frost and snow were speckled on its black mane as it dropped low to endure the wind. It tried to get up again, but a hovering, black sphere zoomed towards it. The sphere had a pair of deep-blue eyes, and a clear layer of ice enveloped its body like armor. The sphere opened its exposed teeth, and Mightyena yelped as another blast of wind struck it from every angle.
When the Glalie was finished, all that was left was a frozen heap of black fur.
In an instant, Sylveon ran up to her trainer's side. Her breathing was rapid as she placed her trembling paws on Moxy's stomach wound, and their pink hue turned blood-red.
"You were s-spectacular Sy-'' Moxy coughed again before she could finish. Sylveon cried softly. She pressed her forehead onto her trainer's face, and a tear dropped onto Moxy's cheek.
Just then, Aiden and a grunt appeared over Moxy's body. Sylveon whined desperately as if she were begging him to fix her.
"Here Glalie!" Aiden called out to his pokemon. Glalie's obsidian ears crinkled before redirecting its emotionless gaze onto Moxy, and a cloud of frost exuded from its chattering teeth.
"Stop standing around and get me a medic! Right now!" Aiden yelled at the crowd by the tunnel entrance. Sylveon moved back, allowing Aiden to do his work. He dropped to his knees and pressed his hands on her stomach wound. Moxy's vision blurred momentarily, and she let out a weak groan.
Aiden lightly slapped her cheek a few times. "Hey, stay with me. You're going to be fine, just hold on."
Out of the corner of her eye, Moxy saw the man from the tunnel turn the corner. He was clutching the side of his head in pain. In a matter of a second, his face went from pained to horrified as he stared at his unconscious Mightyena and Moxy.
"Oh, gods. What happened?" he whispered, his mouth hidden behind his palm.
"Glalie, we need to cauterize these wounds. Use Frost Breath on the cut," Aiden ordered the Glalie who had just reached them. Glalie inhaled deeply, and Aiden shot one of his blood-soaked hands out in front of his pokemon.
"Slowly," he added with lowered eyebrows.
Grumbling, the Glalie let loose a narrow stream of white smoke from its vent-like teeth. It seeped towards Moxy's stomach wound, and Aiden moved Moxy's hands away. Her entire body stiffened up as the icy breath froze her blood.
"R-relax. Everythings going to be fine," Aiden tried to comfort, but his shaky voice betrayed his words. Moxy noticed his knees buckle for a second. Soon her stomach wound became numb, and the Glalie diverted its breath onto her shoulder this time. She was forced to turn her head from the tiny shards of ice peppering her cheek. After both wounds were treated, Moxy tried to move, but her body still wouldn't obey. An enormous amount of fatigue gripped her.
"She's lost a lot of blood. Where the hell is that doctor?!" Aiden yelled, his voice sounding like it was miles away.
Moxy heard wheels racketing along the metal floor, and soon a gurney was beside her. A worried Sylveon wrapped one of her feelers around her trainer's hand and clutched hard.
Suddenly, her breaths drew short and quick, and darkness licked the edge of her vision. She reached out a pale hand to Aiden.
"I d-don't want to go," she stammered between teeth-chattering coldness and hyperventilation. "P-please don't l-let me… go…"
She could barely make out the faint voices of Aiden screaming for her to wake up and the cries of Sylveon as her vision collapsed into nothing.