Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 2, Episode 7, Chapter 4
[~][~]
"Flamethrower!" Louise ordered Brennaraki as they ran through the power plant's corridors towards where Maindo sensed Henrietta. The shiny Braixen immediately complied, shooting a jet of flame towards a distracted Team Flare grunt and his Golbat, both of whom were desperately trying to fight off an enraged trainer and his Geodude that Saito and Louise had freed. The flamethrower hit its mark, engulfing the Bat Pokémon in fire and scorching the grunt's uniform from the embers.
"Water Pulse!" Saito followed up with an order of his own, prompting Ronin to fire a pulsating orb of water that struck the panicking Golbat in the mouth, sending it flying back into the Team Flare Grunt. The blows knocked them out, allowing the freed trainer, whose name neither Saito nor Louise bothered to learn, to tie them up with some thick climbing rope.
"Thanks!" the trainer shouted after Saito and Louise, who merely waved back without looking as they continued to run.
'You'll need to go up these stairs then make a hard right!' Maindo revealed.
"Got it!" Saito replied, following his in-name-only Pokémon's directions. He and Louise, alongside their starter Pokémon, sprinted up the stairs, where they saw another group of freed trainers alongside some power plant workers doing battle against some Team Flare Grunts.
So far, their plan, for lack of a better word, was working fairly well. The hardest part had been freeing the initial group of captives, particularly since the entire power plant was on lockdown and the terrorists searching everywhere for them. Luckily, it appeared that Team Flare seemed to value quantity over quality as the Team Flare Grunts were easily dispatched. Mostly due to Maindo putting them to sleep with Hypnosis or Saito and Louise sucker punching them with their other Pokémon before they had a chance to react. Getting into an actual Pokémon battle was not an option. They longer they spent trying to deal with the grunts meant the odds of them getting surrounded and captured went up exponentially.
Eventually, they had managed to find and free the first group of captives, many of whom had indeed been Pokémon trainers. As they suspected, they were more than willing to take the fight back to Team Flare, which they immediately proceeded to do after securing their Pokémon, which Team Flare had stored separately. Freeing them required Saito and Louise to go on the offensive, which had worried them somewhat due to the inherent risk. Thankfully, they managed to catch the Flare Grunts guarding the Pokémon off-guard, allowing them to give the Pokémon to their trainers and truly fight back against the terrorists. Like falling dominos, with the help of the first group they were able to find and free the other captives scattered across the power plant. In a matter of minutes, Team Flare's control over the facility went from absolute to threatened.
They still outnumbered the captives three to one, but frankly neither Saito nor Louise were concerned with actually fending them off by themselves. All they had to do was free Henrietta from Team Flare's clutches, and hold the terrorists off long enough for the authorities to arrive. Hopefully, Esprit and Ōdachi would be able to reach the Pokémon Rangers in time. Until then, all they could do was hope and wait.
"How much further?" Louise asked as they rounded another corner, hearing a muffled explosion through the walls and floor around them.
'Not too far!' Maindo answered after taking a moment to psychically reach out. He then frowned and added, 'Also, looks like I was right. The leaders are expecting us.'
Saito and Louise glanced at each other for a moment, then returned their attention to the hallway in front of them. The fact that the Admins running this entire operation were expecting them wasn't news. They suspected as such as soon as they started going for Henrietta and Maindo sensed that they were with her. Plunging the entire power plant into chaos as they freed the captive trainers might as well have been shooting a flare into the sky and telling them that they were on their way. Saito and Louise were under no delusion that taking down the bosses would be easy. The last few times they engaged one at the daycare and the fossil museum, they had proven to be much stronger than those they ordered around. This time, there were two of them, and both were already anticipating their arrival.
Not that they had much of a choice. They had to get Henrietta out of there, one way or another. If only Maindo wasn't still under the effects of Block, or Louise had enough willpower to cast another spell. Then they could just grab Henrietta and teleport out of there. Unfortunately, neither of those were an option. The only option they had was to simply spring the trap that was being set for them.
'We're here,' Maindo announced as they came across a thick metal door. The trainers and their Pokémon stopped in front of it and looked at each other. Then, after a moment, they nodded then stepped forward, preparing to break it down, only for the metal door to open automatically.
"There's no need for that," a woman calmly spoke out as the doors opened, allowing Saito and Louise to see what laid on the other side.
"Henrietta!" Louise called out to her friend, who was gagged and tied to a chair on the right side of the room. Part of Louise wanted to just run out and untie her, but the rest stopped when she saw the two Flare Admins waiting for them.
The first she recognized immediately as Soloman Anhalt, but the other she didn't. At least, not at first. She was a short, fairly thin woman with strawberry blonde hair and violet eyes, one of which was covered by a monocle. Unlike the rest of Team Flare, she was wearing a white lab coat, although the shirt underneath was their trademark scarlet. Part of Louise felt that she had seen her before, but she didn't know where.
But she could figure that out later. Right now, all she could do was growl and say, "I'm going to say this once. Let. My friend. Go."
"I'm afraid we can't do that," the woman calmly, almost robotically, replied. "Nor can we let you two leave."
"Especially not after the stunt you just pulled," Solomon growled, clenching his fists tightly. "You two are lucky Minerva here felt it would be better to offer you two the chance to surrender peacefully before we hurt you. If it were up to me, you'd already be out for the count."
'There's a Pokémon above us. Can't tell which kind yet,' Maindo telepathically reported, with only Saito and Louise able to hear him. Neither glanced upward, lest they give away what they knew was there, and both kept their eyes squarely focused on the Admins. Part of Louise wanted to just attack them right then and there, but the rest knew it was smarter to keep them talking as much as possible and buy them more time for the Rangers to arrive.
"Funny. I was about to say the same thing," Saito replied. "Do you honestly think people won't notice what's going on here? The Pokémon Rangers are already on their way, and when they get here, you're done."
"We'll be gone and our objective completed long before they arrive," Minerva dismissed, and Solomon let out a grunt.
"More importantly for you two, they'll be too late to save you from us," Solomon grimly added with an evil grin as he cracked his knuckles. "You kids may have gotten lucky against Coda and Joshua, but you'll find that we're a step above them. If you want to walk out of here in one piece, I suggest you drop your Pokéballs and surrender. Or don't. It'll be more fun for me that way."
Louise huffed and clenched her fist, and beside her she heard Brennaraki growl. Steam was already escaping her Braixen's ears, and she was holding her stick wand tightly in her hand. Louise was barely holding back a command, itching to get the battle underway. But, seeing as how the Admins weren't attacking yet, she figured she had one more chance to stall them.
"What is it that you want with us?" Louise asked, but Solomon scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"Your friend already asked us that. What makes you think we'll tell you anything?" he pointed out, and Louise shrugged.
"Figured I might as well ask," she calmly replied. Then, without missing a beat, dove to the right alongside Brennaraki as Saito and Ronin dived to the left while Maindo shot a Shadow Ball upward towards the ceiling.
A loud explosion rippled through the air as it filled with smoke. A moment later, Louise saw a Rotom stumble out from the electric fan it had been possessing, clearly dazed and confused. Brennaraki immediately followed up her attack with a Flamethrower, engulfing the Plasma Pokémon in a jet of fire.
"Hah-hah! I was hoping for this! Sorry for any damaged goods, Minerva!" Solomon declared as he threw out a Pokéball, releasing a Blaziken onto the metal floor. It let out a cry as it stood up straight and flexed its arms, then sprinted towards Saito and Louise. It jumped into the air as it attempted a Blaze Kick, only for Derflinger to intercept with a Sacred Sword.
"Oh, no you don't!" Derflinger cried out as he and the Blaziken fell into an intense one-on-one duel. But rather than be alarmed, Solomon merely laughed as he pulled out another Pokéball.
"This is going to be fun," he said as he pulled out another Pokéball and released a Bewear, joining Minerva's Rotom as it battled the entirety of Saito and Louise's teams.
[~]
"No, no!" Henrietta tried to scream, but her words were muffled by the gag wrapped around her jaw. She struggled in her seat, trying in vain to break free and help her friends in any way she could. But the ropes tying her hands behind her back and her feet to the legs of the chair made that impossible. The chair didn't even have wheels, so she couldn't try to shimmy her way to the computer station where she knew her wand and Pokémon were being kept. In every way she could think of, Henrietta was stuck, unable to do anything more than watch as her friends tried to valiantly save her from the terrorists.
Terrorists that they wouldn't even be fighting if it wasn't for her.
"Blaziken, take that Honedge out with Flare Blitz!" she heard Solomon order his Blaziken, who promptly shrouded itself in a ball of fire and charged towards Derflinger. Henrietta once again tried to shout out a warning, but all she got was a muffled scream.
Thankfully, the ancient Honedge noticed the obvious attack in time and managed to dodge it. He then retaliated with an Aerial Ace attack, which moved too fast for the Blaziken to avoid. The blow struck across its back, causing the Blaziken to let out a cry of pain before it sharply turned around and hit Derflinger back with a spinning Blaze Kick.
"Oof!" Derflinger let out, then he growled. "Okay, two can play at that game."
With a wordless yell, Derflinger powered up another Sacred Sword, then he charged at the Blaziken who met his attack with another Blaze Kick. Their duel was close enough that Henrietta could feel waves of stifling heat with every clash, giving her a perfect vantage point to the mayhem. Right away, she noticed that not only were the combatants incredibly skilled, they were not fighting like they were in a normal Pokémon battle that she had seen before. There was an added air of vitriol to their movements, like they were actively trying to seriously hurt the other, particularly the Pokémon belonging to the Team Flare leaders.
But Derflinger's fight against the Blaziken wasn't all she could see. Just behind them, she also watched Saito and Louise fight against the other Pokémon the Flare leaders had brought with them. Saito and Louise's full teams were out, expertly coordinating with each other against the terrorists' Pokémon. With practiced ease, both of her friends were issuing simultaneous orders while trying to inch their way closer and closer to Henrietta's position. But that was proving easier said than done, with Solomon's Bewear and Minerva's Rotom each being far stronger than any of the Pokémon on her friends' teams.
She thanked the Founder that the Team Flare leaders didn't seem to carry more than two Pokémon on them for this mission, based on the fact that they only had two Pokéballs on their belts. If they had full teams themselves, Henrietta knew her friends wouldn't have stood a chance. As far as she could tell, each only had two; Solomon with his Blaziken and Bewear, and Minerva with her Rotom and some unknown Pokémon she hadn't released yet. But, given how much trouble her Rotom was giving to her friends, Henrietta got the sense that the Admin felt its presence wasn't necessary just yet.
Why they only brought two, Henrietta couldn't begin to fully understand. All she had were guesses. It could've been that the rest of their Pokémon were injured on a previous assignment and needed time to heal. Perhaps they were on another assignment themselves, taking them away from the battle at the moment. It could even be that they only had two Pokémon to begin with. But while Henrietta hoped the last one was the case, she personally doubted it.
The worst part, though, was that this battle was not going in her friends' favor. Saito and Louise weren't losing just yet, but Henrietta had a feeling that was less due to her friends' skill and more that Minerva didn't want them seriously harmed for whatever diabolical machinations she had. Minerva had already taken samples of Henrietta's blood earlier, and likely wanted Louise's as well. Team Flare was obviously interested in their magic, but for what end was unknown to Henrietta.
Whatever it was, Henrietta prayed that the Pokémon Rangers would arrive soon. If not, her friends would be genuine danger, and it would be all her fault.
[~]
"Psybeam! Flame Charge! Night Slash!" Louise ordered her Pokémon, with Brennaraki, Aile, and Auspice immediately complying as they attempted to dogpile on the Bewear. At the same time, she pointed to Gène and Guerrier then ordered, "Hit that Rotom with Swift and Scary Face!"
Her Eevee and Bisharp did as instructed. Gène fired a volley of star-shaped projectiles from his mouth as Guerrier hit the Rotom with a fearsome visage, slowing the Electric-type Pokémon immensely. But while Guerrier's attack managed to hit, Gène's passed straight through to no effect.
Louise's eyes widened, then she mentally kicked herself. She had though that Rotoms were pure Electric-type Pokémon, but after confirming with a quick glance to her Pokédex, it appeared that they were part Ghost-type as well when in their base form. Which it now was after Maindo knocked it out of that fan at the start of the battle. Normal-type moves would have no effect on the creature. If she were to have any hope of taking it down, she'd have to adjust her strategy accordingly.
Looking at Gène, Louise pointed towards the Bewear and yelled, "Help with taking down that Bewear! That Rotom's too fast for you!"
Gène nodded in agreement, then ran off to help the others with taking it down. Louise watched him go, then returned her focus towards Minerva. Clenching her fist, she growled, "I recognize you now. You were there. At Cyllage."
Minerva regarded her plainly for a moment, then almost robotically replied, "Yes, I was."
No more needed to be said, for Louise understood everything now. Minerva was the one who pretended to be a Pokémon Center employee, the one who treated her after she was poisoned by that Toxapex. The one who stole her blood. Her nostrils flared, and she clenched her fists even tighter than before, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. She briefly glanced towards the still captive Henrietta, and the idea that Minerva and Team Flare planned to take her blood as well infuriated her even more.
She didn't know what Team Flare wanted with their magical blood, and frankly Louise didn't really care. All she wanted was to get her friend out of harm's way. After that, there'd be Hel to pay. But she'd worry about that later. Right now, all she could do was buy just a little more time, especially since she was under no delusions that she'd actually manage to win.
It was just as Solomon said. He and Minerva were a step above the other leaders of Team Flare that they'd faced before. At their level of strength, her and Saito's odds of beating them conventionally were slim, to put it lightly.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the crack of lightning as Minerva's Rotom fired a Discharge towards Ronin. But thankfully, Maindo was able to psychically pull the Dewott out of the way, following it up with a hastily thrown Shadow Ball that the Rotom managed to easily dodge.
[~]
'Would that damn ball just stay still for one second?!' Maindo complained as he fired a volley of Shadow Balls towards his opponent who simply laughed at him as it went through walls, pipes, and various electronic devices.
"Having a little trouble there, Maindo?" Tanuki mocked as he struck the Bewear with a Force Palm. It didn't do much, but it gave Tengu enough of an opening to charge up another Solar Beam and strike it in the face with it.
'What do you think?!' Maindo replied with a growl.
Spotting the backpack which he knew held Henrietta's wand and Pokémon, based off the intense feelings of desire she gave off every time she looked in its general direction, Maindo once again attempted to get over there. He had tried to free the princess at the start of the battle, but getting through Derflinger's battle against the Blaziken quickly proved impossible without teleportation. That forced him to try shifting his aim towards freeing Henrietta's Pokémon and getting her wand back, as it appeared to be somewhat more open. Even if he had no hope that Henrietta's untrained Pokémon would be of any real help in this battle, her water magic at least could do some damage. The only problem was that Rotom getting in his way. He couldn't so much as do a Shadow Sneak before the ground would get stuck by lightning, impeding his progress.
That was when Minerva's Rotom was struck by an Ancient Power hurled towards it by Shogun, knocking it out of the air and making it briefly flicker.
'A-hah! That's what you get!' Maindo cheered, preparing to take advantage of the opening by hitting it with another Shadow Ball then grabbing Henrietta's stuff. But before he could, Minerva calmly pulled out her second Pokéball, enlarged it, then threw it out onto the ground in front of her.
"Ditto, we require your assistance," Minerva stated, releasing the purplish, gelatinous blob with beady little eyes that was Ditto. This wasn't the first time Maindo had seen a Ditto, and their default expression always weirded him out in an uncanny valley sort of way, but this one was somehow worse with how blank and emotionless it felt.
Then, before his very eyes, he watched as the Pokémon's body shifted, twisting and pulling like an invisible child playing with clay. When it finally stopped moving, he immediately recognized the form it took, and all he could do was simply stare at a perfect recreation of himself.
"MAINDO, HE STOLE YOUR 'DO!" Tanuki cried, and it was enough to snap the Kirlia out of it.
'I'LL KILL 'IM!' Maindo shouted, his mental voice filled with complete rage as he immediately charged up a Shadow Ball. But before he could fire it, his opponent suddenly teleported right in front of him, with an already charged Shadow Ball aimed right at his face.
'…oh, no,' Maindo muttered before suddenly getting hit point blank and getting knocked onto his back.
"Maindo!" he heard Saito shout in worry, but all Maindo could do was try to push himself back onto his feet. When he tilted his head upward, he was greeted and unnerved by the Ditto looking down on him with the same blank expression on its face, another Shadow Ball already in its hand, only to be knocked back by Aile throwing a Razor Wind at his back.
Seizing the opening, Maindo let loose a Hyper Voice, further throwing the Ditto off-balance and allowing Gène the opportunity to hit him with Swift. The star-shaped projectiles exploded against its body, sending it stumbling back where Tanuki finished the combo with an Ice Punch which sent it flying. It managed to right itself as it landed on the ground, but already he could see ice crystals forming around its shoulder where the Riolu struck.
"These brats are getting on my nerves, Minerva!" Solomon complained, his voice on edge.
"Indeed," Minerva replied all-too-calmly while she checked something on her Pokédex, which only further seemed to irritate her fellow leader.
"Would it kill you to show some emotion for once?!"
Before she could answer, all the lights in the power plant suddenly shut off, drawing everyone's attention. Saito and Louise immediately understood what that meant, and Saito exclaimed, "Yes, they made it!"
Both Minerva's and Solomon's eyes widened, then they turned on their radios where they heard the sounds of their subordinates crying out for aid, with many reporting that police and Pokémon Rangers were swarming the entire complex. Judging by the looks on their faces, it seemed like they weren't expecting them to get there so quickly.
"Remind me to reward Ōdachi and Esprit after this," Louise said, and Saito grinned victoriously.
"Like I told you, the Pokémon Rangers were already on their way," Saito announced, with an explosion happening somewhere deeper in the facility emphasizing his point. "Give it up. There's nowhere for you to run."
Both Team Flare bosses glared angrily at Saito and Louise. Steam was practically coming out of their ears, and Solomon looked like he would've crushed their heads with his bare hands if he had the chance. But, instead of trying to surrender or continue the attack, the leaders of Team Flare and their Pokémon promptly blipped away with a loud pop as Minerva's Ditto, still taking the form of Maindo, teleported them away, leaving the suitcase in the computer station behind.
'Yeah! That's right, run you cowards!' Maindo scoffed while Saito let out a sigh of relief. While he would've wanted to take the terrorists in, at least it was over.
That was when Louise ran as fast as she could right in front of him, nearly bowling him over as she made a beeline towards Henrietta, who was still tied to the chair. Louise's actions prompted Saito to join her, and while she worked on untying the gag around the Princess' mouth, he worked on untying her hands.
After a few moments, Henrietta's mouth was freed, and she immediately tried to say, "Louise, Saito, I-!"
Before she could finish her sentence, Louise promptly wrapped Henrietta in a tight bear hug, stunning the princess into silence. After a few moments of silence, broken only by the sound of Louise's heavy breathing, Louise pulled away from her friend and began to gently look her over.
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Louise gently asked, her voice having an edge of tension that everyone recognized.
Henrietta gulped, then replied, "No, I'm… I'm fine. They did take…samples, though."
At the mention of samples, Saito and Louise's attention was immediately drawn to Henrietta's neck which was noticeably red, stemming from a small puncture. Both teenagers knew immediately what must've happened, and Louise's face fell briefly. After a moment, Louise let out a sigh and shook her head.
"I was afraid of that," she admitted. "Anything else?"
"No," Henrietta answered as Saito finally finished untying her, only to be taken aback by Louise's now utterly enraged expression.
"Good," Louise growled, then began to scream, "because by the Founder and all the Gods, Henrietta, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED YOU MADE US?! YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED! IF YOU WEREN'T MY FRIEND, I SWEAR TO THE GODS I WOULD-!"
[~]
The with the arrival of the Pokémon Rangers and the Kalos Police, the Battle for the Power Plant quickly came to a close. The dozens of Team Flare Grunts surrendered without much more resistance, particularly when they realized their bosses had abandoned them. A few of the more fanatical members put up more of a fight, but when several recruited Onyxs were staring them down and being coordinated by Pokémon Rangers, there wasn't much they could do.
Frankly, Saito was just relieved that they made it out of there in one piece. He liked to think that he and Louise had the Flare Admins on the ropes, but if he was being honest with himself, the Rangers and police arriving when they did could not have been more fortuitous. There was no telling where that battle would've gone had it been allowed to continue naturally, and with their lives literally on the line, that could've have been allowed to happen.
"Arceus, what a mess," Officer Jenny declared as she took off her hat and wiped the sheen of sweat that had formed on her forehead. "Dozens of arrests, thousands of Pokédollars in property damage, not to mention intellectual property theft of who knows what. We're lucky you sent your Pokémon to carry that message to us. Any later and they would've gotten away with all of it."
"How much did they get?" Interpol Agent Smith inquired, having arrived onto the scene not too long after the police and Pokémon Rangers did.
"About half. Anything after that would've been corrupted beyond saving."
"Uggh," Smith groaned as he took off his sunglasses and pinched the top of his nose. Briefly his attention was drawn to the medical tent, where they could hear Louise continue to yell and rant towards a silent and probably terrified Princess Henrietta.
"Geez, for a girl that small, she can get angry," Officer Jenny noted. "I don't even recognize the language she's yelling."
"It's Old Kalosian, and believe me, it is colorful," Agent Smith nonchalantly answered, then turned his attention towards Saito. "Now then, you're certain you have no idea what they were after?"
"Aside from the blood of my friends? None whatsoever," Saito confirmed with a nod and shrug. "Frankly, I didn't really care what they wanted. All I cared about was getting Henrietta out of there."
"Thought so. Doesn't help me much, but even then, it's concerning."
"If you don't mind me asking, what did they take from the computers?"
"The data they were gathering appeared to be uploaded to an offsite server," Smith answered. "From what we can tell, they were focusing on power generation methods."
"Power generation?" Saito repeated, his confusion and alarm rising. "The power plant powers the entire Kalos region. What could Team Flare possibly need that much power for?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, but whatever it is, it's nothing good," Smith replied, then released another sigh. "Have to say, I wish we'd stop meeting like this, but I must admit you two did good work."
"Thank you, and I agree," Saito replied, shaking the agent's offered hand. "What happens now?"
"For me, a whole lot of paperwork and investigations to uncover what Team Flare wanted and where their leaders went. Hopefully we'll find enough evidence to figure out their next move. But for you, it's whatever you and your friends were doing before getting wrapped up in yet another Team Flare attack. You and Louise are doing the Gym Challenge, correct?"
"Yes, sir. We're challenging the Lumiose Gym next."
"Thought so," Smith said as he adjusted his suit's jacket. Then, without saying another word, he turned around began walking back towards the power plant, leaving Saito behind to answer any further questions Officer Jenny had for him.
[~]
"Arceus-DAMN IT!" Solomon screamed at the top of his lungs as he punched a rock as hard as he could, breaking it into thousands of tiny pieces with a single blow. As he fumed, he growled, "I told you we should've taken them out when we had the chance."
"That you did," Minerva replied as they overlooked the Power Plant from atop a nearby escarpment. Her Ditto had been powerful enough to teleport them away, but not far enough so that they couldn't see the entire complex swarming with the authorities. The sight of it frustrated Minerva to no end, but right now her priority was reestablishing contact with headquarters.
Thankfully, it didn't take long for her to connect with Team Flare's leader, Maxwell Fletcher, and she immediately reported, "Commander, we ran into a complication."
"So it would seem. Your operation at the power plant is all over the news as we speak," Fletcher revealed. "What happened?"
"Just as we were about to start the operation," Minerva began to explain, "the same interlopers who intervened at the Pokémon Daycare and Fossil Museum arrived to tour the facility. By all accounts, it was merely coincidence. While they managed to escape, Solomon and I managed to recapture a new traveling companion of theirs, one who shared a similar magical ability as Louise Vallière. We took her in, and as we expected her friends returned to rescue her."
"After springing a damn jail break among all the other trainers and Pokémon we captured," Solomon angrily added. "The entire power plant became a warzone!"
"More importantly, it appeared that they managed to ferry a message to a nearby Pokémon Ranger station, alerting the authorities to our presence far earlier than anticipated," Minerva continued. "I suspect they had one or more of their Pokémon carry the message physically."
"I see," Maxwell calmly replied, then went silent for a few moments before asking, "Were you able to recover the data?"
"About half of what we wanted; the rest is corrupted beyond repair," Minerva confirmed, and she could hear Maxwell breathe in and out of his nose harshly in frustration.
"That is…disappointing," Maxwell admitted, prompting Solomon to pound his fist into the palm of his hand.
"This is the third time those kids directly prevented one of our ops from going as planned. Four if you consider Cyllage," Solomon declared. "Once is nothing, twice is a coincidence, but three times is a pattern. I don't care if they're not seeking us out on purpose, we need to take them out before they do it again."
"You will do no such thing, Anhalt," Maxwell immediately ordered, causing him to balk.
"What?! After the stunt they pulled, you're just going to let them go?" he asked incredulously.
"It is as you said. They aren't seeking us out on purpose. Every single time those pair of trainers intervened, it was simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just because they managed to negatively impede some of our missions does not mean we should waste time and resources we desperately need for more important matters on petty revenge. No, it's best to keep an eye on them and give them no reason to come after us on purpose."
"With all due respect, sir, I feel that is a mistake. They can't be allowed to get away with this," Solomon pointed out.
"Are you aware of how many of our fellow criminal teams around the world have been taken out by young trainers going on their journeys? It happens once almost every year it feels. A common pattern of those teams is that their leaders inevitably ended up directly antagonizing those trainers, leading to climatic confrontations that resulted in mass arrests and complete dissolution of their criminal enterprise. We cannot allow ourselves to make the same mistakes they did, not now. Not when we're so close. Do you understand?"
Solomon looked like he wanted to argue further, but instead he breathed in and out of his nose harshly before reluctantly replying, "Yes, sir."
"Good," Maxwell said. "Now then, I want you and Minerva to reach the rendezvous point. I already have a team in place to extract you. Once you arrive at headquarters, we'll determine our next move."
"Commander, I must add that I was able to acquire more blood samples from the second mage. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to recover her wand."
"Disappointing, but we can still work with it. I'll have your lab set up accordingly for DNA testing. Hopefully, we'll find something in there we can use."
"Indeed. Preliminary results from Louise's DNA proved most promising. I'll let you know whatever I find."
"See that you do. In the meantime, I do have some good news. I've managed to acquire another source of funds from a new backer. Apparently, they're interested in our operations, and wanted to make an investment."
"That's good to hear. Who's the backer?" Minerva asked.
"The investor wanted to keep his identity secret and confidential. Given our line of work, and the amount of money he was offering, I wasn't in a position to say no. The important thing isn't who provided the money, just that he gave it to us to help move our operation along. Money that'll be put to good use."
"Indeed," Minerva replied, especially once Maxwell sent over figures of the investment in question. The amount of money being given to them made her heartbeat noticeably quicken. She would've liked to have known who the investor was aside, but aside from a rainbow-colored "R" that reminded her of the Team Rocket logo, she didn't know who it could be. But she figured she could find that answer out later.
Nodding to herself, she then declared, "Solomon and I are on our way. ETA, two hours. Arbeit out."
[~][~]
Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Outsiders! Special thanks to Darwin Candidate and Yuri Vampire for their help in bringing this chapter to life!
Team Flare's siege of the Kalos Power Plant is now over, and thanks to Saito and Louise's actions they were prevented from finishing their objective. While this has definitely earned them their ire, for now Team Flare is content with simply avoiding them. Henrietta has also learned two valuable lessons. One, don't impulsively throw yourself into harm's way in a naive attempt at heroics. Two, do not make Louise mad.
But, at least for now, the danger has passed, and our heroes are back on their way to their next gym battle against Clemont. Up next is their return to Lumoise, and the culmination of one of the major character arcs of the story thus far. We can't wait to show you guys what's coming.
To answer your guys' questions:
Yeah, Henrietta really screwed up here. Especially when you consider that her actions didn't help at all. They only made things worse.
Thankfully the site seems to be back on track, both with notifications restored and view counts being slowly updated. As for what Team Flare is going for, you'll have to wait and see.
And yeah, Henrietta becoming a damsel-in-distress was both somewhat expected but also necessary for her character development.
That's it for now. Let us know what you guys think! If any of you have a TV Tropes account, any assistance in updating the TV Tropes page would be greatly appreciated. We hope you enjoy and see you all next time!
